History Main / ImprovisedArmour

** In ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'', the Hulk shears some metal sheets off a crushed APC to use as shields against the army's guns (because those .50 cals [[ImmuneToBullets itch something fierce]]).

** In ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', the guards in Diamond City (a settlement built in the mostly-intact remains of Fenway Park in Boston) have armor that's constructed from salvaged umpire and catcher padding and masks, worn over salvaged Red Sox uniforms. Considering that [[FutureImperfect by 2287, baseball is mythologized ]]as a gladiatorial BloodSport, from the guards' perspective the armor may seem to be more reclaimed than improvised, though. The ''Automatron'' DLC adds sets of Robot Armor to the game, android casings that one gang of raiders wears as armor.

* Parodied by ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/06/02/fresh-spring-looks here,]] demonstrating that wearing multiple helmets and dozens of pieces of metal strapped to your chets akes you look ridiculous.

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'': When Dio unleashes his FlechetteStorm onto Jotaro, enough make it by to stab him over his body. Except Jotaro managed to seclude several magazines beneath his clothes before facing Dio.

* The infamous Killdozer is a literal bulldozer with more than one foot thick armor slapped around it, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer#Bulldozer_modification made of concrete-metal sandwich]]. It's immune to small arms and explosives. The driver sealed himself into the cockpit by lowering a multi-ton concrete block around the cockpit and using TV cameras to see.

* Commanche Native American warriors figured out during the 19th century that their traditional shields, made of two thick buffalo hides, could be made bulletproof if they stuffed large amounts of paper between the hides. For this reason, whenever they raided white settlements they would take all the books or newspapers they could find.
* Very popular at the entry level of [[UsefulNotes/SocietyForCreativeAnachronism SCA]] heavy weapons fighting, where people who haven't yet saved up the money to buy steel armor will craft protection out of heavy duty plastic, or even duct tape and newspaper.

* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr'': In one episode, Brisco and Bowler cram the heads of shovels under their shirts, let themselves get shot, then dramatically swan dive into a river [[to FakingTheDead make the bad guys think they killed them]].

* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr'': a baddie-of-the-week wears a homemade armor suit for his back robbery jobs so he can be bulletproof.

* Speaking of which, World War II was when multiple sides started widely using High Explosive Anti Tank munitions. The principle is that a shaped explosive charge causes a hollow cone-shaped metal liner in the warhead to collapse inside out, forming into a high-velocity jet of molten metal which can penetrate armor seven or more charge diameters thick. This was especially useful for man-portable antitank grenade launchers such as the bazooka and Panzerfaust, which increased the ability of infantry to disable or destroy tanks. This led to improvised attempts to install spaced or slat armor consisting of thin metal sheets, wire mesh, or even just logs tied to the side of the vehicle to detonate shaped charges away from the tank's armor. For example, Russian tanks confronted by the Panzerfaust took to scavenging bedframes with bedsprings as improvised spaced armour.
* Other forms of improvised tank armor included covering the vehicle with spare track links or road wheels, and adding all kinds of bulky materials onto the outside such as sandbags, wood, and concrete. Most of this stuff was actually useless as protection, and in fact soft steel track could normalize the path of the penetrating projectile so that instead of deflecting upwards off the front slope, it would turn downwards into the main armor and encounter it at an angle where it wasn't as thick. U.S. Army Ordnance complained that the tankers were adding a bunch of crap that weighed down the tank and reduced its reliability, while at the same time giving themselves a false sense of security. As a result, Patton and his Third Army made efforts to crack down on these low quality add-ons. Others, however, figured it was doing some good as long as it made the men feel better, unlocking a bit more boldness and decisiveness to get the allmighty first good shot in.

