Very well! Essentially, the only ‘step up’ you can get from this would be mail (which was sometimes worn under this for those who really wanted to be sure of being protected) or some variety of plate armor, and both of those are both heavier and hotter (definitely not desired in a tropical or subtropical region) than even thickly layered cotton armor. If your choices are 95% efficacy, or 99% efficacy + guaranteed heat stroke, 95% generally seems more appealing. Even early Portuguese expeditions into Africa generally swapped out their metal armor for local quilted armors.
While this style of armor is stuffed with kapok (a local fibrous tree), and thus the comparison isn’t 1-1, I’m reminded of the quilted armor of professional European soldiers during the Third Crusade - it was reported by the Muslim coalition that the Crusader infantry was so full of Muslim archers’ arrows that they appeared ‘as pincushions’, yet were unharmed.
How well did the cotton armor work?
Very well, especially against arrows and clubs. The Aztec version was considered equivalent or superior to conquistador armor.
Very well! Essentially, the only ‘step up’ you can get from this would be mail (which was sometimes worn under this for those who really wanted to be sure of being protected) or some variety of plate armor, and both of those are both heavier and hotter (definitely not desired in a tropical or subtropical region) than even thickly layered cotton armor. If your choices are 95% efficacy, or 99% efficacy + guaranteed heat stroke, 95% generally seems more appealing. Even early Portuguese expeditions into Africa generally swapped out their metal armor for local quilted armors.
While this style of armor is stuffed with kapok (a local fibrous tree), and thus the comparison isn’t 1-1, I’m reminded of the quilted armor of professional European soldiers during the Third Crusade - it was reported by the Muslim coalition that the Crusader infantry was so full of Muslim archers’ arrows that they appeared ‘as pincushions’, yet were unharmed.
Fairly effective against cuts but it offered poor protection against stabbing and arrows.
Given the prevalence of spears and pikes throughout history it’s not the armour I’d choose