archduke ferdinand was wearing a thick silk vest when he was assassinated along with his wife. unfortunately he was shot in the neck an inch above the upper limit of said vest & it severed his jugular (not sure about his wife). tests done on a reconstructed section of such a vest shot at with the same make/mode of pistol (a 9mm automatic) at the same 2 metres, they proved it worked, stopping penetration and spreading the impact. *
greeks and romans at one time used folded linen armour, efficacious against arrows and slashes. as did poor archers with padded jackets in the anglo-french 100yrs. war. modern soldiers and police carry on the tradition with kevlar vests, helmets and gloves. the english in the crimean war complained about their new fancy quill backed blades bending on the greatcoats of their russian opponents, making their thrusts ineffective.
the romans used an arrow extractor that covered the barbs from behind when it could not be pushed thru & out the other side. they also understood the need to cleanse the wound of debris and used strong vinegar as a disinfectant, they had a better medical system than most modern battlefields up to very recently.
*- the BBC had a two-part documentary on the development of english firearms, i recorded it last week. watched it last night in fact. they had the segment on the duke and his bullet proof silk vest. the test was done at the royal armoury at leeds, uk. coincidental timing
