How shiny can armour be?
Ever-so, it turns out.
Picture credits: Rob Kirby.
I was a bodyguard to the Duke of Gloucester.
No charge for any of these pictures.
Comments (7)
I got out an old textbook on heat absorption & loss. In tropical sunlight @ 27'C air, a wood surface gets to 85'C while shiny steel is 43'C. This is without heat loss from inside surface. Rusty steel has about same absorptivity & emissivity as wood - so polishing seems worthwhile. Perhaps we need an instrumented Lindybeige!!
Must have some effect. Heat is certainly a problem, though I've not heard anyone with back armour report that they felt hotter.
Another possibly advantage is that it might stay cooler during the midday sun, reflecting the heat (like an emergency blanket keeping warmth in) rather than absorbing it?
I wonder, is there a tactical advantage to mirror like armor? With those curves on the shoulders and helmet, there must be at least one angle that would reflect midday sun into the eyes of an attacker and distract them.
One of my fellows last year said that one of his foes said that fighting him was like fighting a mirror ball.
was a very nice weekend, must be very exhilarating to be stood in a wide-open field and have an electrical storm roll up the valley.
I was wearing metal armour and was one of the taller people there, which added to the thrill.