Gurkha Kukri Vs Medieval Dagger Vs BODY ARMOR?! Far Cry 4 Tribute

Can a Gurkha kukri could stab through body armor (like in Far Cry 4)? I decided to compare a kukri with a medieval rondel dagger stabbing steel plate. Mk.3 kukri by Windlass:
www.atlantacutlery.com/genuin...
Rondel dagger by Tod Cutler: todcutler.com/collections/med...
Salyani kukri by Kailash Blades: kailashblades.com/product/sal...
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[@JoyZofSoRRoW]

"Bulletproof Vests" come in a few flavors. The two basic flavors are soft and hard. Most Law Enforcement Officers are issued soft body armor, usually level 3A where as in most modern militaries use level 4 or equivalent ceramic plate body armor. Most of not all bladed weapons can stab through soft body armor. The kevlar works well for bullets but not stabbings with the exception of British and other European countries Vests and that's because they have a thin hard steel plate to prevent stabbings, which seems to be more common out there than here in the US. You cant stab through hard body armor, steel or ceramic but for video sakes let's keep it to ceramic, but like people did in the old days of heavy armor suits you'll have to find the gap on the best that isn't covered by the ballistic plate inside it. Which really isn't hard because at best you have 2 10 inch by 12 inch plates, front to back, and maybe 6 inch plates on your lower sides. Plenty of places to go , neck, arm pits, lower stomach, groin, face, for instead as the plates are designed to protect your vitals, heart, lungs, upper spine. I am confident a kukri can stab through soft body armor. Obviously it wouldn't do shit to hard body armor.

[@itsapittie]

I'm not so sure a kukri would effectively penetrate soft body armor. The tip of the kukri is so broad and leaf-shaped that I think it's likely any strong fabric would keep it from penetrating very deeply. I could be wrong, of course, and I'd like to see it tested.

[@MrBottlecapBill]

@@itsapittie It still has a blade though. Unlike bullets blades cut the fibres That's the difference. I suspect the bent angle on the kukri blade and the broad point however will still prevent serious penetration. A tip chop would probably be more effective.

[@davidsachs4883]

I dropped two similar knives about half a meter towards an empty box. The spear tipped punched into the box and stayed. The single edged dented the box and bounced. The kurki is both broad and single edged, I doubt it would do well against soft armor especially when compared to straighter knives. It needs to be tested

[@crispycornbread]

I think it would be fairly difficult to wound somebody wearing quality soft armor and a couple layers of clothes, but with an ideal strike it's certainly possible. Now what I want to see is a lvl IV plate deal with a mounted lance.

[@silverjohn6037]

(Warning: Before anyone goes out and tries what I'm about to talk about, don't. The test I'm about to describe was done with a SWAT grade vest with over an inch of Kevlar. Your mail order soft Kevlar is not even close no matter how many layers you stack on.) The steel plates used behind soft kevlar are mainly to spread the force of the impact from the bullet. I think it was Chuck Taylor (old school gun writer from teh 1980-90's) who actually let himself be shot with a .308/7.62x51 NATO rifle while he was wearing a SWAT grade vest from that era with a steel backing. He said he didn't even feel the impact because the force was spread over such a large area.

[@samdandurand]

Hi from America. I've tested my Kailash Sirupate 14" against an old Kevlar vest (3a). Stabbing goes right through with enough force to get started, or fails completely. It takes a pretty hard hit but once the point starts cutting layers the resistance drops to almost zero and punches through with the entire belly easily. for cutting I found it will chop completely through into a wood block but only about 8/30 layers with a folded towel behind it for padding. UHMWPE (polymer) soft armor from Hardwire was able to be slashed right through For comparison my Tod Cutler Mary Rose dagger takes less force to poke through but its a struggle to get more than a few inches in the kevlar due to lack of edge sharpness. It pokes right through the UHMWPE armor easily but can not cut it at all.

[@bibekjung7404]

KABIR. GOD. .. ALMIGHTY 🙏🙏

[@turtlewolfpack6061]

The Far Cry kukri is based on the Extrema Ratio version, it has a hatchet tip that is NOT pursuant to thrusting at all. It is even less likely to penetrate than ANY traditional design. That said, most traditional khukuris were made with a soft tip in comparison to the edge and thrusting into metal can deform them very easily. Most makers in Nepal these days are stepping away from the soft tip but they can still be frequently encountered.

[@lunacorvus3585]

Skall had made a review of the exact kukri shown in Far Cry if I remembered correct. Looks like a good knife.

[@turtlewolfpack6061]

@@lunacorvus3585 they ate, very expensive but a good design for woods use.

[@damiangrouse4564]

“Even if we get the tip in” couldn’t resist sorry.

[@SavageDoc45b]

Stab vests and bullet resistant fragmentation vests are different things for sure.

