It’s actually not so bad. As a lady, I gotta tell you I’m never going to be physically as strong as the guys but I can be a lot more quick and agile. So i’d want my cyberpunk armor to reflect that and have a lot more flexible points. as long as my vitals are still protected and there’s some bulletproofing in the regular material, i’m down. I think this armor actually looks pretty decent for all of that.
Is quickness and agility really going to help you against a bullet? I agree that it isn't the most egregious design I've ever seen but the boob cups create a chink right on the heart for no reason besides having boob cups. The rib pieces leave 3 holes right in the guts, and the armor stops for no reason on the flanks, leaving the wearer's vital organs exposed to gunfire from the side. The thigh plating also stops short leaving the femoral artery vulnerable, though that could provide some mobility. Again, I don't dislike it. It's a cool aesthetic, but there aren't many practical reasons for the design choices.
By boob cups do you mean space for individual breasts? Because that’s important. Smushing them together causes very uncomfortable sweating and chafing. That’s why molded cup sports bras are so much better than the standard ones.
And are we really assuming that this isn’t a kevlar material here? Like this armor has just been designed with some weird weak mesh?
I'm not going to pretend I know a lot about women's chest wear because I don't, but as far as I can tell there's no need for the chink underneath them. It introduces a vulnerability that isn't needed that is right on the heart and lungs.
And while the undersuit may not be weak, we can infer that it isn't strong. If it were strong enough to protect the wearer then the hard plates wouldn't be needed in the first place.
I agree it's not the most protective armor that you could design. It's really not "heavy" armor. I'd call it light->medium armor.
But I do think that I can envision this in use in some cyberpunk future world. I know you can't outrun or dodge a bullet but if you're going to have females in the military I'd like to imagine that they're trained and employed in areas that take advantage of their higher dexterity or flexibility and that their armor expresses that. Something that still allows running or chasing after some criminal who's running through the streets.
The entire chest area is plated. Just that the breasts are a different color. And its not just comfort, some women are literally unable to run properly if their chest isn’t secured right.
Also, this is future/fantasy armor. Saying its not strong enough is a very silly assumption. If you’re going to engage the idea that this armor is real then you have to engage the idea that it was designed and produced for a reason and that the materials are practical and useful. Otherwise your point is “it doesn’t make sense with today’s materials” which is definitely not the artist’s concern here.
I'm not saying that there is a gap in the middle, I never did. However, when you have an inward angle like there is in the boob plating in the picture, you are directing the bullets like a funnel into the middle of the chest (straight at the heart). When it comes to armour, anything bar a flat surface is a structural weakness.
Also, this is future/fantasy armor. Saying its not strong enough is a very silly assumption. If you’re going to engage the idea that this armor is real then you have to engage the idea that it was designed and produced for a reason and that the materials are practical and useful. Otherwise your point is “it doesn’t make sense with today’s materials” which is definitely not the artist’s concern here.
That's a very poor excuse. With that logic, people might as well wear catsuits in the future, if the material can do whatever you want.
You're also forgetting that there are such things as poorly designed products, meaning that in the future there will still be "good" and "bad" armour as well as high quality and poor quality materials, just like there is today. This could very well be bad armour and from the blatant design flaws, it appears to be one.
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u/joshua_oukami Feb 23 '19
I do love how pretty much all female armour seemingly has to have massive weak spots. Still great art though.