Can’t believe I get to watch this for free. The amount of work and time required is incredible. I want to add that people often forget that the horse is a much larger target (and not as well armoured for the average horse) and getting thrown off your horse can kill or disable you, or at least reduce your morale in the melee. Don’t forget most of the killing was done in the melee. It seems the longbows were excellent against anything but plate armor, but even these Agincourt era plate armoured knights were vulnerable to longbow arrows due to the lack of plate armor for the entire horse of this time period, reducing their momentum of their cavalry charge. So yes, longbowmen were still useful against heavy cavalry of this era

Impressive work, Tod! But we do have evidence concerning arrowheads steel hardened in medieval times as Kelly Devries states in his _Journal of Medieval Military History_ (Page 157) in which a metallographic test is conducted in some type XVI medieval arrowheads. Kelly and his team concluded that 3 of those arrowheads were steel hardened, so we can be more confident to stress that they really applied hardened steel on arrowheads. Also, there is an interesting edict by King Henry IV that may support this evidence: the Act of Parliament of 1405 states that "If arrows are found to be soft then the Arrowsmith will go to jail and his stock will be confiscated. (7 Hen. IVc7)

Absolutely STAGGERING accuracy, Joe is a master archer. Watching his pull and hold, he has almost zero wobble, once he's fully locked his aim never falters. An entire unit of men like him on the field would have terrifying to face.

As terrifying as it would be to walk into the rain of arrows aimed at you, could you imagine being one of the archers watching a hulking tower of iron walking toward you with malicious intent seemingly unfazed by the three arrows sticking out of his throat?

joe is an absolute animal,cant believe how good he is ,not many can even draw 160 pounder,but to be that accurate constantly with it is extraordinary,just amazing

It was a huge privilege to be able to help out with this!

Great evaluation. I''m a retired Army Combat Medic, and Surgical technician with 49 years experience, much of which was in trauma surgery. Where the arrow struck just below the color bone (clavicle) could easily result in death. The top of the lung often is found in that area, as are many important anatomically significant structures, like the subclavian artery and vein. While not resulting in as quick of a bleed out as a femoral artery laceration, it's quite possible. On top of that, if the lung is compromised, well, that too COULD result in death. Just food for thought. God bless Justin

The amount of craftsmanship and expertise between all these guys, and a pure honest curiosity to discover is really awe inspiring. Thanks to all of you!

The French fear of getting hit in the face could be a survivor bias. Sure they got hit and it hurt, but it didn't kill them. The dudes getting hit under the shoulder or in the throat would likely not be alive to have their accounts written down.

These guys are doing proper historical research and they are just releasing it like this. Freely available to the public. I cannot put into words how great that is.

Man, people really underestimate how much strength is required to shoot bows like that. You can see the struggle in his face and arms. Impressive! I couldn't do it, pretty sure my shoulders would shatter.

*THIS WILL BE USED* as reference material for the next 50 years - well done guys...!!! Thank you to everyone who contributed.

The accuracy was absolutely incredible, you praised him so much throughout the video but the skill displayed here is astonishing, awesome to see.

This is as high quality as UKposts can get. All of you are making an amazing job and getting the nuances of this highly controversial topic. Thanks to everyone involved for providing such content for free for the rest of us to enjoy!

As a thought, fear of penetrating the visor might have 2 additional factors. Natural inclination to flinch and avoid things coming straight at your eyes, even if you know the goggles/visor would protect you. Also, even if it doesn't penetrate, if the arrow shatters a single wood splinter entering the slit would probably blind you in that eye for life. A suggestion for if you ever do this again, stick a sheet of thin paper behind the eye sockets inside the helmet, to see if any splinters are fragmenting through that area. (And of course if you're talking about shattered arrow fragments, you're also worried about the ones that shattered glancing off the guy Infront of, or beside you.) Love the video. A few of those non-glancing head shots that didn't penetrate might still be doing some concussion damage from the way the heads getting moved around, as well as whiplash damage to the neck

That was magnificent. The best arrow vs armour testing I have ever seen by far. Really cool to watch the effect of form and deflection. Also to see the energy dissipation as so many of those arrows just exploded. The faceplate testing was particularly fun, and seriously impressive as to how well that helmet stood up to such punishment.

