#292 – Armor

I think the first time I ever saw a suit of armor in real life was on a grade school trip to the Art Institute of Chicago. We went there expecting to see only paintings and the like. Walking through that dimly lit room with cases of armor and weaponry was very exciting. We marveled at the swords that were nearly twice our height and examined the dents and scarring in the metal trying to imagine what may have happened to cause it. I’ve always wanted to try on a suit of armor but I have the feeling that it’s a lot more interesting from the outside than in.

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0 thoughts on “#292 – Armor”

  1. .dantheman says:

    The Court Jester! (anyone remember that one?)

  2. Brett says:

    Wow, Biff probably has THE best posture ever now!

  3. Macabelle says:

    You can’t tell, but his arms are about to snap backward and wrap around that pole.

    Thank you Chris for sparing us having to witness this moment of pain.

  4. Ken says:

    I see a misspelling!

  5. Sean says:

    I love this webcomic. Biff almost always cheers me up.

  6. Countchunko says:

    you are correct about armor. ‘specially in the sun.

    Metal heats quickly, and it’s the biggest set of weights you’d care to don. And plate mail like that makes for limited mobility.

    Looks like Biff’s got one hand free. Someone hand him a soda? He’ll be there for a while.

  7. Macabelle says:

    Come to think of it, won’t Biff just begin wildly flying North?

  8. Aiden! says:

    Countchunko’s quite correct. I’m a member of the SCA (http://www.sca.org), and I can tell you firsthand that plate armor’s a pain in the ass. It gets uncomfortably warm (be sure to keep some liquids handy), weighs about 45 lbs (if you get a fairly light suit), restricts mobility, and is really hard to take off in a hurry (remember the “liquids” comment, earlier? Yeah, it can backfire).

    In the long run, as medieval armor goes, you’re better off going much lighter.

  9. Micah says:

    Where does Biff keep getting the money?

  10. At least he won’t lose any needles while he’s wearing that armor.

  11. Gobbledegook says:

    At least Biff wasn’t walking by an airfield… that could have been ugly.

    One of my hobbies is making chainmail armor (I have way too much spare time) and the steel vest I’m working on weighs about 35 to 40 pounds right now.
    Now I desperately want to magnetize it and see what happens.
    THANKS, BIFF!
    🙂

  12. Seraphine says:

    Biff is only stuck until a negative pole comes along.
    If people will only STOP giving him liquids!
    Suits of armor don’t come with convenient
    porta-potty facilities, and may therefore rust.

  13. this is my new favorite 🙂

  14. what would be cool (sorry meant to include this) is if there were 3 poles and he was stuck in the middle of triangular magnetization.. of course it would be hard to tell since hed just be floating there

  15. unfunk says:

    isn’t it spelled “Magnetic”? 😛

  16. Kuroiten says:

    .dantheman: Yup! I remember that movie, and this definitely reminds me of that part…you know the one.

    I just got back from a Ren Faire this last weekend, and there was a fellow kitted out in full plate. He said the whole suit was 70 lbs. Yeesh. I’ll stick with rapier and jerkin.

  17. Chris says:

    5 points to unfunk!

  18. Sax says:

    At least Biff wasn’t walking by an airfield… that could have been ugly.

    Tickets? What tickets?

  19. C4Pottery says:

    I have some chainmail and a pair of mitten gauntlets, though the chainmail leaves me covered in metal dust and the gauntlets are really rusty. I tried, at least. I need riveted mail or something. Do keyrings work for making full armor, Gobbledegook?

  20. William says:

    I hade one of my fingers cough by one of those electric plug magnets (the strong kind) cause i passed near while having my keychain rapped around my finger

  21. Chandler says:

    He must have been walking by that pole in a wierd manner in order for him to be stuck to it like that. More likely that his face would be well.. facing the pole! 😛

  22. Alex H says:

    Good one!… I’ve placed a link that a few people who’ve commented about the Court Jester will want to visit… to rekindle their memories 😀

    one of the funniest movies of ALL TIME!

  23. Frank says:

    It’s totally more interesting from the outside. I’ve got a breastplate and a helmet…You can’t move for diddly, even with just the breastplate on.

  24. Jameson says:

    That would suck. Yep, not gonna lie. That would suck.

  25. Gobbledegook says:

    C4 pottery: I actually did that once to see how it would turn out. The rings were really big, so it looked weird and didn’t provide much coverage for piercing weapons, but it did work. Maybe if the rings were smaller it would have come out better.

    P.S.- If you want to get rid of the rust on your chainmail, get a can with a lid and put some coarse sand in it. put in your item and roll it around for a while. The sand should get buff off most of the rust for you.
    🙂

  26. Laje Kahr says:

    Metal utility poles?
    All the ones around here are wood with metal stakes poked in them. (A few exceptions exist, but usually the metal ones are the other type–big pyramidic towers for power.)

  27. Knife Knut says:

    I guess he forgot his Power Sword of Demagnificationâ„¢.

  28. BlueWaterDragon says:

    Very cool. Nice to see so many Re-enactors reading this. I too have a set of chain, its a bit of a pain in the pants as it doesn’t fit me properly.

  29. Tuesday says:

    Silly Biff, not EVERYTHING is made better with magnets.

  30. Elkian says:

    Well, you’d never lose a piece. Just remember to take it off before using the ‘puter.

  31. steve-o says:

    I don’t even want to know what horrible place Biff was going to in a magnetic suit of armor.

  32. Marr965 says:

    On a completely unrelated topic, I’m currently doing the washing up, and I’m having a bubbles high… Am I WIERD or what?

  33. Manek says:

    It’s kinda funny how people are talking about platemail sucking. It’s fine if it’s properly fitted.

    ‘Course, how many people are gonna have the couple thousand bucks to get it done?

  34. Chozo says:

    It seems like everything in Biff’s life adheres to the age-old saying “It seemed like a good idea at the time…”

  35. SurveySays says:

    imagine if a car drove by while he was walking! vroooooom-clunk. *Knocks on window* hey could you stop by my house? Driver: AHHH!!

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