A couple of questions about armor and armor accessories

[Jukkaimaru]

Hello, folks.

1) Can an Arming Doublet or its equivalent receive any DR bonuses for being made of Silk, as per Low-Tech, or are they too thin to work that way?

2) Japanese Sengoku-era armor, late 1500s: I've been going with Plate Chest, Segmented Abdomen, Segmented Shoulders, Butted Mail Upper Arms, Mail and Plate Lower Arms, Segmented Gauntlets, Segmented Thighs, Brigandine Knees (kikko kneepads), Mail and Plate Shins, and Butted Mail Feet. With of course the Kabuto from Instant Armor. Does this sound right? Is there a more official version in a supplement somewhere I might have missed?

[Jukkaimaru]

Does anyone have any advice?

[trans]

I'm not a Gurps armor expert, but arming doublets are not thin. Why butted mail?

Edit: aha, more common in Japan, though I would have expected split ring.

[Jukkaimaru]

Originally Posted by trans

Edit: aha, more common in Japan, though I would have expected split ring.

Yeah--not ALL Japanese mail was butted, but most of it was. The character I'm working on isn't a full-blown daimyo, so I'm assuming his mail isn't riveted. :)

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by trans

I'm not a Gurps armor expert, but arming doublets are not thin. Why butted mail?

Edit: aha, more common in Japan, though I would have expected split ring.

Neither am I an armor expect, but I'd allow the silk bonuses?

[Mr Frost]

Originally Posted by Jukkaimaru

Yeah--not ALL Japanese mail was butted, but most of it was...

Are you sure , as butted mail literally falls appart when worn for any appriaciaple length of time .
After a year or two , due to the cost of replacing so many lost links , riveted mail would become the cheaper option unless that Samurai lives in the times when the armour was mostly just for show .

For armour actually meant for battle , those links would need to be held closed somehow .

[Jukkaimaru]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusari_...mail_armour%29

Some of them were DOUBLE butted, apparently.

[DanHoward]

The Japanese used weird weave patterns to compensate for the fact that the links were butted. I'd give it -1 vs impaling not -2.
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=82824

[Jukkaimaru]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

The Japanese used wierd weave patterns to compensate for the act that the links were butted. I'd give it -1 vs impaling not -2.
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=82824

Sounds like an idea to me. I'll pass that info along to my group! Thanks.

[Mr Frost]

Originally Posted by Jukkaimaru

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusari_...mail_armour%29

Some of them were DOUBLE butted, apparently.

This might explain it : Edo Period cerimonial armour .
I susspect , most actual butted mail would be from this period and be meant mostly for show .

Earlier periods when warefare was common , the Samurais' primary weapon was a spear or bow .
What G.U.R.P.S. refers to as impailing attacks will punch through butted maile almost like it is not there whereas riveted maile will stop them cold .
Layered or padded cloth or leather would provide much better {and cheaper} protection versed spears and arrows than butted maile .

Also , Wikipedia gets more things wrong than than Homer Simpson . :D

Also also , Dan is a ninja ;p