Would be awesome if a sound wizard could clone/cut/paste all the different arrow shattering ploinks to give an impression of how a hailstorm of arrows would've sounded hitting a group of well plated knights.

Well done, everyone! It seems that when in doubt, shoot a Frenchman in the belly. You deal with 'bite' in this one, which I mentioned in a comment on one of your other recent vids. the psychological effect of a near miss to the eye must be great. Also, if you are being hit hard by many arrows, how easy is it to stay upright and advance, even if none penetrates?

Imagine being under a immense shower of these arrow storms , the fear ,the noise of the arrows thuding home or pinging off . The screams of pain and panic and endless intensity of arrows , it must have been frightening beyond our modern minds and then you would have to fight the battle immediately after the arrows had stopped .

There is no way this video was 45 minutes long! I started watching it without checking the runtime and when it was over I was like "well, that was a nice little video" and just saw that it lasted for almost 45 minutes! It felt like 5 at most! I've never seen time pass so quickly as it did with watching this video. Incredible - just like the bow "shooting" in this video!

Great experiments! It really shows that you had to shoot many, many arrows against armored enemies as most arrows would either miss or hit well protected areas. The amount of expert archers and top notch equipment is mind boggling. But so is the effort it took to fabricate ONE suit of armor like that...

An an archer, I am really impressed with Joe's stamina and accuracy! To pull a 160 lb bow that many times and be as accurate as he was. Amazing.

This is an incredible piece of experimental field archaeology. Superb. Joe's archery is frankly terrifying. To imagine a few thousand Joes on the battlefield, loosing up to a dozen arrows a minute. Absolute carnage.

Really love the dedication to the scientific method. You took all the criticisms and (possible) shortcomings of the first test/video, did your research, verified what you were doing is as accurate as is reasonable in the modern day, and set up a new test that allowed you to glean much more information: more shots loosed, from different angles, at various parts of the armor, and with 2 types of arrowhead. Just astounding work. A fascinating watch. Thank you so much for making this.

Watching experts speaking about their passion is such a rewarding experience. The effort and the quality of this video is very clear and I thank all involved in it's creation, you are teaching so many, so much, and deserve all the praise from the comments. Exceptional work.

Brilliantly informative and interesting, and also well filmed etc. impressive work from everybody.

All and every person participated in making of this film deserves admiration. It is just perfect! You are a good team of passionate people, producing unique educative content of incredible accuracy and quality. Now the bar is placed very high. P.S. The decibels within the helmet were also measured! You came extremely prepared to this shooting.

The archer is a beast. Imagine facing an entire unit of soldiers like that, pointing their arrows at you. Awesome content, congratulations to everyone involved!

I know he's been doing it for a long time, but it's still so incredible to watch Joe repeatedly draw a bow of that weight, and be able to repeatedly strike a man sized target at that distance. It's so interesting to watch a master at his craft.

Very few people can get away with being as completely and totally devoid of excitement while saying "I'm pretty excited" like Toby Capwell does. The man is a living embodiment of the stone face emoji and we all love him for it.

A team of experts and men who enjoy his work and HISTORY. I never seen this channel and happy I now have

Tod and everyone else, we're the ones that are thankful. This is leagues ahead of anything we saw until now. Absolutely incredible work.

You boys are not only picking up the slack the modern "history channels" on TV dropped, but you lads just ran a marathon with it too! Splendid educational content!

Historian and Museum curator, Toby Capwell, PhD and the rest of these experts giggling like schoolboys was definitely worth the price of my contribution. Excellent work! Looking forward to future projects.

