Can a Rapier Defeat Mail Armor? - Let's Test and Find Out!

Great video!

The amount of time and effort to make the mail must have been incredible . It stopped a lot more than I had imagined it would .

Great video

So what you're saying is, is that rapier damage versus mail depends on crit chance

I'm imagining being one of Skall's enemies, lying on the ground groaning. He turns to his friends and says "It's kind of hilarious how little effort it takes. That was a CASUAL thrust"

Maybe put linothorax or gambeson inside ringmail to see the results…..

So, a padded jack, under a coat of riveted maille will be proof against rapiers... This highly specific knowledge makes me happy.

I'm pretty sure my France Lames cup hilt 'musketeer' rapier from the 1980's would go right through the rings. It has a trefoil blade similar to an epee, but longer, stiffer and very narrow for the last 8". It goes right through level IIIa Kevlar body armor if you strike hard and then wiggle the blade as you apply pressure.

Hi from an old path of exile player :)

Great video Skal! Very informative as always

Do you think a small sword blade with it’s more ridged and triangular blade make it through?

I know this isn't the full point of the test and this is a question based on my ignorance of armor, not a criticism. How much would the padding under the mail simulate a gamberson (or similar under armor thingie, excuse spelling).

I have had my eye on these LK Chen pieces for a while. I like the look of the Saxony in particular.

Would be interesting to see haw a foil would work against mail.
Personally I think the biggest reason armour went out of fashion is the development of: firstly guns, then reliable, smaller handguns

5 cm is enough to kill... just wish the shots were scaled some way.

I've found that rapiers were really good at defeating males.

Armor wearing cheater or best rapier duelist ever!

I've always wondered how mail of other materials might fare against swords. Like bone mail

Your rapier seems extra-bendy. Is it not? Compared with some virtual average 😊

It occurs to me that a guy who had some reason to believe that he would be attacked with a rapier or something similar could up-armor his clothing with mail (the end result'd be something like a brigandine).

Cool test, Skall! always bringing it with the ideas. Your dedication and thoroughness does not go unnoticed!

Hello! Some of the efficacy of the rapier thrust in the lunge has to do with the timing between the thrust and the lunge. If you deliver the arm thrust later in the lunge, i believe you would have similar results to the passing step, since you are then accelerating the sword instead of merely carrying it forward in the situation of arm thrusting first.

It's almost a joke. I don't feel like these people have a case against you whatsoever

This is interesting, a small experimentation and mail peneteration training can be the difference between a flesh wound and lethal strike

I feel like even if the blade doesn’t go in all that force in one spot might still incapacitate depending where it hits. Chainmail would just absorb the impact rather than deflecting it.

I guess it's important to keep in mind that this is just a 4-in-1 pattern, which would be on the cheaper end of maille. It would also likely be the most common, but there also existed 6-in-1, 8-in-2 and even 12-in-2 patterns, which would be much heavier, much more protective, and also much more expensive. To the point that the 8-in-2 pattern was called the armor of kings and a 12-in-2 pattern was called the armor of emperors.

I wish there was a control with each blade with no mail. With no comparison it's hard to appreciate what the mail actually did

So many rapiers are too flexible.

YOU GOT FAT

I agree, precision of technique seems to be a major factor in the success of a thrust into armor. The principle at work here is analogous to the idea of edge alignment in a cut.

If you look at the less successful thrusts to your more successful thrusts and compare the position of your hand and elbow in relation to the sword tip, you'll find some notable differences.

In the more successful thrusts your arm and the sword tip are more level and parallel with the direction of the force of your thrust. This gives an efficient transfer of force through the blade without excessive deflection.

On the less successful thrusts, the blade is not as parallel with the thrust force, creating a moment arm. When the sword tip encounters the resistance of the mail (which IS parallel to the force of the thrust), the sword flexes dramatically between these two parallel forces. Energy is lost and your hand is deflected even further off parallel.

The dagger is much easier to pierce with for a couple reasons. It is stiffer so less energy can be lost in the steel flexing, and the moment arm is shorter, so the multiplicative effect of any non-parallelism between the blade and the thrust force is substantially lower.

I bet Skallagrim would play a lot of Chivalry 2😂

A more shiv-alrous age.

Really interesting that the technique had so much influence on the effectiveness. I was expecting the rapiers to fare better than they did at first, but then the difference became clear. Also, I laughed when you decided to try the rondel dagger--that poor mail was doomed the second it came out!

We already knew they offered low resistance towards thrust from war hammers. Something pointy and hard will break it and if it flexes it just needs to be thin enough.

Thank you for sharing! This is really helpful to understanding the subject!

A blade with a stiff and thick base lenticular cross section that tapers in both axes will definitely go through, but be on the heavier side. Needs a basket hilt with some heft to balance.

The pommel of the rondel dagger also allows you to put your off hand behind it for double the force. Almost like it was designed specifically for penetrating armor.

I was honestly not expecting the rapier to do anything at all to mail, I was pleasantly surprised

🗿👍

Just wait till they make a rapiest

I would absolutely wear mail under my clothes in a rapier duel, better a cheater than a corpse

now i want that spanish rapier, ive never really liked them, but that one looks good

I don’t know anything about sword technique. when you do the “passing step” are you opening your hips? Creating torque? Or is it because your arm position is nearer the midline of you body where you are stronger opposed to outstretched in a lunged position? Or some combination. Anyway good job

Grappling and a dagger isn’t a bad bet in an armored fight

Thanks for also testing the rondel with a forward grip!

Ah yes, when all else fails, shanking someone prevails.

I think your lunge didn't work partially due to your height as well, your shoulder is significantly higher than the target, your elbow is already at the top of it with your arm pointed down, so your lunge ended up coming in with too much of an angle I guess.

In the passing step, the hit is more linear

"clearly a weapon for a more chivalrous age."
shanks the target like he's stealing some guy's wallet in london