* The [=T26E4=] Super Pershing was created by U.S. Army Ordnance as an up-gunned variant of the M26 Pershing tank, replacing the stock 90 mm gun M3 with a longer, higher-velocity 90 mm gun T15 that gave it firepower comparable to the fearsome German Tiger II heavy tank. Its armor, however, was merely that of a normal Pershing, and while substantial wasn't enough to make the crew feel protected against the German long 88 mm. When a single Super Pershing was sent to Europe to be tested in combat, they secured the help of Lt. Belton Cooper for some in-the-field up-armoring. Cooper's boys welded two 1.5 inch slabs of boiler plate steel onto the hull front so that they formed a steeper slope than the plates beneath, hopefully increasing the chance of ricochet. It was especially important to protect the turret, so they cut out an 80 mm plate from a Panther tank's upper glacis to stick over the gun mantlet. This unbalanced the gun so that it wouldn’t elevate, so they added a pair of "wings" to put some extra weight behind the trunnions, which could double as additional armor for the turret cheeks. And finally, to counter all the weight they had added to the front of the turret, they needed to increase the mass of the counterweight on the back of the turret. Altogether they added about seven tons to the Super Pershing, which had already been heavier than the M26 on account of the bigger gun, resulting in some performance penalties. Since it was near the end of the war, the tank would only engage enemy tanks twice, but the extra armor must have been reassuring.
* In 1879, Australian outlaw [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Kelly Ned Kelly]] hit upon the idea of his gang making themselves bulletproof plate armor for fighting the police. It consisted of quarter inch thick iron plow moldboards which were beaten into shape, probably using a crude bush forge with a log as an anvil, before being cut to size and riveted together. Over a period of several months they made suits for Ned Kelly, Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne, and a Steve Hart, which they used in the famous Glenrowan shootout. The armor stopped bullets (Ned's suit got 18 bullet dents), but it was extremely heavy (Ned's suit weighed 44 kg/97 pounds) and did not fully protect the arms and legs. Dan, Byrne, and Hart died during the fighting, while Ned was brought down by a shot to his ankle. He was subsequently tried and executed.

* Very popular amongst the [[UsefulNotes/SocietyForCreativeAnachronism SCA]] heavy weapons fighters. At least until they purchase real armour or learn armoursmithing themselves.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottonclad_warship Cottonclads]] were fairly standard wooden river gunboats with bales of cotton strapped to their sides, the cotton absorbing enemy gunfire so they could get close.

* In ''Literature/TheHobbit'' the Dwarf Thorin Oakenshield gains his sobriquet after he uses an oak branch as a shield in battle when his own shield gets broken.

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[[quoteright:250:[[Film/JojoRabbit https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jojo_rabbit.png]]]]

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'': When Dio unleashes his FlechetteStorm onto Jotaro, enough make it by to stab him over his body. Except Jotaro managed to seclude several magazines beneath his clothes before facing Dio.

* An issue of ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' (one of the Summer Specials back from the late 80's - early 90's) had the titular character fighting an evil school principal with a penchant for handing out guns to his students (don't ask). This (like many fights in schools) gets dragged to the library, where the Punisher decided that to survive the situation, he needed protection. A little duct tape and some textbooks later, we have the glorious invention of '''book armor!'''.

%%* ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'', with the steel chest-piece.

* In ''Literature/TheHobbit'' the Dwarf Thorin Oakenshield gains his sobriquet after he uses an oak branch as a shield in battle when his own shield gets broken.

* In ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', the Salmonids of the [[MultiMookMelee Salmon Run]] mode have all of their gear and armory made around cookware materials. For example, [[{{Mooks}} Chum]] and [[GiantMook Cohocks]] wield frying pans and [[MiniMook Smallfry]] wield spoons, Stingers sit atop a tower of pots, and Grillers are motorized barbecue grills.

* In ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', The Salmonids have all of their gear and armory made around cookware materials.

* In ''WesternAnimation/StormHawks'' Dove and her grandfather are simple farmers on Terra Gale. When Cycloians come to invade their territory, the pair prepare to fight back and don homemade armour largly made out of kitchenware.

* The [[ChainmailBikini surprisingly protective]] card "[[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=41163 Improvised Armor]]" in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''.

* Mal in ''Webcomic/CthulhuSlippers'' uses the indestructible ''Necronomicon'' as body armor in [[http://cthulhuslippers.com/comic/keep-safe/ this strip]].
%%* Parodied by ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/06/02/fresh-spring-looks here]]

%%* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Bill does this when Dale is dressed in armor

* Other forms of improvised tank armor included covering the vehicle with spare track links or road wheels, and adding all kinds of bulky materials onto the outside such as sandbags, wood, and concrete. Most of this stuff was actually useless as protection, and in fact soft steel track could normalize the path of the penetrating projectile so that instead of deflecting upwards off the front slope, it would turn downwards into the main armor and encounter it at an angle where it wasn't as thick. U.S. Army Ordnance complained that the tankers were adding a bunch of crap that weighed down the tank and reduced its reliability, while at the same time giving themselves a false sense of security. As a result, Patton and his Third Army made efforts to crack down on these low quality add-ons. Others, however, figured it was doing some good as long as it made the men feel better.

