Valyrian Armor

[WhiteGhost]

Source? Cause everything I know about metal says a sword that could do that wouldn't be able to hold an edge.

He's right. A good sword has flexibility. Some types more, some less. A samurai sword is extremely flexible, and incredibly sharp. A traditional long sword is far less flexible, but still has some give. In arms and armor, lighter, and stronger are always better. Always. The only reason such a thing would be rare is simply cost and availability.

[TrueMetis]

Not much you know about metal, then.

Apparently, thanks for the info.

[Ser Lepus]

He's right. A good sword has flexibility. Some types more, some less. A samurai sword is extremely flexible, and incredibly sharp. A traditional long sword is far less flexible, but still has some give. In arms and armor, lighter, and stronger are always better. Always. The only reason such a thing would be rare is simply cost and availability.

Not sure the katanas have more flexibility than a european sword. I have never seen a katana's flexibility being tested the same way it is often done for european swords, bending it 90º, or stepping on the weapon to see if it can support the weight.

[WhiteGhost]

Not sure the katanas have more flexibility than a european sword. I have never seen a katana's flexibility being tested the same way it is often done for european swords, bending it 90º, or stepping on the weapon to see if it can support the weight.

A long sword, by virtue of its thickness, cannot bend nearly as much as a samurai sword/katana. It's physics.

[Ser Lepus]

A long sword, by virtue of its thickness, cannot bend nearly as much as a samurai sword/katana. It's physics.

I have seen real medieval swords and their blades were wider than a katana's, but not thicker. As a matter of fact, I think the backside of the katana could easily be thicker than the blade of a longsword.

[WhiteGhost]

I have seen real medieval swords and their blades were wider than a katana's, but not thicker. As a matter of fact, I think the backside of the katana could easily be thicker than the blade of a longsword.

I give up. My point was that a sword is flexible, not a rigid piece of steel in response to an earlier comment. This is totally derailing from my point. And just one last thing, a long sword is much thicker than a katana. You can't forge blood grooves into a blade without sufficient thickness.

[mormont]

You can't forge blood grooves into a blade without sufficient thickness.

Nobody ever 'forged blood grooves' into a blade.

[WhiteGhost]

Nobody ever 'forged blood grooves' into a blade.

Yes. They do/did. There is a specific name for them that I'm not going to look up at the moment, but that's another name for them. Many modern hunting knives still call them "blood grooves". Look it up before you argue about something you don't know.edit: http://lmgtfy.com/?q...rd blood grooveedit, edit: http://science.howstuffworks.com/sword-making1.htm

[Theda Baratheon]

With blades of the material being exceptionally rare, I can't imagine how they would create whole sets of armour with it.

[TrueMetis]

Yes. They do/did. There is a specific name for them that I'm not going to look up at the moment, but that's another name for them. Many modern hunting knives still call them "blood grooves". Look it up before you argue about something you don't know.

Looking it up says it's called a fuller, and blood grooves is a myth.

[mormont]

Yes. They do/did. There is a specific name for them that I'm not going to look up at the moment, but that's another name for them. Many modern hunting knives still call them "blood grooves". Look it up before you argue about something you don't know.edit: http://lmgtfy.com/?q...rd blood grooveedit, edit: http://science.howst...ord-making1.htm

As TrueMetis says: the name you're looking for is 'fullers'. They're certainly not 'blood grooves' and you will never hear a smith, historian, or swordsman call them that. Any modern hunting knife that is being sold to you as a weapon with 'blood grooves' is probably being marketed with the aid of stills from one of the later 'Rambo' movies. And thank you, but I don't need to look it up: I have a couple of fullered swords sitting right here.I would have hoped it's apparent from my earlier posts that I do know a little bit about swords...

[WhiteGhost]

Looking it up says it's called a fuller, and blood grooves is a myth.

It's not a myth, it's a "common" term used for something that I very specifically said I wasn't looking up and couldn't recall at the time. Shall we continue?edit: also, very nice of you guys to provide me with information that I linked to myself in an earlier post.