[@beepboop204]

lots of different designs of plate carriers too, male and female versions also exist (some of our organs are in different places)

[@brittakriep2938]

In german, i am german, in last years we make a difference between ,proof' and ,resistant' . So a stab resistant vest slows down a stab, but can protect against cut ( in this case ,Schnitt'). According to older artcles in german arms magazines, a bullet protection vest protects against bullets and most kind of knifes, but in case of narrow bladed pointy daggers or smallswords , they can penetrate.

[@mrd7067]

@@brittakriep2938 To my understanding the reason for the difference between ,proof' and ,resistant' is "mostly" a legal one. To my understanding to be rated "proof" it needs a federal level testing & certifying procedure the producers have to pay for. If i remember right to be rated "proof" it must be also needle proof (can be a important thing for gloves).

[@brittakriep2938]

@@mrd7067 : I am no lawyer, and only a socalled , armchair expert/ Stubengelehrter'. This means: Both Achilles ( War of Troy/ Homer) and Siegfried ( Nibelungenlied/ Unknown author) died, being unvulnerable. This means, both Homer and unknown german author of Nibelungenlied knew, that best possible armour can not protect against every danger. Any kind of armour is better than no Armour, but that is all.

[@edi9892]

Many stab vests will fail against rondel daggers and icepicks, but will protect decently against most pocket knives.

[@benjaminabbott4705]

Thank you for doing more of these tests. In the video with Tod, he states the plate is 1.2mm mild steel. If that's accurate, there's a big difference between 1.2mm & 1.5mm. According to the numbers from The Knight in the Blast Furnace, 1.2mm mild steel should take about 74 J to pierce 40mm with a simulated arrowpoint. 1.5mm, by contrast, should take about 105 J for the same penetration. This likely doesn't completely explain the difference in results, given how deeply you stabbed through the 1.2mm mild steel with the bespoke dagger, but it's part of what's going on.

[@eirikronaldfossheim]

Cold rolled steel is work hardened, just like the steel plates in the Arrows vs. Armour 2 test. Augusto said in the director's cut that he worked the mild steel cold. Sheet steel as received from the manufacturer is not the same as a cold worked and therefore work hardened end product. We are talking about over 50% increase in Ultimate Compressive strength, and most likely a lot higher.

[@Omniseed]

Also arrows don't have the benefit of continuing thrust, which any stabbing weapon does inherently have.

[@benjaminabbott4705]

@@eirikronaldfossheim Were either of the mild steel plates used to test rondel daggers cold worked? I don't understand what Arrows vs. Armour 2 has to do these two tests of rondel daggers.

[@eirikronaldfossheim]

​@@benjaminabbott4705 ​ Yes, Matt did say that the plate in this test was cold rolled. It will work harden the steel. The AvA2 test was an example of what work hardening will do to a plate. In the film named "Arrows vs Armour 2 - Best metal for armour?", the arrows go clean through the plate that has not received any work hardening. In AvA2 they are unable to penetrate the work hardened plates. In the director's cut of AvA2 at 03:51 the armourer said he worked the steel cold and left it like that. It's just an example of the difference in outcome between work hardening and no work hardening.

[@timsimmons9995]

Irrelevant. Not even close to bullet resistant metal. Would need 3x thickness to stop handguns.

[@colbunkmust]

For those who are curious, the machete in FC4 is an Italian-made Extrema Ratio KH with a non-factory engraved blade.

[@phoenixmercurous884]

The processing history of the steel plates is a possible contributor of the difference in the results between this test and the one with Todd's workshop. The amount of rolling will change the amount of work hardening, which is typical for ductile metals, but steel also has several possible microstructures that can form when the steel is last cooled down from above ~725 C (the exact temperature depends on the composition). The different microstructures are going to evolve during cold rolling, so there's a range of possible mechanical properties that sheet steel with the same nominal composition can have.

[@ianmorrison6127]

I think Joerg of the slingshot channel showed that a pointed knife can penetrate standard level 3a (pistol) body armour. He ended up being hounded and demonised by the British press.

[@another3997]

He didn't demonstrate that at all. There was no kevlar in the vest. It consisted of a simple nylon outer cover, a thin aluminium plate and a thin sheet of flexible plastic. He pierced the 1.5mm aluminium plate with a specifically made dagger, much like a Rondell dagger. The vest was made by Coptex, and is/was available to purchase online, very cheaply. One tabloid journalist hounded him, making up details and deliberately ignoring several easily verifiable facts.

[@jgo5300]

I suspect a significant factor is the quality of the rondel blade. Tod cutler blades are outsourced and then assembled in the UK, allowing the keen pricing and value they offer. The Wallace dagger in the Tod video was hand made by Tod himself, and no doubt expertly heat treated. But of course you have to pay many multiples for that level of quality and artistry.

[@JRMshadow260a]

Older bullet proof vests used to not stop knives or arrows.. They started adding cut resistant material to some modern body armor but I don't know how much bullet armor has that feature.. Plate carriers do not stop knives unless the plate is struck..

