Layering Armor

[PBarone714]

If I layer two pieces of armor over the same body part, do the DRs of each of the pieces of armor add together, or is the resulting DR equal to the highest DR of the two pieces?

Please quote the rule in the book and provide the book name and page number.

Thanks,
Paolo

[Kromm]

Please see Combining and Layering Armor (p. B286). For additional and optional detail, see Layered Armor (GURPS Low-Tech, p. 103).

[Culture20]

rereading basic 286 makes me wonder: the text mentions “both” layers. Is layering more than once verboten? Mail+plate, but not enchanted T-shirt+cloth+mail+mail+plate?
If multiple layers are allowed, is there anything in RAW which prevents someone from wearing five mail coifs under their oversized greathelm?

[Aldric]

Nothing except logic and your GM stop you from wearing multiple layers.
Layered Armor on LT 103 explicitly says to apply a - 1 DX for one additional layer and - 2 for two, and that more than three layers in total are "rare".

I'd think thay your GM would be merciless with encumberance penalties as well.

[Flyndaran]

If you're not using Low Tech, then that means you're using Basic's very high weight armor. That should keeps the layering "problem" to a minimum, unless you're also using superhuman strengths.

[Plane]

How many layers of everyday clothing (sweatpants, t-shirts) would someone need to wear to get the equivalent of the 1 DR from Cloth Armor?

[ravenfish]

Originally Posted by Plane

How many layers of everyday clothing (sweatpants, t-shirts) would someone need to wear to get the equivalent of the 1 DR from Cloth Armor?

There aren't any rules in the books that I'm aware of, but, as a GM, I'd be happy to give a character wearing enough clothing on a given location to equal the weight of cloth armor for that location the benefit of DR 1.

[Anaraxes]

Gambesons were around 30 layers of linen (1 or 2 cm thick). Remember that linen is a lot tougher than some fabrics, like the cotton in a T-shirt.

[WaterAndWindSpirit]

I've been asking myself a question about armor layers...

Do Diaphanous, Light and Heavy Reflex body armor (say, a bikini or a one piece swimsuit, T-shirt and pants, plus a coat) from Ultra-Tech count as different layers? Or would a Diaphanous layer (and a single one, not multiple) count as a "free" layer of armor?

[Rupert]

My personal ruling on this (though it's not come up in-game yet) is you get one diaphanous layer 'for free', if it makes sense for that ensemble, and there's only one other layer that's not too bulky itself. I'm willing to also overlook the civilian survival suits (UT177-178) and skin suits and smart vacc suits (UT178-179) if they're only layered with one other armour set.