You, gentlemen, have outdone it with this production! This is the best historical armor or archery film/documentary made to date! So much irrefutably brought to light it's mind-blowing. I wish for a day when future layman history buffs will look back at this and think, "that's all common knowledge." If such an enlightened time ever comes you lot can know for a fact that these experiments paved the way. Cheers!

Man, props to Joe, he only missed two shots! And that bow looks heckin' thick. I love how this is a culmination of many masters of different aspects of shooting the target. Also this is all from one archer! There were so many archers during that battle (I'm assuming lol)

I just finished the portion of the video that starts at 18:19 where Joe is told to actively deliver effective shots and he just blasts three shots into the underbelly of this poor knight like he was just toying before and is going for the kill now. I can't stress out enough how impressed I am by this man's skill in archery

Joe is incredible, there are few people that could shoot this kind of bow so many times, but he is also able to aim at specific points in the armour.

Congratulations, amazing work! I came here after getting to know your work through the channel @BrasaodeArmas, the quality and seriousness taken in this research is wonderful. May your work and study lead to new horizons regarding the period studied.

These lads are like the avengers of medieval military history

Hi, I’m french and I feel the compassion of Dr Tobie Capwell towards this valiant French knight, he looks at him with emotion and respect, I felt that and without any surprise he showed him his gratitude with a pat on his shoulder at the end. The best part for me! We say Azincourt in French. Best.

This is legit one of the best uses of the internet I've ever seen. Citizen science crowdfunded globally to answer questions I've been hoping to see more documentaries about since I was a kid. Good job guys! Thanks. 🙏

Excellent tests. Tod, your enthusiasm to find out what really could have happened in these ancient battles is astounding. Thanks for the videos.

Flipping A! Possibly the absolute best video on UKposts. I was enthralled the entire time. Wishing there was more. Thank you to ALL experts, and parties, camera and other crew included, to bring this masterpiece to us. Freaking A, Imma sit here, and watch it again. Let's be honest, probably two more times. Thank you all again.

Gotta admire Joe for shooting all these arrows with 160lb bow that many times. Holy crap

Better than a History channel production. Absolutely fascinating and thanks to Tod's workshop.

Love your videos! It is a refreshing break from all the other drama on UKposts. I need more of these!

Thanks for making this and sharing all this with us. This must have taken an amazing amount of work to create, so it feels like a real privilege to watch it.

What's remarkable is how carefully designed the armor was in that age. They knew "exactly" what they were doing. Very impressive.

And this gentlemen must be one of the best pieces of historical research that has even been done on this planet. It is mindblowing how many things we have discovered and how many more aspects there are to this topic. Thank you all very much for putting this together. I feel honored and lucky to have been able to see the results of this effort!

I find this stuff quite interesting - But you're passion and enthusiasm makes it 1000% better. Another great vid.

Hey guys. I just wanted to say thanks for the great video. Also, a big thanks to those involved. Seeing how much you guys enjoyed it. I can tell you I was just the same. Ohhh, ahhhh and oooof, after every shot. Sweet video. Awesome work!

This video should be played in museums alongside the armor! An educational video for the ages.

As some one who has been doing HEMA for the past 17 years it brings me massive joy to see how far open source research on subjects like this has gotten since its early days. Thank you all who worked on this, it really broadens our understanding and helps people like me who study in related fiels more than you can imagine. Once again, thank you

Nice to see your high-quality videos get the adecuate attention I feel they deserve. Stellar work! Of course, around 25 shots were fired, so I think results may vary depending on changing amount of volume, bows and archers. I don't argue the results of this test though. A just think that different results would occur with a higher amount of shots

Absolutely incredible film with the absolute best in their field! Thank you for pulling this together....and I have to say, HUGE props to the sound techs on this - amazing clarity, especially with that wind!