[@toolthoughts]

a hard tip slash with the kukri would have been interesting for comparison

[@bombfog1]

A Kukri will easily go through Kevlar armor but it won’t go through ceramic or steel armor plates. There are several “hold my beer” videos where two clowns stab one another through their Kevlar vests in the belief that if it stops a bullet it’ll surely stop a blade.

[@beepboop204]

many a Darwin Award was given out to someone "testing" their vests

[@benjaminabbott4705]

Some kevlar is designed to resist stabs & would probably stop a kukri.

[@bombfog1]

@@benjaminabbott4705 “Resist” being the operative word. Typically, as with cop armor, there are inserts for steel trauma plates to deflect stabs.

[@irrelevantfish1978]

@@bombfog1 At least as of a few years ago, most armor intended to protect against knives was just finer, more tightly woven Kevlar, and the hard armor was only cracked out if you were worried you might run into spikes (eg, something more like an icepick or a rondel). You see, Kevlar is extremely difficult to cut, so the primary way knives penetrate is by slipping between the fibers and spreading/displacing them. How easy that is depends massively on blade geometry, and the kukri's (being quite thick, fairly round, and _very_ broad ) is extremely ill-suited for it, far worse than most other knives. Against something like a IIIA vest, drawing blood would probably be relatively easy, but deep penetration would be difficult, at the least.

[@bibekjung7404]

KAABEER. + ALMIGHTY GOD 🙏🙏

[@samuelbhend2521]

Mr. Kevin Hicks from The History Squad (Archer himself) Had a Video about the Weapons an archer wore besides Bow and Arrow. According to him, Archers were going over the Fields after a Battle to dispose of the still-half-alive-ones, by hammering their Daggers through them with the small Hatchets belonging to their Kit (most often through the Eyeslits). I think the Video's Title was something along the Sidearms of Archers.

[@mrvenom88]

I've just been playing this! Ajay usually doesn't stab through armour, though he does a number on thick clothing a lot. He tends to do frontal "takedowns" via stabs to the neck. Heavy armour enemies require special upgraded attacks and specifically seek weak points in the armour to be effective. Edit to add: kzbin.info/www/bejne/faG3d42uip2Xqc0 if you look, he tends to hit in the back, above the neck line, in the shoulder/armpit, or via the side of the abdomen. There are a few armour-ignoring strikes but they generally do a good job of showing that he hits literal weak spots.

[@ricebrown1]

Kailash is the best! I ordered two bhura's for my brother and I for Christmas. They are easily the best knives I've ever handled. Great price range and they send you updates on the creation and forging process. I ordered 4 more knives for my D&D buddies and I can't wait to blow their minds. To anyone looking for a kukri or even just a solid hand crafted knife, look no further than Kailash Blades. Great video as always Mat. Tod and the Medieval Cinematic Universe are here in spirit.

[@therealdestructicus]

As someone with access to soft body armor, the answer is maybe, depending on the rating and type of manufacture, there are plenty of flexible level II and IIA vests that wouldn't stop a kukri. Most level IIIA probably would, and all the hard plate III and IV would.

[@braddbradd5671]

The UK police stab vests have chain mail over the normal kevlar i used to sell them to bouncers and they work some one tried to stab my bouncer with a screwdriver and it just bounced of then the bouncer knocked him out .He came back and bought 5 more vests for his mates

[@TheGurkhaMuseumTrust]

Great video! Absolutely loving the beanie hat as well!

[@Eckister]

... now there's a video I did not expect to see, particularly this soon after asking. 😅 Thanks Matt! ^^ and yes - "bulletproof" means it protects to some degree against bullets, which take different mechanisms to bypass protection than a blade. However I seem to recall they were somewhat dense, especially when talking about the ones issued to police or the army, thus should provide sufficient protection. Especially considering the person will not just stand there and brace to let you keep perfect alignment (even if you do surprise them). 5:04 actually - Ajay Ghale used leather gloves throughout the game. 😏 11:26 ... *ugh*, I literally felt that! 🥶 18:54 precisely! I think the stabbing was a bit of lazyness on part of the devs, where they made a weapon do something it wasn't made for.

[@AbenZin1]

Christ, how sharp was that twig to go all the way through like that?!

[@D4RK_54M]

I think it’s just been punched out beforehand so the twig can fix the metal to the padding

[@EriktheRed2023]

I'm not even TEMPTED to try this at home! The horror! My precious fingers... 😆 But thank you for doing it, this was a lot of fun to watch. And not a little instructive. Not least that those are well-made kukris, standing up to that! Very interesting compared to Tod's premium deluxe super rondel. That did the can opener thing to sheet steel last you went at it. If you're taking on people in full plate, pay the extra ducats for the real deal.

[@lloyddroppers2684]

Cold rolled steel is formed at cold temperatures thereby strain hardening it. Usually commercially cold rolled steel will be 20% harder and stronger than hot rolled steel. Hot rolled steel will be more similar to annealed or unheattreated mild steel. Cold rolled steel will be somewhat towards heattreated higher carbon steel in terms of hardness.

[@theblackswordsman5171]

This video ends with the results I expected. Thanks. No detailed comments really needed here. Tools are better suited for their intended purpose.

