[HoneyBadger]

Cloth might not make an enormous difference, but it does make *a* difference, several infact, depending on the type of cloth, and the weave, and the circumstances around which it is struck. Pretty much anything can make a difference, in the middle of a battle. Armour was often *made* from cloth, typically layers of silk, or quilted linen, which should answer the question right there.

Swords were relatively rare, anyway, as were knights compared to the total population, and knights with swords were happy to have them. Even a very cheap sword was still a lot of metal dedicated to *just* fighting, and the skills to make a really good sword were rare, and sought after. Metal that could be used to grow food and build shelter was instead dedicated to supporting the Noble class, and their wars. All this made swords, of any kind, expensive.

One thing you should understand, Endoperez, is that I've been studying weapons and armour for my entire life. I was taught by my dad who studied and assessed swords professionally, for a living, for years. I was around swords, I read about them since I've been able to read, I've studied fencing and fighting with a wide variety of midieval weapons, both Western and Eastern, I've studied Eastern and Western forging techniques, and I've made a particular study of armour.

I'm not saying that I know everything, there's an enormous amount of material to digest-maybe too much for anyone to understand in a single lifetime-but I am saying that I'm talking from an educated and experienced position, and if there's something I don't know about midieval weapons and armour, I can probably atleast research it, find out about it, and make an educated guess about it.