With the power of modern weaponry, personal armor means less than it ever has. What's the point of a flack jacket when your opponent is wielding a drone?
But in the olden days, when your foe was coming at you with swords, arrows, spears, and the odd musket, slabbing yourself with plate after plate of metal wasn't the worst idea.
I'm sure you've seen full suits of medieval armor in a museum before, but knights weren't the only soldiers to wear some weird and wacky protection. From German royalty to Siberian bear hunters, here are 22 photos of totally insane armor from literal metal days.
1
1400s armor made by Lorenz Helmschmied for the emperor.
2
Man wearing traditional Kiribati armor, circa 1925.
3
Dr. Guy Brewster’s Bullet-Proof Armor, 1917.
4
A Yamabushi, Buddhist warrior monk, poses while donning armor and traditional robes, Japan, 1895.
5
King Henry VIII's armor with an exaggerated cod piece.
6
African with crusader armor given by Tuaregs, 1921.
7
Warsaw policeman with plate armor and shield, 1934.
8
An American soldier posing in captured German armor during WWI, 1918.
9
A samurai and his retainers wearing mail armor and armed with naginata, 1870.
10
Photo of an Indian state executioner wearing spiked armor, with sword and shield. India, 1903.
11
A German soldier wearing infanterie-panzer armor on the Western Front, 1918.
12
Georgian soldier in full suit of armor, 1877.
13
Siberian bear-hunting armor from the 1800s.
14
Two samurai in armor. Japan, 1870-1880.
15
Kiribati warrior in armor and with a weapon made of shark’s teeth, circa 1890.
16
Complete suit of armor from the Doge's Palace armory in Venice.
17
16th century suit of armor, Dresden Armory.
18
German Suit of Armor from 1480.
19
1612, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, wearing a suit of armor which still exists today.
20
Ceremonial Armor of Mustafa III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
21
Koryak men wearing traditional armour with bows. Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Siberia, 1901.
22
Australian police officer wearing Ned Kelly's bulletproof armor, 1880.
