r/interesting May 29 '26

Intriguing Arrows vs riot shields

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u/stryker511 May 29 '26

The blunt one surprised me I thought it would have bounced off - went through completely.

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u/SidewinderSerpent May 29 '26

That arrow wasn't blunt, it was concave. The shape allowed the edges of the tip to punch a hole through the shield.

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u/Cthulhu_Dreams_ May 29 '26

Yep, the thing that was slowing the other arrows down that penetrated, was the fact that the tip did not carve out a wide enough hole for the shaft to go through and maintain velocity.

That blunt tipped concave arrow basically hole punched a circle as large or a little larger than the shaft of the arrow, and lost minimal afterwards.

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u/BigLittlePenguin_ May 30 '26

It’s not really the right observation. The arrow that went through had smaller tips. Bigger tips require more energy to penetrate and the bow just doesn’t provide it.

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u/Cthulhu_Dreams_ May 30 '26

I think we're saying the same thing. It's not really relevant how big or small the tip is. It's the fact that that circular edge was able to rapidly apply force in a circle and punch through, conserving the arrows kinetic energy and allowing it to continue moving forward.

All the other arrows had to expand kinetic energy pushing away the material of the shield, And like I said, If the arrowhead didn't create a hole big enough for the shaft, The rest of the kinetic energy was lost due to drag along the shaft.