Oh man, I've been looking forward to this for so long (I backed the Kickstarter the day it was announced), and it does *not* disappoint! The attention to detail in making sure that everything was as historically accurate as possible, and testing different materials to show what the differences are between how they perform is exactly what I wanted. Especially that hounskull bascinet: I've always wanted to see a hounskull bascinet getting hit by arrows in different places and from different angles! I love that this video busts the myth that armour of the day was useless against war bows, while also busting the myth that armour of the day was a hard counter to war bows.

There is little else more satisfying than listening to experts in their fields analyze and talk about the things they're most passionate about. This project is phenomenal, Tod. Thank you, sincerely for putting this together. This is the kind of stuff that I wish was on The History Channel. It's more informative and entertaining than any documentary I've seen on TV in years. Well done to everyone on this team. A++ work

This was spectacular. So many other tests have ignored the fact that armor has gaps, defects etc. Imagine being hit with 10 or more at once. It’s going to find a gap or ring your bell

Amazing work everyone involved! I was just rereading Juliet Barker's impressive Agincourt: The King, the Campaign, the Battle. She describes arrows piercing plate armour directly and finding their way through breathing vent holes and eye slits. But she didn't have the benefit of your incredible experimental archeology at the time of writing. She's shown a great willingness to revise in the light of new information, as she did between the 2005 and the 2015 600th anniversary of the battle edition. Maybe she'll incorporate your findings into future editions. Love these videos that are both entertaining and actually educational, when so much "edutainment" is actually mindless, unsupported drivel.

This is better than many TV documentaries, the attention to detail and enthusiasm are astounding. Please keep doing what you're doing.

Tod and the whole crew - you are amazing. I am truly grateful that i've found this chanel and that I am able to watch this. It is amazing that this group of passionate, analytical people could meet and do this, and then show it to the world. Thank you all, hats off!

Really phenomenal production you all have put together. Truly amazing work, so much so that you can feel the hard work and the love that was put into all of it. Thank you for this

I really love that they made an effort to account for the materials used. Modern industrial steel is significantly higher quality than what they had back then, so using the mild steel as a replacement was an excellent idea.

The amount of skill, research, training, and just plain hard work it took to produce this series is just absolutely mind boggling. Thank you to all of you whom did so much to make it possible!

For all the History junkies like myself, and for the sake of empiric data in regards to this subject, what this channel is doing, is pure altruistic work. Thank you all so much for this.

Great points! Well covered! Thanks for the work put forth in this experiment.

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:12 Tod's *Workshop is conducting "Arrows versus Armour 2," testing medieval armor with arrows. The armor, meticulously crafted by Augusto, includes pieces based on historical references like the Wallace Collection A69 helmet and Churburg Castle originals.* 03:22 The *armor, made of mild steel, replicates 14th-15th century French designs. Thickness variations are strategically employed to balance protection and weight, with the breastplate, arms, and visor ranging in thickness.* 06:29 Tod *emphasizes the importance of using mild steel in the armor to represent the common material of the time. The aim is to test the armor's effectiveness against arrows and gain insights into the real-world challenges faced by knights.* 08:18 The *archer, Joe Gibbs, uses a 160-pound self-yew bow, replicating historical bows from the Mary Rose. The arrows, with iron heads, are based on period-appropriate designs, aiming to simulate authentic conditions.* 10:53 The *initial test shows the armor effectively protecting against arrow strikes, with only minor dents and no penetration on the breastplate. The armor's design, including the aventail, proves successful in preventing serious injury.* 19:49 Further *tests reveal vulnerabilities, especially in the lower torso covered by mail. Arrows cause significant damage in these areas, highlighting the limitations of medieval mail armor against powerful arrows.* 21:36 Simulating *flanking shots, the armor's sides are exposed, revealing potential weaknesses. The tests demonstrate the strategic balance in medieval armor design, with reinforced frontal protection but vulnerability on the sides.* 23:22 Armor *is effective; wrist hit but still functional. Arrows hitting articulation, penetrating bone.* 24:26 Armor *dynamic: plates stop arrows, mail turns some, but not all shots. French attacking English center.* 25:39 Archers *targeting knight's exposed areas. Armor absorbs impact, limiting damage.* 26:25 Decibel *reading of arrow impact surprisingly not loud. Back exposed, kidneys hit, armor's varying effectiveness.* 28:02 Armor's *effectiveness observed. Questions about potential differences with case-hardened armor.* 29:26 Reviewing *footage: armor successes and failures. Results suggest a balanced outcome between arrowsmith and armorer.* 30:52 Varied *arrow hits: bouncing off, penetrating, and glancing. Aventail pierced; discussion on armor's impact.* 31:44 Testing *case-hardened arrowheads. Assessing if case hardening improves arrow penetration.* 34:53 Case-hardened *arrows show improved penetration. Discussion on medieval understanding of arrow effectiveness.* 37:10 Testing *arrows on neck and face. Aventail pierced; potential risks to delicate areas discussed.* 39:13 Arrows *penetrate helmet; one through the eye socket. Evaluation of armor effectiveness and potential vulnerabilities.* 42:01 Summary: *Wrought iron performs well. Plate armor effective at weak points. Case-hardening's impact inconclusive, calls for evidence. Acknowledgments and future supplementary films mentioned.* Made with HARPA AI