[@glenlivett78]

I see it has already been touched on but here are my 2 cents... in the U.S. there is the National Institute of Justice testing protocol process. up to level 3A, is a pliable kevlar fabric that can stop rounds up to heavy magnum pistols. Level 3 is a hard ceramic/kevlar plate that will stop most rifle rounds, and level 4 will stop armor-piercing rifle rounds. Any of the soft armor can be punctured by the amount of force a grown man can generate, (many caveats apply) the hard plates level 3 and above... no not a chance. although I do dare Mr. Easton to tilt a lace from horseback at a rifle-rated plate. I have one I will donate for the experiment.

[@Davefinney370]

Pretty nerve wracking watching those stabs with the kukri, even with the gloves.

[@aucourant9998]

I wrapped my military kukri handle with camouflage hockey-stick tape. I even wrapped the tang button and keeper and the bolster; it looks really great (all that shiny bling covered). It gives it a really great military look and stops your hand slipping. And if you wrap some of the the top and bottom of the sheath also it looks fantastic. I made my own baldric with a heavy duty camera shoulder strap and a carabiner clip, so easy to carry, I even forget it's there.

[@ThatGuy182545]

A “military grade bullet proof vest” is hard armour that stops rifle rounds. It’s a Kevlar vest with plate inserts, sometimes metal but usually ceramic.

[@jm9371]

Matt goes Tod Cutler... Fantastic content!

[@hrodvitnir6725]

Banger outfit Matt, goes hard!

[@seanpoore2428]

id love to see more tests of modern armor vs archaic weaponry! if you know anyone who could supply body armor for you to beat up im Here for it!

[@ericvanvlandren8987]

I agree completely with Benjamin. The plates were different enough for it to be significant. Add to that two other things that, in my opinion, each contributed a bit to the different results. 1) stabbing straight down allows for more force and 100% momentum transfer. 2) in the test with Tod the backing foam had zero give to it and so the plate flexed (absorbed force) very little and so was more easily pierced. Much more bending in the test Matt did and so the plate was able to give way before being punctured. I think if you add all three (as well as the possibility of different hardness) and you have your answer.

[@turnerdan53]

I is all about hitting the unarmored part. I know of a case where a jail guard was attached with a plastics pointed blade that would have easily pierced the body with about a dozen strikes at the same place near his heart but the blade was deflected by his ID badge saving his life.

[@alexanderren1097]

This sounds like an opportunity to collaborate with Matt over at Demolition Ranch. Make it so, number 1!

[@danieltaylor5231]

This calls for another trip to Todd's place Matt! To the scholamobile!

[@charlottesimonin2551]

The test that I wanted to see the Kukri used with a choping motion against the plate. Momentum against a sharp edge often cuts more effectively than muscle power alone.

[@hildolfrdraugadrottin7279]

Try using a warhammer to pound your dagger through. You could probably sink it to the hilt. 🤔 Great tests!

[@My_initials_are_O.G.cuz_I_am]

At that point, just use a warpick.

[@barrysmith1202]

great stuff as always. go for the gaps. some thoughts: 1) ever since i caught a couple of your youtubes, in which you STATE that Kukries (and similarly, the Jambia) will 'rebound back', (or something...), upon thrusting, (so, dramatically reducing the force of the thrust)-- i've been wanting to get you to simply TEST that notion with a Kukri on a back yard tree. well, there it is, a tremendous amount of resistance/feedback of 'Kukri thrust on a tree', and i didn't catch ANY rebound-back (or whatever), due to the curved blade arrangement. when you thrust with a Kukri or jambia-like wpn, you automatically 'work out' all the force-vectors, etc, etc, for efficient thrusting (tho, i'druther hava Rondell!). 2) there's armor, then there's ARMOR-- like the full-metal-plate in this vid. any Kukri can go through SOME 'armor', but i'd say, other techniques would be wiser. I hope you eventually catch one of the Lynn Thompson ColdSteel SanMai-lll Kukri-thrusts through the raised bonnet/hood of a car, and ribs of a hanging pig carcass.) 3) my 'take' on the kukri-epoch, in which it was THE Gurkhas' grappling-back-up-knife (for a tal/tulwar or Kora, buckler/dhal) is: it was probably thought-of for stabbing the HEART (primarily) through, of course, chinks in the armor, (or identical thrust-angles, when NO armor was present). this would involve biting-grappling range, at which some of the best angles to the HEART would be via Peripheral Entry Points, eg, trapezius/collarbone-area DOWNWARD to heart, or belt-waist-area UPWARD to heart, requiring the longer blades of, eg, the scores of long-bladed HEMA dagger designs, and the uniformly LONG Kukri blades, narrow or broad (or that rare 9'' blade prototype[?] FS commando dagger: um... BTW, WHY was the FS issued with such a short blade?? considering the longer-blade historical precedent, for killing people, animals??) 4) i've never seen any evidence of a Gurkha Armor-Peircing Carry-Knife (eg, pesh kabz, except, i believe, as a 'battlefield trophy', purely for display-- Kukri CARRIED). THAT says to me that the Kukri was not lacking in the grappling-range heart-thrust-department, over CENTURIES of combat, in which ANY engagement could suddenly go to grappling-range, heart-stabbing. 5) so, i'm not really 'on' the testing of ANY Kukri against ANY dedicated armor-piercer. 6) as U note, if we're just looking to thrust through the exposed neck (eg, sentries), then i'd bet any kukri would do essentially as well as the F-S. (tho, the LONGER the blade, the more DIFFICULT the targeting-- like trying to switch-off a light from 3feet away with a broomstick; and, again, gimme a LONG Rondell fer dat). 7) i've concluded over the decades, at 67, that people of 'the past', who were regularly seeing, or hearing about, the killing of people or animals, knew that: ** if you stab/shoot a person/animal, in the HEART, yer practically guaranteed a 10-15-second end-of-struggle, ** but, FAIL to stab/shoot the person/animal HEART, and there's no telling how long that'll take (unless large-dia CLUB to the cranium),** and, at ANY moment YOU could recv a fatal-stroke of some kind, so: ''GO IN, LAD! GET IT DONE!" ** NONE of which would make ANY sense to discuss in ANY dojo, or back yard. so, similarly, i think its very likely that the kyber knife, even the yatghan, dha, and wakizashi, Maitz Gladius, were originally conceived-of to serve AS grappling-knives to the longer, main battle swords, axes, of their era.

