Anyone can shoot through armor???

Biggest issue I see here: Tod’s test used armor that was made as close to historical standards as possible. Lars here is using costume grade armor that’s paper thin and not heat treated and hardened. This is the equivalent of cutting through soft fruit and claiming it’s the same as a human skull. I would wager that a historically made breastplate like the one Tod used would protect just fine against Lars’ setup here.

What we noticed in he beginning of early modern period is that as firearms got more effective, armor was upgraded as well. Armor could then withstand shots from contemporary firearms. Only later the firearms got so powerful that making armor resilient enough to withstand said firearms felt redundant and people mostly stopped using armor made to withstand a shot from a firearm. We would see the same process with bows. So if bows got stronger, the armorers would accomodate for it by making the armor thicker.

First HUGE issue is that the armor Lars used is costume grade. The steel is paper thin and if I had to wager what it is, it's probably some kind of mild, stainless steel. The one in Tod's video was an accurate replica of a historical breastplate. An actual historic breastplate of that period would have been 1.5 to 3 mm of medium to high carbon steel that in case of the really expensive knight's armor would have also been heat treated to make it even more resistant. A breastplate like that could withstand a hit from a contemporary FIREARM! Winged Hussar's breastplate could withstand a shot from a 1600's pistol and even a MUSKET! The only "bows" that could match that energy were siege crossbows that had hand a hand crank mechanism to pull the string bc it had draw weight approaching 1000 lbs, and contemporary armors could, in favorable conditions (high quality steel, not a "point blank" shot) withstand that...

Tod’s tests involved a series of experts in their own areas. This testing replaces expertise with deceptive practises.

There is one point missing. Whenever new weapon was introduced, new armour soon arrived. So if people would use this type of bows, other people would find a way to upgrade armour to stop it. Maybe two layers of steel would work, maybe higher sloping would be the answer, but they would figure it out.

you should get in contact with todd, so you get to shoot historically accurate armor with this bow and steel arrows and see if it withstands it. I don't think that armor of yours is thicker than a beercan. Even if it's a compound bow and the arrow is made from steel, that draw weight seems too small to do anything to a proper armor.

There's a huge difference between trying to shoot correctly made armor with a Longbow and trying to shoot through modern costume armor with a modern bow.

One point I did not see mentioned yet is, that the arrows will not break after impact. The advantage of wooden arrows is that they often break on impact. Thus they can not be shot back. (Also the cost of making hardened steel arrow shafts would be an enormous investment for the amount needed.) Those pricey arrows would be fired from one side to the other like hot potatoes. I would love to see this tested properly as a what-if scenario. Other comments mentioned the rest of the requirements for that. PS: Also love the way this community just goes right into: Allright productive criticism here we go.

All I really learned from this test is that costume armour can deflect longbow shots.

There's a reason that Tod's Workshop took the amount of time and money they did on their tests. They had historically accurate armor of legitimate quality from reputable craftsman. That breastplate turned away musket pistols. There is no comparison between Lars' tests and the ones done by the good boys at Tod's Workshop because we literally have no information about the breastplate used. But based on it being penetrated by an Oneida Eagle at max 75lb draw, regardless of the arrow weight or design, the apparent flex when the target is moved even slightly, and Lars' own admission that he didn't know how it was made + the deliberate omission of the steel's gauge... Probably dubious quality.

Did this guy shoot through a keyhole? And spin shot through the eye hole? That is beyond impressive.

I love how one of the requisites for what would have changed history is both A.) a modern compound bow and B.) a modern, custom made steel arrow. Also, to say it's surprising that yeeting a stainless steel rod out of a modern bow at very thin armor made it through, is a bit odd.

In Visby, Sweden we saw a dude shoot some 120lbs bow at a hardened steel chestplate and guess what? It hardly left a scratch on the surface of the metal. You need pretty substantial force to dent hardened steel as it really dont want to do it, on most cases it cracks before it bends. The type of metal we are talkin about matters a lot. In this particular video we see massive denting in the armor so its clearly not a hardened steel.

2:30 Historical arrows where ticker, double tapered, heavier and have specific heads for each kind of target... ¡And manufactured under budget concerns! then, a full metallic shaft was not possible by budget nor technology, the work mostly with wrought iron instead of steel.

2:44 The timing of this narration is so funny. Historical archers definitely jumped up while twisting.

Amazing invention! That 180 jump shot into the eye of the knight was bonkers!!

It would be also good if we could see in the description the characteristics of that breastplate, e.g., what is its exact composition, thickness, etc.

I think this video plays in to the "medieval people were all stupid" stereotype. We can assume with confidence that arrows with metal shafts were tested during the period but for whatever reason were not adopted as the norm. Most likely it still wasn't enough to penetrate real armour, or if it could it wasn't reliable enough to warrant sinking precious metal resources or extra time in to. Also consider that arrows were a long-range tactic in warfare so you'd just be throwing money at the opposing army.

"Historically accurate" steel breastplate from a Halloween costume

"I used a rather random metal armor, since this test could not be historical anyway, I did not think it made sense to spend large resources on an authentically made historical armor." You thought wrong good sir. "This test only shows that it is surprisingly easy for this rebuilt bow and these metal arrows to shoot through sheet metal*."