# Leather Clothes/Armor in a Rainforest



## Snowpoint (May 27, 2015)

So I have a location where leather armor is used extensively. They also live in a jungle, or a Rain Forest. Would leather armor be damaged in frequent, heavy rain? What about leather clothes people might wear, would they be affected?

Tech level is roughly 1600-1700.


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## Ryan_Crown (May 27, 2015)

The first question I would have is if they live in a rain forest, what sort of animal are they using to provide this leather? The sort of large herd animal you'd normally think of for leather is generally more of a plains animal, and not something you'd find in a jungle environment.


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## WeilderOfTheMonkeyBlade (May 27, 2015)

Have you read Blood and Bone by Ian. C.Esselmont???   If you're writing about a jungle setting, then I don't care if you don't care about Malazan (well, actually, I do, but I can deal with my sadness  ), you just need to read it. Basically, in a rainforest, everything rots. Quite a few of the mercs in the book wear leather armour - after a few weeks they can tear it with their hands, its so rotten. I don't know if theres some sort of oil that can prolong it, but I'd say leather armour, or most armour in general, and a rainforest wont go well together. It is one of the most inhospitable environments on the planet, at least to a big civilization


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## CupofJoe (May 27, 2015)

Not that I've read the book mentioned but I tend to agree with WotMB. It is the inability to dry out the leather that could make it soften and rot [or for other armours to rust and generally corrode]. I've worn leather coats [and trousers] in the cold rain of winter but at best they can take a day or two [or more] to dry out and yes there was wax/oil involved in repairing/recuperating the leather. I know someone that uses Lanolin [wool wax/oil] to proof their leather coat. 
I'd be tempted to look at wooden and bamboo armour that may be less susceptible to humidity or lacquered armours [paper, wood, leather etc.] that could be sealed against the environment [okay, once struck/broken the degrading would start to take effect but up until then...].


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## Snowpoint (May 27, 2015)

Never read Malazan. As for what kind of animal, don't know. Elephants could be an option...

If rain is so problematic for leather and everything decomposes so fast, what kind of clothing would you even have? what would be practical?


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## WeilderOfTheMonkeyBlade (May 28, 2015)

I'm not that sure mate - I prefer colder environments for my own writings, if I'm perfectly honest - tundra, steppes, alpine valleys and moors, pineforest, that sort of thing. 

I'll have a go at hazarding some suggestions and ideas, but you might have to double check them, as they could be wrong! I don't think armour would be that common, especially if the setting is just super thick, super dense, super rainy, bang on the equator rainforest. If you had areas with naturally occurring tree-less areas, then armour might be more common. I think you need to look at real life , at cultures like the aztecs, armour wasn't all that common. Shields, now they'll be important, and I think its underated at how useful a good shield can be for a soldier.  Silk, if that's available, that'll be worn. It wont stop a blade, but it'll make getting arrows and splinters out easier. Don't forget that, in such a dense jungle, it will be impossible to fight in formation. Impossible. If you've got dreams of thundering cavalry charges, shield walls, pike phalanxes or lines of archers pouring death into someone, that's out. You'll have guerrilla warfare. Javelins, bows, slings for the most part. Camouflage will probably be your best bet - rather than stopping a missile or blow, you don't want to be spotted in the first place. I also think that warfare will mostly be raids and the like. Food is hard to come by in the jungle, and rots easily - you wont be able to support a big population or a prolonged army in constant, thick jungle.


One last thing. I'm thinknig that I've read about shell/ turtle shell armours and shields before, maybe look into that. Turtles will be very common in the jungles, and unless your fighting a jaguar, not much will be able to get through the plate, which I recokon will need less attention - straps and stuff will though. Just food for thought, and I hope this helps.


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## Caged Maiden (May 28, 2015)

You can harden leather like cuir bouille and there are several methods for impregnating leather with hot oil or just heating it in water.  It turns it hard by essentially melting and congealing the connective tissues of the leather, shrinking it and making it hard.  My friend bakes his leather at about 200 degrees in the oven after soaking it.  The resulting bracers or spaulders feel and sound like wood when you tap them on things.  I'd imagine if you want to do leather armor, baking it in the hot sun or some sort of kiln would be reasonable, as they'd be smaller pieces of leather and the resulting items would have a density and feel like wood and be more sturdy in a wet environment.  But the worst thing you could have your soldiers wearing is like a suede or upholstery-weight leather with scales or plates attached because that kind of garment would be fall apart in the moist conditions.  The reason cow leather works so well is that cow skins are thick.  I'd imagine (from working with a few different kinds of leather) the best option for a jungle setting might be bear leather (bears have thick hides).  Pigs have thin skins, so that probably wouldn't be a good choice.  I'm not sure about what animals live near the rain forest but not directly in it, like llamas, cattle, alligators, etc.  Alligators have thick parts of their hides, but they aren't probably the most economical use of leather...unless you have a butt-load of alligators and people kill them for food of safety anyways, in which case why not use their skin as armor?

Leather shouldn't get wet.  It can be treated to naturally shed water, but soaking leather will turn it soft initially and harden and shrink it when it dries.  If yu've ever worn combat boots into a lake, they take a while to get un-hard again after drying and I'd imagine wearing leather in a very wet and humid environment would be obnoxiously hot and uncomfortable, probably causing a plethora of uncomfortable physical complications.  Native inhabitants of rain forests tend to wear little because clothing is actually in ways detrimental.  While sandals protect the feet from thorns, boots cause foot fungus that can incapacitate (look at stories from Vietnam).  Light, breathable fabrics dry in a few minutes in the sun (sometimes hard to find in the rain forest) while heavy garments of leather would be stiflingly hot and hard to dry and then hard to soften up again once they were dry.  Have you ever worn jeans in the rain?  A light t-shirt dries quickly but jeans take all day and while you're walking in them, they chafe and hamper movement.

Hope it helps.


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## Ryan_Crown (May 28, 2015)

Got curious enough about this to do a little research. Found this article about Aztecs (figuring that would be a good source culture for a jungle environment) --

Aztec Warriors: Weapons and Armor | HistoryOnTheNet

Apparently they wore cotton armor soaked in salt brine. Some food for thought.


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