[@dreembarge]

Ha! I am playing Far Cry 4 right now, and I thought the same thing about running a blade through a bulletproof vest. Enjoyed the vid, thanks!

[@dzmitryzaitsau6471]

"Huh!" - Matt Easton 2023.

[@MercutioUK2006]

I don't know if you can thrust a Kukri through a BPV but I am now convinced I need a Kailash Kukri. Well done ^^

[@KilalaFW]

could use a Kevlar welding blanket as a cheap soft armor substitute.

[@sonwig5186]

Try using the rondel dagger by lying on top of the target and using your body weight to press the dagger through the metal.

[@stormiewutzke4190]

Matt. Cutting of any kind is shearing. So you are right that there is a geometry that will develop the most shear force but it's based off of a combination of material properties of both the plate and the armor. Cold rolled steel will have a work hardened surface. You could have differences from the mill scale on the surface and in theory you could get some shallow case hardening as well. Scale tends to be hard and different companies could have more heating and working of the steel. Mild steels can be hardened to a degree from heating and depending on how much it was worked cold can very much affect hardness. Hardness is going to be a major factor in this. The dagger from the successful test may not have been hard by modern standards but that primitive steel making could leave some large carbides that will give more performance than one would expect from a given steel hardness. This was what made wootz cut. Testing has shown that getting carbide layers in the right place makes big difference in how well it cuts.

[@Gilbrae]

👍Great video. 🤔 I believe that the difference between the rondel dagger penetration tests (the present test and the one at Tod's) is that in the previous test the metal plate was positioned on a stable support whereas there the installation allows a slight movement of the plate which I think induces a slight deflection effect. 🤓

[@MrBatraaf]

Great test. However, it does mainly show how effective plate steel is. If you add some kind of padded vest underneath, it's a pretty formidable defense.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Yes. Armour works.

[@Amitseth16]

​@@scholagladiatoriawhy not ask indian solider to show us how it's best used in fight..maybe we learn something more about kukri usage

[@Amitseth16]

​@@scholagladiatoriakukri is for slitting throats

[@BunnyOfThunder]

Matt is always insightful, but in this video he makes several good points.

[@irrelevantfish1978]

I suspect a large part of the difference between the test with Tod and here is variation in plate hardness, which can vary quite a lot between plates. Even if they're both 1.5mm cold-rolled mild steel, they could have wildly different carbon content (one website I've ordered from states that their plates might be anything from 1008 to 1018) and reduction (ie, how much thinner the rolled plate is compared to when it was last annealed). Also, I have to say that the _Far Cry 4_ kukri is very nearly the worst design imaginable for stabbing someone in Kevlar armor. That tip is nearly flat, so rather than merely displace the fibers, it will have to _shear_ through 8+ layers of extraordinarily hard-to-cut fabric before drawing blood. That silly ridge and even sillier serrations will catch uncut fibers and gather them into nice, thick, resistant yarns, which will probably stop penetration cold, but also may prevent extraction afterwards.

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

If I remember correctly Todd had made a video about the Yugoslav wars legend of arrows being able to complety penetrate sandbags

[@ohauss]

Gotta love how the CC constantly talks about cookery....

[@scholagladiatoria]

That gave me a chuckle too!

[@not-a-theist8251]

played far cry 4 a bunch back in the day. Great fun. Definitely enjoyed the setting a lot. I might just play some far cry over the weekend now

[@Olumin37]

Id love some testing of modern stab proof vests, especially ones that can be worn underneath clothing. I take frequent night walks & have considered wearing one, just in case.

