• teft@piefed.social
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    2 days ago

    Those lances are made of balsa wood usually. It makes them explode so dramatically at such low speeds and you aren’t getting pierced with a balsa splinter.

    Also you’re probably not at a high risk to get CTE. They aim for the opposing rider’s shield, not the helmet.

    • GraniteM@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      Fun fact!

      The lances in A Knight’s Tale were made of balsa wood and filled with dry pasta so that when they shattered there would be a more dramatic explosion of splinters going every which way.

    • Etterra@discuss.online
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      2 days ago

      Getting unhorsed can absolutely give you serious injuries. I didn’t know they just used balsa wood though. I imagine it reduces the odds of being unhorsed too.

      • teft@piefed.social
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        2 days ago

        I imagine it reduces the odds of being unhorsed too.

        Yeah, you can see the rider on the right slip off his horse instead of falling off it. Falling off a horse can fuck you up if you don’t know how to land or if you get a foot stuck in the stirrup but those are problems even without jousting added in. These guys probably just learn how to take a hit and how to fall in order to reduce injuries. Also a full suit of armor will stop a surprising amount of falling injuries, it’s for the same reason why you wear a full suit of body armor during downhill mountain biking. Falling hurts much less with protective gear.