That is some mighty fine craftsmanship by Augusto. I didn't expect the armour to hold up so well, considering how powerful Joe and his bow are.

Legitimately some of the highest quality content I've ever seen, here or on any platform. All of the experts are equal parts knowledgeable and passionate, and their love for what they're doing is infectious, the setup is absolutely brilliant, and the execution phenomenal. And perhaps the biggest shoutout to Joe's shooting - watching him loose those arrows is a perfect reminder of how physical a task that is.

I've read so much of the period, and, as an english fantasist imagined more. This is a beautifully made video. The passion, dedication, thought, understanding and knowledge of your group shines through. I've learned a lot and had a lot of my (admittedly amateur) research and understanding confirmed. Also love how this goes into the areas raised in your discussions and the comments after AvsA 1. Next step steeled tips - I'd be curious to know whether these arrowheads were waxed - my semi-educated guess would be a minor but well worth having bonus vs all protection for steeling and vs chain and cloth layers for waxing. Scholargladiatoria's video suggests that case hardening and steeling were standard for military arrows for much of the period despite the lack of archeological record. My limited understanding of historical metalworking would suggest that this would be a likely step.Toby's "if they coulda-they woulda" is exactly where I'm at on this. Bending forwards reduces the effectiveness of the angle of the of the upper breastplate. If those final shots are with unhardened heads, steeled and waxed turns those aventail and the visor penetrations into potentially lethal. As you guys all say the armour and weapon are both doing their jobs and evolving - quite fascinating - bravo.

Gutted I found this so late. Great work by everyone involved. Two things of particular interest stand out: First, that mathematically it was only taking 4-5 arrows on average in the early general tests to find a weak spot. The great strength of the longbow was its rate of fire, and here we can see that demonstrated to full effect, likely thinning the French ranks just a little bit with each volley. Second was the hit on the spaulders that knocked them loose. We can imagine over the course of a campaign lasting months that bits of armour would break off or get damaged in other ways during skirmishes and even sparring, as seen in that arrow hit. This increases the probability of men having to go into battle with pieces of armour missing or clinging on via running repairs, further enhancing their vulnerability to volume arrow fire. Super interesting. Again, great work.

I really like Augusto's armor. I am especially impressed by the helmet and visor. Before this test, I erroneously thought the vent holes were a point of weakness, but they held up to every hit on them. I only wish I had the money to buy an armor like this one from Augusto.

As a lifelong historical nerd, I am so thankful to be able to see these things researched and shared in my lifetime. It's honestly just cool! Thank you!

Fascinating video, really enjoyed the chat between the armourer and fletcher. Would be cool to see a series of them competing/comparing different methods to outmatch the other!

This is a spectacular series, with everyone being a true master of his craft. Well done!