[@matthabir4837]

Unless the kevlar vest has a ceramic or steel plate insert, arrows or knives should penetrate quite easily.

[@Evan-rj9xy]

I wouldn't say easily, especially not for a knife, but it could penetrate if it has enough energy behind it and a decent design for stabbing

[@beepboop204]

@@Evan-rj9xy i would be happy to put kevlar on you and see how easy it is 😉

[@benjaminabbott4705]

Not if it's designed to be stab resistant, as some kevlar is.

[@Nerdnumberone]

Granted the vests used by infantry soldiers will have ballistic plates in them. Police vests might not be as protective, however. Also, it won't be "easy" to stab through a vest, especially if the target is actively trying to not get stabbed, but I would not consider a bullet-resistant Kevlar vest to be sufficient protection against a blade. Attacking less armored limbs and the face would probably still be easier than trying to force through a vest. A kukri is a poor thrusting blade regardless. The blunt force from a powerful chop might be more effective, even if it doesn't penetrate

[@garynaccarato4606]

However in the case of the kukri it's not really the best stabbing or armor penetrating weapon to begin with.

[@roysmith7087]

Please do a smatchet review and history of the blade type, and how they were typically used

[@seanparsons8987]

Interesting video, thank you. You mentioned the kukri as a slashing/chopping weapon and later a blade potentially shearing metal. Chopping the kukri to the metal plate, attempting to use the last 3 to 4 inches of the blade to shear, and the tip to penetrate may prove better results. I have used my kukri in place of a small axe may times against wooden doors - didn't always have a load of breaching tools on search missions - and it penetrates quite well. Thanks again

[@harrykouwen1426]

Try this steel plate with the Tod rondell dagger you used in the armour stab test, a stab at table hight with a long downward thrust is a lot more powerfull then at breast hight in this video. Try this plate at table hight with a long downward thrust, that might make a difference. You mentioned this rondell dagger being soft; that cushions the blow as seen on the curly tip. Modern made whats called mild steel is made in a broad variety of qualities for toughness, softness, plyability etcetera. it might be that the plate at Tod was a deepstretch quality steel that most sheetmetalworkers use these days for shaping parts more easy like handmade fenders, for fabricating deep pressed shapes, cups whatever, and can be bought in many different qualities of deepstretch quality, that is far more soft and plyable as standard mild steel, coldrolled mildsteel can mean many types. Such a huge variation in quality, still called mild steel in general, it is not only a matter of tempering in the plant but also slight amounts of additives and alloyed mild steel as well. By eye it is in most cases when new/unworked impossible to see the differences, sometimes you can hear it by tapping, but mainly by working/bending/hammering/shaping with it will the steel tell you what it is. However, in the medieval times, the types of mild steel must have varied as well, and luck must have played a huge part for the regular knights in the right tougher type mild steel armour when stabbed by rondell daggers.

[@franktower9006]

One of the biggest problems, concerning stabbing with a Khukri is the fact that the tip is not in line with the spine and your hand. The transfer of kinetic energy into the target is just bad. But for the same reasons it's a great chopper.

[@pensmith]

I'd say that's the million dollar question. I was asking myself that the whole time watching.

[@gungriffen]

As an American I own body armor lol. Lvl2 Kevlar will stop pistol calibers and is generally all over, or a small caliber rifle. Level 3 Plate carrier will be a vest with a plate in the front, back, and sides. This will stop high caliber rifle rounds (up to 308 if I remember right) Issue it has to hit the plate, the rest of the vest is fiber to hold it together. If a knife had any chance it'd be against a Lvl 2 Vest, to stab someone in level 3 you'd have to bypass the plate.

[@50043211]

"... and we try with a Kukri to stab the steel plate" nice trolling there. 😋😋😋

[@johnmarkus9456]

I've recently started watching your show on this KZbin. (Yes, I'm that effing old!) You seem very well versed on steel which leads to a question. What are your views on the Condor King Khukri if you've ever owned one.

[@mtgAzim]

A vest of just soft kevlar can be compromised by an arrow or a sharp blade, so it might be mildly plausible to get into a kevlar vest with a really sharp kukri and one hell of a thrust, but the idea of running someone through effortlessly like in FarCry is entirely fantasy. Now when talking about anything more than a soft kevlar, so a ceramic or steel plate, then no, you're not doing anything with a kukri... You might be able to scratch or put a little gouge in a ceramic plate, but you'd be more likely to damage your blade than do anything appreciable to the armor. If you have some kind of resin impregnated kevlar composite, then I think it'd be a similar story to ceramic. Proper resin infusion and curing takes otherwise soft kevlar or fabric to a totally different place, and they can be surprisingly resilient.

[@dredlord47]

A "military grade" "bullet-proof" vest would be level III+ or IV ceramic plates inside a load-bearing vest, which would normally have pouches wiþ magazines full of ammo in þem.