* The [=T26E4=] Super Pershing was created by U.S. Army Ordnance as an up-gunned variant of the M26 Pershing tank, replacing the stock 90 mm gun M3 with a longer, higher-velocity 90 mm gun T15 that gave it firepower comparable to the fearsome German Tiger II heavy tank. Its armor, however, was merely that of a normal Pershing, and wasn't enough to make the crew feel protected against the German long 88 mm. When a single Super Pershing was sent to Europe to be tested in combat, they secured the help of Lt. Belton Cooper for some in-the-field up-armoring. Cooper's boys welded two 1.5 inch slabs of boiler plate steel onto the hull front so that they formed a steeper slope than the plates beneath, hopefully increasing the chance of ricochet. It was especially important to protect the turret, so they cut out an 80 mm plate from a Panther tank's upper glacis to stick over the gun mantlet. This unbalanced the gun so that it wouldn’t elevate, so they added a pair of "wings" to put some extra weight behind the trunnions, which could double as additional armor for the turret cheeks. And finally, to counter all the weight they had added to the front of the turret, they needed to increase the mass of the counterweight on the back of the turret. Altogether they added about seven tons to the Super Pershing, which had already been heavier than the M26 on account of the bigger gun, resulting in some performance penalties. Since it was near the end of the war, the tank would only engage enemy tanks twice, but the extra armor must have been reassuring.

* The T26E4 Super Pershing was created by U.S. Army Ordnance as an up-gunned variant of the M26 Pershing tank, replacing the stock 90 mm gun M3 with a longer, higher-velocity 90 mm gun T15 that gave it firepower comparable to the fearsome German Tiger II heavy tank. Its armor, however, was merely that of a normal Pershing, and wasn't enough to make the crew feel protected against the German long 88 mm. When a single Super Pershing was sent to Europe to be tested in combat, they secured the help of Lt. Belton Cooper for some in-the-field up-armoring. Cooper's boys welded two 1.5 inch slabs of boiler plate steel onto the hull front so that they formed a steeper slope than the plates beneath, hopefully increasing the chance of ricochet. It was especially important to protect the turret, so they cut out an 80 mm plate from a Panther tank's upper glacis to stick over the gun mantlet. This unbalanced the gun so that it wouldn’t elevate, so they added a pair of "wings" to put some extra weight behind the trunnions, which could double as additional armor for the turret cheeks. And finally, to counter all the weight they had added to the front of the turret, they needed to increase the mass of the counterweight on the back of the turret. Altogether they added about seven tons to the Super Pershing, which had already been heavier than the M26 on account of the bigger gun, resulting in some performance penalties. Since it was near the end of the war, the tank would only engage enemy tanks twice, but the extra armor must have been reassuring.

* Welding more steel plate on top of the main armor was also an option, particularly if the hope was to protect against armor piercing rounds. Those who used scavenged boilerplate and such didn't get as much protection as whoever took proper armor plate that was made of good alloy and heat treated. Destroyed vehicles of any side could be stripped for their armor.
* The first M26 Super Pershing sent to Europe was modified by its crew. The Super Pershing was built as an up-gunned variant to compete with Tiger II and the crew thought its armour wasn't quite up to the confrontation, so they welded huge slabs of boiler plate steel onto the hull front at a steeper angle than the underlying plate, and an 80 mm plate from a Panther tank's upper glacis in front of the Pershing's gun mantlet.

* Speaking of which, World War II was when multiple sides started widely using High Explosive Anti Tank munitions. The principle is that a shaped explosive charge causes a hollow cone-shaped metal liner in the warhead to collapse inside out, forming into a high-velocity jet of molten metal which can penetrate armor seven or more charge diameters thick. This was especially useful for man-portable antitank grenade launchers such as the bazooka and Panzerfaust, which increased the ability of infantry to disable or destroy tanks. This led to improvised attempts to install spaced or slat armor consisting of thin metal sheets or wire mesh to detonate shaped charges away from the tank's armor. For example, Russian tanks confronted by the Panzerfaust took to scavenging bedframes with bedsprings as improvised spaced armour.

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* In 1879, Australian outlaw [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Kelly Ned Kelly]] hit upon the idea of his gang making themselves bulletproof plate armor for fighting the police. It consisted of quarter inch thick iron plow moldboards which were beaten into shape, probably using a crude bush forge with a log as an anvil, before being cut to size and riveted together. Over a period of several months they made suits for Ned Kelly, Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne, and a Steve Hart, which they used in the famous Glenrowan shootout. The armor stopped bullets (Ned's suit got 18 bullet dents), but it was extremely heavy (Ned's suit weighed 44 kg/97 pounds) and did not fully protect the arms and legs. Dan, Byrne, and Hart died during the fighting, while Ned was brought down by a a shot to his ankle. He was subsequently tried and executed.

%% Image replaced per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1301474996065067700

[[quoteright:330:[[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/improvarmor01_6002.png]]]]

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' has 'Ard Boyz, relatively bright Orks who realize that by slapping together plates of scrap metal into a crude set of armor, they have a better chance of surviving the charge across the battlefield into melee. Of course, ''all'' Orks' armor counts as improvised, as do their weapons, vehicles, architecture, medicine...

