A Jacob's ladder is a fun toy that uses straps or ribbons to act as hinges.
My idea is to connect together an array of hexagonal plates with Jacob's ladder ribbon hinges, to form a strong yet flexible armour. This would make an interesting alternative to chainmail.-- xaviergisz, Mar 25 2021 illustration https://imgur.com/gallery/T8draT7 [xaviergisz, Mar 25 2021] + I think this would be lovely-- xandram, Mar 25 2021 The trouble is, a single light cut to the shoulder would sever the ribbon, and then everyone could stop fighting and watch the little plates flipping and tumbling down until all the armour was around your ankles.-- pocmloc, Mar 25 2021 ... which would, itself, be a beautiful sight. [+]-- pertinax, Mar 25 2021 Why it's beautiful. And you must know that "teal" is the "hot" color right now.-- blissmiss, Mar 25 2021 Autobun for supplied illustration. [+]-- doctorremulac3, Mar 25 2021 That's a honey of an illustration.-- AusCan531, Mar 26 2021 I dig it [+]-- 21 Quest, Mar 26 2021 [+] for CAD rendering. Is it intended to just flex, or also to flip around like a Jacob's Ladder? (one directional flipping.) If the latter, it seems to be over- constrained.-- sninctown, Mar 26 2021 The hinged plates are just intended to flex, no flipping (sorry to disappoint [pocmloc]). By using the Jacob's ladder hinge you can get large flex angles in both directions using relatively thick plates, and no (or very little) bevel/chamfer on the plates to allow them to hinge.-- xaviergisz, Mar 26 2021 Kevlar ribbons and you're good to go.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Mar 26 2021 [marked-for-tagline] ^-- 21 Quest, Mar 26 2021 //Kevlar ribbons// - why not graphene?-- hippo, Mar 26 2021 Neither of those materials are bullet proof.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Mar 26 2021 UHWMPE is a rigid armor. It's used in layered sheets, right? How flexible can it be made?-- 21 Quest, Mar 26 2021 I submit that Jacob's Ladder Plot Armor would work almost as well (i.e. quantum immortality)-- sninctown, Mar 26 2021 random, halfbakery