Unarmored vs Knight in slippery Terrain

Hi, I am Dick Wittem, an armored fighter in non-choreographed night fights and today we have a special guest and here on my side is... My name is Ragnar from FRAZE ON FENCING. I'm also a historical fighter and I do compete in HEMA. Yes, and today we want to try something that has a big misconception. Or is it? Because we want to try today to use the exact same shoes on our feet and we will try to fight each other with full armor and with only the minimal gear of a peasant. And let's check if there's a big difference in all that snow and muddy terrain. So let's test it out and see what will be the outcome. Do you think you have a better grip here? Honestly I think my grip might not be as good but if I fall it's not as permanent. If you lie down on the snow and it's slippery it's even tougher for you to get up in armor. Yeah, that can be an actual problem. So we will fight in historical gear so we have to be a little bit careful because when I slip and thrust to your face it can be... Yes, I mean it's not that pretty to begin with but I would rather stay it that way than it getting worse. Absolutely, so yeah that's a part where we have to look for but in the end we'll fight and see and make some other tests. So we want to climb a hill and run a little bit, jump over fallen trees and do some stupid stuff with armor and without. And maybe I can get to use you as a personal sled. Yeah, if you fall on me accidentally. So that's one test we will definitely do and see what the results are and if there's something true in it and if the fighters in Agincourt had a better chance with lesser armor. So stay tuned and now to the tests. So I guess I'll be faster than you. What do you think? Yeah, we will check it. Good thing we are not at all competitive. I will do the edit so if you see me moving awkwardly fast. That's better. No, no, no, that's real, that's the real time I needed. And you'll just put slow motion on me then. Nice, it's so fun. Okay, you give me the signal. Yeah, let's go. Okay, I tried to run faster. But when you stay up there, you will try to defend and hold me back when you are up there because I will run behind him and try to kill him on top of the hill. Great, super. Start. Now he's definitely far stuck. So that was fun. Yes, it was and slippery. Yes, but actually not that slippery as I assumed at the beginning. At least not for you. Yeah, kind of, yeah. But it's very, really, really slippery. So you can't tell us that the ground isn't that slippery. Yeah, it is. You have slippy soles under these shoes. But on the other hand, you can move your feet in it pretty nicely. It's like the barfoot shoes. Yeah. And for that reason, you can have a okayish grip on some of the very slippery points. At least if you have a thick, snowy ground, then you sink in and that gives you a little bit of a foothold. On rocks like we are sitting here, there is no foothold at all. That's just, that's pure slippery. So there was a limit that we could run. I tried running as fast as possible and with each step, I slipped half of the way backwards. Yeah. And for that reason, I couldn't run faster. It was like one of those annoying dreams where you're like running in place. It felt a little bit like this. And he is way more heavy than me, at least in that armor. That's even worse. We did the small parkour. Yes, that was awesome and scary. And yes, I thought you would have a big advantage. Yeah, but he just went right in there like, it was like a, like an armored bull. Like no regards for his own life or safety. He just went straight up there and I was like, well, I thought, I was a bit disappointed because I thought he would take way longer to get up there. But it turns out that armor actually protects you. Not against, only against steel weapons, but against nature, mother nature itself. Yeah. So there were so many branches sticking out with very spiky tips. Yes. And it was dangerous to fall on them, but not for me. These holes are too small to get penetrated. So I could bulldoze through it. I broke a couple of branches. I think you didn't broke them. No, that was you. Only me. And yeah, for me it was easy and I could take very risky ways. Of course I didn't take the worst ways to get over the branches and trees, but there wasn't a big issue. No, not at all. I think I was faster. Yeah. I think you were faster by at least like 10 seconds or so. I don't think so much. It felt like, we'll see in the end, but it felt like that for me. If you slip on those, on those, on those logs, which were covered in snow, obviously, then there was a high chance of just my leg getting pierced by another branch which was sticking out. And that could like really hurt me. And if it pierces something vital, you can think of this. And we are here in the middle of the forest. We had a long walk from the cars up here. So there is not much help that we can get first. So of course we are terrified of injuries, but in the end, for me, there was no big danger. And same was with the last fight. No big danger for me. No, not at all. You didn't have a lot of chance. No. You don't slip that much because you are aware of it and you try to not slip. But on the other hand, that means that you are not nimble. Even without much armor on yourself, you're not nimble. You can try it, but you can't move your body away because the only part that you move is your feet on the ground. Yeah, maybe your torso and then your feet will just slip out from under you. Yeah, just move your arms to defend yourself. That's the thing you do in slippy ground. And for that reason, I can move my arms nearly as fast as you. Maybe even the same speed. Yeah, pretty much. Here's a little bit of weight on me. So I think around two kilograms extra on my arms, but that don't count. No, not in a quick spar or in a quick fight. Not at all. So in the end, I think the most important factor on all these tests was, of course, the shoes. And shoes on knights and normal people, so the common soldiers, are often the same. We have the worst shoes to fight in this terrain because we don't have iron spikes. There are shoes, historical shoes with iron spikes. Of course, on frozen ground, there isn't a big difference. There, the spikes can be also a problem because they are not sharpened, but it would be a little bit easier. But of course, it would be easier for both of us. Yeah, and that would make the advantage even bigger for him. Yeah, I think armor is a big advantage, even in snowy terrain, in frozen terrain, and even in muddy terrain. So it's a myth. Yeah, it's absolutely a myth, and I don't think that having lesser armored fighters like the archers on Agincourt is an advantage even there. So there were other factors like the longer spears, the defending position of the English longbow men, and of course the other English soldiers was a much bigger factor. I hope you had a lot of fun watching me and Ragnar here fighting and doing all the tests. So please check out Ragnar's channel. Yeah, take a look at Freysund Fencing. And thanks for watching, stay safe, don't kill your partners, and bye-bye. Ciao.