The sheer amount of love and care that is put into this channel to make quality content is just astounding. Its weird how a guy whose content is mostly about deadly weapons can be this wholesome.

Well done as always, you can feel that extra level of polish in this one. You all have good on screen chemistry and i would totally watch a Netflix series on this. Great work.

What an incredible undertaking! This is such invaluable work for history buffs, science nerds, and aspiring storytellers who want to have as realistic an understanding of medieval combat as possible, which breathes life into their fiction.

dang! this was fascinating. good work guys! I can easily imagine parts of an old, actual battle. fascinating

This series is probably one of the best historical projects on UKposts.

What is interesting as well, is the fact that hundreds and thousands of armored knights and men at arms would also protect each other by simply existing in a formation. Simultaneously there would be missed arrows hitting buddies in behind and so much debris, shattered arrows, shafts etc. This extraordinary video just shows how proper physical tests can bring about more hypotheses. Amazingly done, kept smiling through all 44 minutes and thank you all!

Videos like these keep fueling my desire for history! Keep it up!

Such amazing film! So much actual insight on how it all works! Thank you guys for delivering it all!

The mud must been a decisive factor. On flat dry ground they might move so fast, you can't aim for the gaps. But if your horse is shot under you, you land in the mud, turning weak sides to the archer. And then try to walk towards the enemy in the mud with heavy amor, makes you slow and easier to hit. That was surely the day, when the archers should lose, but didn't because of that factor, the mud. Great job guys. What an efford you put down to this experiment. Experimental history and achaeology at its finest.

That was so amazing to see! I did my Master's thesis on the longbow, the hundred years war, and a survey of contemporary art depicting armor from the period. I had turned in my final copy to my advisor when the first Arrows vs. Armour came out and I added a small forward that called it out as a great project that started to test what was only theoretical and how it was an important piece, but only a piece of the answer. Now to see this, I feel like everything I said has been vindicated and I can't wait to see your supplementary videos. Great job to all those involved.

Fantastic video thanks for all of the hard work and for posting it.

Absolutly great! Thank you all for giving this to us!

This is a spectacular piece of content! The psychological impact of being pelted by arrows, hoping that your armor continues to hold as you're helpless beyond continuing to walk towards the archers cannot be overstated

You assembled a real "A Team" for this video.

Le tireur à l'arc est excellent! Super vidéo! Merci!

Truly amazing attention to detail, glad i found this channel❤❤

Outstanding work Tod. This is very much a work of history and is definitely a strong contribution to the literature. Thanks very much to you and the team. I personally think that these contributions should be formally recognised by a history department of a university. Very happy to hear there are more films coming.

Absolutely amazing work by all those involved with this, really appreciate the work that went into it and the results speak for themselves. Just let us know when funding for Arrows vs Armour 3 gets going. This was already some of the best money I've ever spent.

It is just a roller coaster of emotions to see such a massive bow is smashing arrows into an amour, which seemed to be a master piece of art itself. It is somehow amazing to watch but it break my heart every time again, when such a beautiful crafted arrow is worn down. It is so great to do something like this on purpose to learn something about history. I would guess they had done it in the past in an equal way to design this amours at the time.

Thank you for your efforts on this material, extremely interesting.

Tod and Co: Making history fun! Seriously, this is legit historical research, and it's fun, and entertaining. The full trifecta. Kudos to all.

If I could describe this film using only one word it would be “incredible.” Incredible archer, armor, craftsman, and production. I cannot say it enough, you all did an absolutely incredible job.

I remember years ago I was at the Wallace collection (go) and Toby Capwell walked over and asked me what I was looking at (the falchion) he was amazing talked to me explained so much and a obvious love of the subject and whilst I knew so much less didn't talk down engaged in a conversation where I learnt a lot. He wont remember me but I remember that. An absolute gent.

Had so much fun tonight watching this. Best wishes from Spain, crazy shooting, amazing craftmanship and analysis!