* In the ''Oriental Adventures'' sourcebook for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', Nezumi are fond of making makeshift armor out of whatever they can cobble together, like tower shields made of the shells of turtle-like monsters called Kappa.

* In ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'', some of the zombies have obtained armour that makes them more powerful, such as traffic cones, metal buckets, American football gear, screen doors, bobsleds...[[spoiler:a HumongousMecha]]. On the plant side, Pumpkins provide this for other plants.
* In ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', The Salmonids have all of their gear and armory made around cookware materials.
* There are many examples in the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' 'verse, but the most obvious are the Raider armours from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}''. Highlights include using a pair of sieves tied with shoestrings as a bikini top, a cow skull as a shoulder pad, and an empty shell of a spherical hovering robot as a helmet. In ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', Super Mutants wear bits of tire as shoulder guards, while their Behemoths wield car doors as bucklers.
** In the original games, Leather Armor was based on Pre-War designs used for contact sports.
*** Used again in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', where Caesar's Legion makes ersatz Roman armor out of football pads, baseball catcher's pads, and the occasional (presumably metal) dinner plate. Elite legionaries show their status with bits of armour from tougher foes they've felled. Serves as a visual contrast to the NCR Army's use of pre-war ballistic armour for their troops and the Veteran Ranger's LAPD Riot Squad armour.
*** In ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', the guards in Diamond City (a settlement built in the mostly-intact remains of Fenway Park in Boston) have armor that's constructed from salvaged umpire and catcher padding and masks, worn over salvaged Red Sox uniforms. Considering that by 2287, baseball is mythologized as a gladiatorial bloodsport, from the guards' perspective the armor may seem to be more reclaimed than improvised, though.
* In ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'', one of the lower rank armour items is actually a pot lid.

* Various ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' games have pot lids as the cheapest shield.
* In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals'' the GLA has pickup trucks, buses and tanks that can be upgraded by collecting wreckages of destroyed enemy vehicles, which they use as improvised armor.
* In ''VideoGame/TheGodfather 2'' the so-called armoured cars are clearly cobbled-together, with things like metal bars welded over the windscreens.
* In ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' there's a group of mutant hobos called "The Lost" with EliteMooks who use various types of armor such as a STOP sign for chest protection and a TV set (with a broken screen) as a helmet.
* [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Minions]] in ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'' will use almost anything as a helmet, even a pumpkin rind or dead rat.
* In ''[[VideoGame/PunchOut Punch-Out Wii]]'', King Hippo duct tapes a manhole cover to his stomach when he rematches you in an attempt to keep you from exploiting his vulnerability to body blows.
* The player character in ''VideoGame/TheForest'' can wear lizard skin as armor.
* The New Conglomerate in ''Videogame/PlanetSide2'', being backed by mining and security {{MegaCorp}}s, often makes use of cast-off or archaic designs for their armor and weaponry. Their MAX PoweredArmor in particular is obviously based on a mining exoskeleton with some extra armor panels welded to it, in contrast to the purpose-built Terran Republic MAX and the [[CyBorg heavily augmented]] Vanu Sovereignty MAX. Early concept art had the improvised armor being more prevalent on NC gear, with their engineer appearing to use mining gear for armor.

* [[GiantMook Heavy Troopers]] from ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' wear a body armor suit made out of a bomb disposal suit, with cannibalized plates reinforcing weaker spots, and an aviation helmet to top it off. This makes them [[MightyGlacier slow as molasses but more durable than anything else in the game]], and they're dangerously aware of it, requesting covering fire all the time and rarely attacking alone, when their weaknesses are at their most dangerous.

* In some ''VideoGame/{{Lufia}}'' games, some of the equipment available early in the game is a Pot helmet, and a Chopping Board shield.

*** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', the guards in Diamond City (a settlement built in the mostly-intact remains of Fenway Park in Boston) have armor that's constructed from salvaged umpire and catcher padding and masks, worn over salvaged Red Sox uniforms. Considering that by 2287, baseball is mythologized as a gladiatorial bloodsport, from the guards' perspective the armor may seem to be more reclaimed than improvised, though.

* In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'' the first helmet you can buy is called a SaladBWL. Guess it's better than nothing.

* The New Conglomerate in ''Videogame/PlanetSide 2'', being backed by mining and security {{MegaCorp}}s, often makes use of cast-off or archaic designs for their armor and weaponry. Their MAX PoweredArmor in particular is obviously based on a mining exoskeleton with some extra armor panels welded to it, in contrast to the purpose-built Terran Republic MAX and the [[CyBorg heavily augmented]] Vanu Sovereignty MAX. Early concept art had the improvised armor being more prevalent on NC gear, with their engineer appearing to use mining gear for armor.

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