[Ser Lepus]

I give up. My point was that a sword is flexible, not a rigid piece of steel in response to an earlier comment. This is totally derailing from my point. And just one last thing, a long sword is much thicker than a katana. You can't forge blood grooves into a blade without sufficient thickness.

Not all medieval european swords had fullers. Also, many japanese swords had fullers:

Japanese blades

In Japanese bladesmithing, fullers have a rich tradition and terminology, enough that there are separate terminologies for the top (hi, usually pronounced as bi when used as a successive word) and bottom (tome) ends of the feature. A listing follows:

• Hi
  
  • Bo-bi: A continuous straight groove of notable width, known as katana-bi on tantō. With soe-bi, a secondary narrow groove follows the inner straight length of the main one. With tsure-bi, the secondary is similar but continues beyond the straight length.
    
  • Futasuji-bi: Two parallel grooves.
    
  • Shobu-bi: A groove shaped like the leaf of an iris plant.
    
  • Naginata-bi: A miniature bo-bi whose top is oriented opposite from the blade's, and usually accompanied by a soe-bi. Seen primarily on naginatas.
    
  • Kuichigai-bi: Two thin grooves that run the top half of the blade; the bottom half is denoted by the outer groove stopping halfway while the inner one expands to fill the width.
    
  • Koshi-bi: A short rounded-top groove found near the bottom of a blade, near to the tang.
    

  [*]Tome

  • Kaki-toshi: The groove runs all the way down to the end of the tang.
    
  • Kaki-nagashi: The groove tapers to a pointed end halfway down the tang.
    
  • Kaku-dome: The groove stops as a square end within 3 cm of the tang's upper end.
    
  • Maru-dome: Similar to the kaku, except with a rounded-end.
    

[WhiteGhost]

I never said one did, or didn't. This is tiresome, sorry I tried to contribute something here... I deeply regret it.

[mormont]

Nothing at all wrong with trying to contribute. It's all in how you do it. For example, you should check your facts with a reputable source, look things up instead of telling us you're not going to bother, avoid being rude, and graciously concede when you've been shown to be wrong. (It happens to all of us.)

[WhiteGhost]

The only thing I was "wrong" about, was using a slang term for a fuller/furrow. Look at the progression of posts that lead to that, and tell me I was wrong. I have no issue admitting when I'm mistaken, I do it every single day (usually more than once or the wife type substance freaks).

Anyhow, I'm done on this topic. I came here looking for some further info on the books, saw a comment that was incorrect and two days later here we are...

[Kingdoms'Rights]

Back to the OP, and the main reason I dont think Valyrian armor exists. If you are a decent to badass warrior with a Valyrian steel weapon, what are the chance of you getting hurt or even scratched by the opponent? They swing at you and your weapon cuts theirs (and maybe them) in half. Similar to the Dothraki perspective, why wear armour if its unnecessary? Just be amazing with your weapon, and dont get hit! :fencing:

[Quentyn Baratheon]

Back to the OP, and the main reason I dont think Valyrian armor exists. If you are a decent to badass warrior with a Valyrian steel weapon, what are the chance of you getting hurt or even scratched by the opponent? They swing at you and your weapon cuts theirs (and maybe them) in half. Similar to the Dothraki perspective, why wear armour if its unnecessary? Just be amazing with your weapon, and dont get hit! :fencing:

Pretty high. Everybody can hit you, even an untrained peasant. You can always be hit, that's not even counting on everything can go awry with the battlefield and weather conditions and so on.

Dothrakis are stupid. You don't go in battle naked.

[Ser Gerion Galifrey]

I see a lot of people saying "Valyrian Steel is too expensive to make armor out of," But, isn't Valyrian Steel only expensive because no one knows how to make it?

I mean, It would've been less expensive, back when there were tons of smiths pumping out shitloads of Valyrian Steel..

[TrueMetis]

I see a lot of people saying "Valyrian Steel is too expensive to make armor out of," But, isn't Valyrian Steel only expensive because no one knows how to make it?

I mean, It would've been less expensive, back when there were tons of smiths pumping out shitloads of Valyrian Steel..

I'd expect there would be a lot more swords around if that were true.