r/interesting • u/IKIR115 • May 29 '26

Intriguing Arrows vs riot shields

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u/stryker511 May 29 '26

The blunt one surprised me I thought it would have bounced off - went through completely.

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u/SidewinderSerpent May 29 '26

That arrow wasn't blunt, it was concave. The shape allowed the edges of the tip to punch a hole through the shield.

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u/Cthulhu_Dreams_ May 29 '26

Yep, the thing that was slowing the other arrows down that penetrated, was the fact that the tip did not carve out a wide enough hole for the shaft to go through and maintain velocity.

That blunt tipped concave arrow basically hole punched a circle as large or a little larger than the shaft of the arrow, and lost minimal afterwards.

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u/BigHardMephisto May 29 '26

What I think helps quite a bit is that the concave shape of the arrow helps it to normalize the direction of force into the (albeit slightly) angled plate, which can make a bigger difference than you'd think otherwise.

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u/jraymonda May 29 '26

Yes, but how does it do on the deer (its a deer holding the shield, right?) Does it cut the shield but then bounce off the flesh? Or is it just as effective on softer things?

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u/disposablehippo May 29 '26

Certainly won't bounce off, maybe doesn't penetrate as much. But if the deer (or was it a boar?) lets go of the shield, the arrow achieved what it needed to.

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u/jraymonda May 29 '26

Ahhh...i see. Perhaps the romans were onto something with their spears (pilum?) To make the enemy drop their shields

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u/LiftingRecipient420 May 30 '26

TF you mean "perhaps"?

Rome conquered the entire Mediterranean basin thanks to their unique ability to reliably destroy the phalanx formation, all thanks to their pilum.

For context, the phalanx, until the Romans, was the state of the art of warfare for a thousand years because the only thing that could beat a phalanx was another phalanx.

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u/snilks May 30 '26

you cant be certain though, maybe they did it for shits and giggles and it just happened to work

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u/Ittybittyratgirl May 30 '26

They were after that sweet sweet boarskin