How much does a suite of armor weigh?

Answer 1

Answer:

Significantly less than most people assume. the classic harness of plate armour from the late 14th through to mid 16th centuries varied in weight from around 20kg (45lbs) up to 32 kg (65lbs), dependant on the exact dates. Earlier armour in the 13th and 14th centuries was heaviest, as it included a full hauberk of maille (chain-mail) worn underneath small sections of plate.

original surviving harnesses of armour are to be found in such museums as the Kunsthistoriches Museium, Wien (Vienna), the Wallace Collection, London, the Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York.

Study of these surviving armours clearly shows the claims of "Over 100lb" armours to be untrue; a full plate harness dated to around 1510AD in the Wallace Collection (collection number #A22) weighs only 19.56Kg (43lbs), A battle-harness originally belonging to the Archduke Charles II of Austria, in the collection of the Landeszurghaus arsenal in Graz, Austria weighs only 20kg (45lbs).

However, there are several surviving harnesses of armour which are extremely heavy, which were produced not for battle, but for the sport of jousting. Since the joust was tightly controlled, and for sport rather than war, armour was made extremely thick on the rider's left side, where the opponent's lance would strike, with such features as one-peice solid arms and helmets which were bolted onto the chest-peice so they could not move if hit.

These armours were assumed to be for actual battle by Victorian collectors, creating the myth of the lumbering, immobile knight who needed to be lifted to his saddle by crane, and could barely walk. Nothing could be further from the truth. A knight in battle armour was expected to be able to jump into the saddle un-assisted, vaulting up onto the horse's back. there are records of knights performing feats of agility; one french knight was claimed to have climbed a castle wall in plate armour, using two daggers as picks to stab into the cracks between stones, and make handholds. Which such feats have not been replicated, modern replicas have shown that the weight of armour is distributed evenly over the body, allowing the wearer to move freely, fight, run and even cartwheel.

Previous Answer

depending on what type of armor it was it could have been over 100 lbs. it was very difficult for knights to move in it and that is a lot of the time why they were on horseback also the fact that people were scared of knights on horse back :P knights knocked off horseback could fight but couldn't move very far not only because of the armor weight but the horses (sometimes with armor of their own) fell on them and the knight's boots were sometimes made for horseback Think about walking with flippers on. It isn't very easy. The US Army carries about the same amount of weight as a suit of armor according to a show on the history channel hope that helped

Answer 2

50 pounds.

I know that because I learned in social studies class.