[@D4RK_54M]

You could technically use the thumb on the pommel (when reverse gripping) to prevent the hand from slipping onto the blade

[@huntergallatin6758]

You and your Rondel daggers, lol anytime you talk about a knife or dagger and you bring that bad boy up

[@bunnieseatliverspots]

What are your thoughts on Baat Cham Dao/Chinese butterfly swords? If I remember correctly, I believe you mentioned you've done some Wing Chun in the past. Did you train at all with these swords? Any thoughts on how they might fare against other historical weapons?

[@listenup455]

The tip on my Tod Cutler quillon dagger bent quite easily stabbing into my wooden cutting stand accidentally, so I imagine these blades aren't very hard. At least it was easy to bend back.

[@markfergerson2145]

Without looking at the other comments, I will guess that this is the 483d mention that many makers of kukris sell models with rondel-dagger hilts. Not that I imagine that would necessarily help penetration armor, but they are a thing.

[@blackjack5676]

Matt, where did you get that jacket? It's a very fashionable coat for a camo pattern.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Superdry

[@mvl209]

There’s different kinds of modern body armour. Bullet resistant vests generally don’t stop blades. There are however stab vests, and some bullet resistant vests are rated for stab threats. Then of course there’s hard armour, which is hard, so yeah. Can’t really stab through those.

[@Dennis-vh8tz]

For kukri vs "bullet proof" vest, the details matter, and I doubt there is any general answer here other than: it depends. Military vests vary from nation to nation, even unit to unit, or job to job (an exposed gunner might have a heavier vest than infantry or vehicle crew), and most are sometimes worn with metal or ceramic plates, and sometimes without. Kukri point designs also vary and that too will be significant. For the daggers I'd look closely at the differences in their tip designs. My first thought is that the one which penetrated had a sturdier tip and it's lack of deformation explains the difference in penetration. It is also possible that the blade which penetrated had a harder tip. And your suggestion that one tip design cut through steel plate more effectively than the other also has merit and is worth testing.

[@Nicolas123Go]

The kukri is best used as a chopping tool and the shape/angle of the blade maximizes chopping leverage. You should try swinging at the steel plate.

[@markadams4593]

An immediate thought that comes to mind is that the kukri is not designed for stabbing. But it does chopping quite nicely. What happens when you hit that same plate with a chopping blow? Yes, I understand that's not how the video game guy did it. But if I had a kukri in hand my guess is I would use it the way it was intended rather than imitating a videogame.

[@onbedoeldekut1515]

The reason bullet proof material 'works' is because of the spinning projectile. As it bites into the fabric, the spin causes the material to essentially bunch up around the round. Blades (of any type) only 'attack' on a single plane, whether through direct puncturing (stabbing) or through a prescribed arc (slashing). Because of this, materials such as Kevlar (tm) etc offer zero protection against even a sharpened pencil. Which makes me think. Who'd win in a fight, John Wick or Jack Reacher?

[@Priapos93]

I would be curious about a rondel dagger made with a harder steel like CPM 154 or equivalent. It seems like it would be better for the tip to chip than to roll over, since rolling over guarantees a dull tip, but a chip might or might not affect your ability to finish the fight. Edit: The dagger being tested is apparently en45, so you could have something (with ideal treatment) up to 10 Rockwell harder by using a slightly higher-end steel.

[@matthewmitchell6001]

What a random fun video, I may replay far cry 4 it was fun lol

[@Cleanpea]

Tod keeps mentioning that he greases his blades&arrows&bolts, as he believed it aifs penetration: he also mentioned the grease in the rondell vs armour video 👍 it makes a difference

[@vidard9863]

most bullet proof vests are based on the assumption that they will be hit by something dull moving very fast, and the objective is to absorb the energy rather than prevent penetration. a slow moving sharp object is mechanically VERY different. thus it depends almost entirely on the construction of the vests involved. with this particular blade it would also require near perfect form in stabbing such that the blade is following only the cutting edge into the body. so yes, entirely possible, highly unlikely.

[@paulina76161]

Thank you Mathis. My brother

[@yoavnissen8390]

Off topic question, what's in the terrarium on the cabinet?

[@heldaneurbanus5135]

...perhaps oddly given the subject of the video... but my mind keeps wandering to "Yikes! Pila are scary!"

[@laperrablanca1]

During my military service, we tried once to pierce an anti shrapnel vest with a commando knife. Our achievement was that we ruined the knife tip

[@dr.victorvs]

"Military-grade" tells me something has been made the cheapest way possible. What you're looking for are either Type 3a (pistol calibre) or Type 3 (intermediate calibre) ballistic plates. Type 3a is available for cheap ($10) wherever you get cheap chinese goods, and is usually lawful to own.

[@fkhh2660]

It really depends on the grade of the west. If they are just rated for pistols, they are usually just Kevlar. Blades go through that rather easily. As soon as you go higher, there is some hard material included. From there on I don't see a blade going through. But at least for Germany, that's not what the cops will be wearing, but probably soldiers will

[@Unethrorpe]

Different results because Tod gives a +2 bonus to all attacks with medieval and renaissance weapons by allies within 5 meters. Duh - did you even check his character sheet?

