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How Medieval Armorers Made Flexible Armor

Adam Savage’s Tested

413,777 views

Armor must protect its wearer, but it also must be flexible and allow for movement -- especially during combat. How did medieval armors solve this engineering paradox? At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Curator-in-Charge of the Arms and Armor department Pierre Terjanian shows Adam some of the ingenious hacks armorers were able to engineer centuries ago.

The MET's Arms and Armor Department: https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-m...
Adam Savage Meets Real Armored Gauntlets: Adam Savage Meets Real Armored Gauntlets!
Adam Savage Meets Real Ancient Swords: Adam Savage Meets Real Ancient Swords!

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Intro bumper by Abe Dieckman

Thanks for watching!

20 Comments

@tested Creator 3 years ago Pinned

The MET's Arms and Armor Department: https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/collection-areas/arms-and-armor
Adam Savage Meets Real Armored Gauntlets: https://youtu.be/59-9PlB-F1Y
Adam Savage Meets Real Ancient Swords: https://youtu.be/wJypHnsEn8o

@Edyorke 3 years ago

We often look back on history as a more primitive time, but this type of problem solving and craft really highlights how ingenious problem solving is nothing new.

@robbokeys 3 years ago (edited)

I love the fact that they spent years trying to work out what the ‘mystery’ piece is for and Adam worked it out in 2 minutes… Myth Busted!

@piorism 3 years ago (edited)

To be completely fair, it took them 50 years to get actual confirmation that it is what this piece was for.

@cleverusername9369 3 years ago (edited)

It is amazing what smiths and armourers were capable of that long ago. The quality of the craftsmanship from the 14 and 1500s, that's just astonishing. Thank you Tested, myself and a lot of other folks love this armour content. It's so fascinating to see what people were capable of back in the day, so much storytelling and problem-solving on display.

@Rileysworld727 3 years ago

That armor in that book is insane because most plate armor was designed to have the gaps protected with mail. However that plate armor doesnt require any mail to be worn. The evolution from full mail in the 13th century to full plate in the 15th century is an underated journey of technological developments.

@johnarizona3820 3 years ago

Yesterday that was armor technology and today that is HVAC ductwork.

@Rubrickety 3 years ago

Shortly after this was filmed, the conservators realized it was actually armor for the crotch of a horse.

@whatupdawg20 3 years ago

My favorite part about tested is that they are willing to produce in depth content about niche items and concepts that would be typically overlooked by other media sources. Not to mention Adams credibility as a mythbuster gets him unprecedented access to so many inteligent people and places.

@Corrina_Stanley 3 years ago

This series is really interesting thanks Adam and the Tested team.

@magisterrleth3129 3 years ago (edited)

Finally, somebody giving full plate the credit it deserves. It doesn't make you a turtle, it makes you a lobster. Lobsters are pretty flexible wherever they need to flex.

@PhoenixSmudge8293 3 years ago

It takes years for those guys to figure out where that piece of armor goes... Adam comes in and figures it out in a few seconds lmao.

@BishopStars 3 years ago

Took them 50 years to figure it out. Took Adam 5 seconds.

@ckohlermn 3 years ago

"It took from 1927 to 1974 to figure this out" he showed it to Adam and he figured it out in about 5 seconds that it was for the crotch.

@Blurns 3 years ago

Took 50 years to figure out, but Adam guessed it right in seconds.

@raymondsmit344 2 years ago (edited)

Adam has a great taste in watches. The Seiko SK009 he is wearing is an absolute classic and iconic piece of an extremely affordable, quality watch. The fact that you are wearing this rather than something that’s much more expensive and with more prestige/status, shows how humble and down to earth you are as a person.

I’d love to see Adam do a tour or dedicated video on how watches with complicated movements get made.

I bet he’d and the audience would find it very fascinating.

@DenkyManner 3 years ago

"we have a mystery piece that stumped us for years."

Adam within 3 seconds "is it for the groin?"

Expert umms and ahhs then takes us on his prepared 5 minute journey about horse armour before admitting, yes, it's for the groin.

@Fargoth_The_Smoking_Wood_Elf 3 years ago

Adam is doing some field research to make his own armor

@Epsilonsama 3 years ago (edited)

Full Plate armor was state of the art technology in its time. It was equivalent to buying a tank today in terms of cost.

@michaelnolan6054 3 years ago

In five hundred years, a display of our contemporary armor won't be nearly as impressive. " Here's the kevlar. Here's the plate carrier. This is the plate "