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Message: <blockquote data-quote="El Mahdi" data-source="post: 5534573" data-attributes="member: 59506">My opinion: it's tough, but possible. First off, armor will only automatically drag you underwater if you don't attempt to swim. But, even though armor is heavy, relatively it's still lighter in water (water being more dense than air). However, armor is still denser than water and will obviously sink on it's own. But I do think one can swim with armor on, if you're a strong enough swimmer. It won't be easy, probably very difficult, but it can be done at least for short distances. It would jbe a swim check with penalties, with failure not necessarily meaning that you are sinking, only that you are tiring from the effort (limiting how far you can swim - an endurance check, not necessarily a drowning check). I've heard people saying that the problem isn't just the metal armor you're wearing, but the padding underneath that's getting wet and dragging you under. Firstly, the padding isn't very heavy even on land. Secondly, when people think of how heavy wet padding is, they're thinking about how heavy it is when wet on land. The padding is going to be no heaver in water that it is on land (actually lighter), and probably even has a slightly positive boyancy, even when soaked with water (throw a padded piece of clothing or blanket into water - does it immediately sink? - probably not). The only negative effect is the limit on your limbs mobility. It may significantly slow down or impede your swimming strokes. As long as one knows how to swim, and keeps swimming (or treading water - floating is definitely out of the question), one can swim in armor for limited distances or periods of time. Historically, there was eve a Japanese martial art called Suiei-jutsu (Water Combat), that included techniques for swimming in armor. Granted, that was probably leather, padded, and lamellar armors - not full plate or mail - but probably heavy and restricting enough to be comparable. now, I think it would be absolutely impossible to fight while trying to swim in armor, and if one was able to find their way back out of the water, then the added weight of wet padding would be a significant handicap to movement and fighting also. But is swimming in armor possible? In my opinion, Yes.  <a href="http://vimeo.com/13634653" target="_blank">Here's</a> an interesting video I found of just such a test. Ugly, very difficult, but possible for very short distances. <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/glasses.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt="B-)" title="Glasses    B-)" data-shortname="B-)" /></blockquote>

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