[@superrobotmonkeyhyperteamf3194]

My opinion is that the dagger blade makes a difference like you said. The Dagger from the Plate testing on Todds Channel is longer has a different Edge Gemeotry(as far as i can tell) and maybe different hardening process? Its also from the late middle age is the dagger used your video from the late medieval period as well or earlier? This could explain some things. Also the length seems to be different? Mabe a more gradually tapering thanks to the lenght of the blade allows for pushing much more force/lenght through the hole before it will be stopped therefore losing less energy compared to your dagger used in this video? Maybe they changed their way of doing rondell daggers later on since plate armor got stronger so if both were from different periods this could explain it. If its only by mere decades. Maybe the longer length of the dagger used in todds testing helps with the angle so that the wrist gets less turned or something like this.

[@gypsyboomer]

Am curious what the result would be with a slight downward slice with the kukri and it seems as if having to repeatedly reshape the dagger point would be a problem in melee. Thanks for the info.

[@bruisedhelmet8819]

"Just the tip" Phrasing!

[@ericmitchell985]

Was Tod's steel hot rolled, versus your cold rolled? And if both were cold rolled, how much (%deformation) were they cold rolled? Cold working steel can dramatically alter its properties.

[@btinsley785]

The difference between a kevlar vest and a plate carrier is that the kevlar is a fabric. The sharp tip of a blade or an arrow slips between the fibers and simply pushes them aside allowing full penetration. If you dissect soft body armor after shooting it you will find that the heat generated by the bullet decelerating from 1000 fps to zero in a couple of millimeters has melted the kevlar into a solid mass coating the front of the bullet more than doubling the diameter. No slipping between the fibers.😀

[@MaidenFan666]

Do a tomahawk or axe of some kind vs the steel next I've always been curious of narrow blade concentrating the force would chop through. My guess is probably not given the lack of people that carried axes around vs swords

[@huntergallatin6758]

Always thrust a Khukuri with your thumb on the spine! If your hand does slide forward it won't cut you as bad.

[@Tyler_Lalonde-]

A straight knife against 3A body armor probably. That stab "proof" vest from years ago was hilarious.

[@reaperwithnoname]

I'm very much interested to see more tests on this. At what point does a given point start piercing a given piece of armour?

[@johnfisk811]

As Matt says this is not a proper test but it is indicative of hard armour. Soft armour, like sandbags, will allow a sharp slow point to part the material and not lock it up like a rapid bullet. However, if one is using a Kukhri the test misses the point (no pun intended) as surely it is designed to solve the issue by lopping off the arms or head sticking out of the body armour in a chopping action?

[@lincs4life]

On arrows and bolts going through bullet proof armour and glass, armour piercing bullets have hardened steel tips or cores for exactly that reason

[@eirikronaldfossheim]

If it's cold rolled it has been work hardened, just like the plates in Tod's Arrows vs. Armour test part 2, and is therefore not an analogue for whatever we think it is anymore, or in your case, not the same as the previous mild steel you tested.

[@tommylitchfield3450]

Cold rolled plate is in contrast to hot rolled. It is not a special process to give the steel any special characteristics. It is simply the cheapest way to produce sheet steel. Tod's 1.2 plate that Matt sliced and diced was almost certainly cold rolled as well. When a smith makes a breastplate or whatnot, it becomes work hardened by working it cold vs heating it, since heating and quenching mild steel does absolutely nothing to it in regards to hardness. The term cold rolled steel is just a manufacturing term. If simply using cold rolled steel equated with hardened steel, then the armor smiths would not bother with work-hardening it by beating on it cold, since it would already be hard simply by how it was made. Cold hammer-forged steel and cold-rolled steel are not the same thing.

[@benjaminabbott4705]

@@tommylitchfield3450 My understanding is that hot-rolled mild steel is typically cheaper & also softer. I agree cold-rolled mild steel plate is quite common & the one used in the test with Tod might well have been cold rolled.

[@eirikronaldfossheim]

@@benjaminabbott4705 The gentleman commenting above is wrong. Read my comment under your comment on the main page. - Cold rolling is not the cheapest. - Cold rolled plates come in a whole range of different strengths depending in what they are meant for and it's achieved by how much rolling they go through (among other things.) - There is also a tolerance on carbon content, which can alter the strength. - There is also a differences between one manufacturer to another.

[@robertmedina5850]

Gotta get in some over head downward motion chops Matt naw mean bet that would of gashed it especially with the kukuri almost like hammering down slash ..

[@445supermag]

Be interesting to try them again with the plate lower so you could stab underhand, that lets you get much more travel with your arm and therefore more speed. And just for comparison, go to a 1 mm plate so they both go through some.

[@4449John]

Kukris are designed to use their tip to dig a cat hole to relieve yourself mostly. You want to punch that metal? Buy a Cold Steel San Mai Tanto. 😉