He raised an eyebrow at her comment about 'as good,' before shaking his head. "It is also for the intimidation factor, and a comfort factor. I realize it will mark me, but the fact it is a new weapon type means I will have to spend considerable time learning it. My skill with the knives, bow, and fighting unarmed are unusual. Guns are the new weapons of choice, and few bother learning others. The ones, like myself, are either hobbyists, or have dedicated themselves to the art form. And other than the breastplate, the rest of the armors are too different from what I came from, and even that has considerable more metal than I am familiar with."<br/><br/>He paused, concentrating, heading back to the armory and slipping the metal plates into his combat vest. "A plate of steel, about 10 pounds, ten to twelves inches wide, twelve to sixteen inches tall, and an inch thick, front and back. Smaller plates on the sides, under the arms, and a four pound helmet made up our protective gear. Survival was determined more by cover than armor. We had perfected killing, we fought to annihilate the enemy, minimizing the damage they could do to us while maximizing how much damage we could do to them."<br/><br/>He gestured behind him. "All of this? With the exception of the crossbow, none of it uses any of the last hundred years or so of combat mastery and learning that formed the basis of the skills I learned, and of the skills that got your attention. And unless you have a crossbow accurate to about one thousand feet, with a thirty plus shot holder before I have to reload, and can kill or mortally wound a person at that thousand feet, then I don't have any real combat value. I can teach others how to use what was learned from mistakes and innovations from my time and place, but..."<br/><br/>He shrugged, before giving her a helpless look. "But since I still have no idea why I am here, I can't think of what to do to provide more help. I was a sergeant, a front line squad leader, not a major or colonel, leading bases and regiments."