Gauntlets And Bullets

Picking up where I left off yesterday, I have more from the Armour exhibit at the Canadian War Museum. This is the hockey gear for Shannon Szabados, a three time Olympic gold medallist for Canada. Contemporary goalie padding includes Kevlar, foam, titanium, plastic, and carbon in its design.

Here we have more helmets from various sports.

Thematically, the exhibit moved into combat armour, with examples of armour displayed from the Middle Ages courtesy of the Museo Stibbert.

This was one of those items you could try out, so it would be a contemporary reproduction as opposed to a classic artifact. You put on the gauntlet (right handed of course, no consideration for us southpaws) and pulled the sword from its hilt. I was able to do so, but it's rather awkward to handle.

More contemporary body armour in combat was also featured. This included German plate armour of the First World War, on the right, and Second World War era flak armour used by the American air force.

This is a current standard Canadian utility uniform. It includes a fragmentation vest, helmet, and other features meant to blend in and to protect the soldier wearing it.

Another aspect of current day technologies was displayed here- bulletproof vests for police officers.

There were some other hands-on items: replica light weight armour to try on, as well as a familiar shield for comics fans for photo ops.

There were two displays from movies that certainly qualify as armour. This, for instance, is body armour from the film Mad Max: Fury Road, for a character referred to as the Bullet Farmer, incorporating bullet shells into his garb as a form of armour in the hellish dystopia of the film. A photograph of the actor Richard Carter in character accompanies the display.

This, on the other hand, is the Mark XLII armour for Iron Man, life sized and positioned for photo ops. Apparently Tony Stark doesn't like it when you tell him Doctor Strange has a better beard.