@cozykaffe also yes it cuts through armour... but only japanese armour... which was basically lacquered papiermaché. so.... yyyeah.
@Rosemary @cozykaffe I think mostly it was designed to protect against a hail of arrows because they certainly had an awful lot of archers. And for that purpose, fantastic.
@Rosemary @cozykaffe Oh yeah absolutely, though the idea that it "cuts through armour" with the implication that yes even that plate steel, really is just bollocks. Granted in an actual battle katanas just... weren't used either. Nodachi, naginata, yari, yes, all used. Katana were a sign of station, used as a stand in for the "soul" of a samurai, so they were never used in warfare except in desperation because to lose/damage it would be unthinkable.
@Nine @cozykaffe@snouts.online If you want something that cuts through plate armor, you're going to have to look to modern weapons like rifles. Or a plasma cutter, though you'd have to get your enemy to sit still for a long time while the plasma cutter does its thing.
@Rosemary @cozykaffe i'm trying to imagine this and i'm having a giggle over the mental image at some guy with a plasma cutter thinking they're the shit and all these people in armour just like "uhhh... someone... take that off him before he hurts himself?? because that's probably the only casualty from that there'll be."
@Nine @cozykaffe@snouts.online A bit more practical as a weapon, I imagine a chainsaw or chainsaw-like device with sufficiently high-quality cutting bits would probably work to cut through plate armor, but it still wouldn't cut through quickly enough to actually get through the armor before the other person throws you off or just stabs you.
@Rosemary @cozykaffe yeah there'd have to be some like... sci-fi laser-chainsaw shit goin' on I think for it to be an effective weapon rather than "HAHAAAAAfuck uh, just... hold still a second I swear this'll go through any moment, just gotta... get some leverage here and HEY STOP NO aw dangit c'mooon gimme that back!"
@Nine @cozykaffe@snouts.online I imagine it wasn't as heavy as full plate armor, either, though what amounts to a few dozen phonebooks strapped to you is probably far from weightless.
I think the mythbusters did an episode on paper armor once, though I don't remember the results.