Tod's Workshop with Tobias Capwell; Arrows vs Armour - Medieval Myth Busting

This is a must see for anyone interested in the series of dynastic struggles we now call the Hundred Years War. It clearly shows that the English archers was on the battlefield not as the "machine gun of the Middle Ages" but as a weapon designed to disrupt a charge causing maximum confusion and sapping the impetus out of said charge.

Longbow:

160lbs (73KG) mountain yew English longbow based on those found on the Mary Rose , which sank in 1545. The bow was loosing 80g arrows at 55ma, or 180feet per seconds, giving a 123Joules at 25 meters.

Distance:    10 metres/25 metres

                   11yards/27yards

Speed:        55 meters per second/52 meters per second

                   181 feet per second/170 feet per second

Energy:       123 Joules/109 Joules

                    91 foot-pound force/80 foot-pound force

Arrows:

The fist arrow type we used was MR80A764/158. The diameter at the shoulder was 12.7mm (1/2") tapering to a nock of 8.5mm. A total length of 30.5"

The second arrow type was MR2A1892/9. The diameter at the shoulder was 12.9 mm (1/2") and the nock was 7.5mm. A total length of 30.5"

The shafts were black Poplar (Populus Nigra) and Ask (Fraxinus Excelsior).

Fletchings were swan bound with silk into beasewax, kidney fat and copper verdigris compound

Heads were wrought iron, copied from MoL Type 9 7568

Arrows weighed 80g/2.8 ounces

Breastplate:

Based on Churburg 14 piece. The reproduction is made from Carbom Steel and is air cooled and is of variable thickness. The front and centre is 2.5mm/3/32" thick and it tapers down to 1.5mm1/16" at teh sides and edges.