Originally posted by StarWarsPhreak
Stormtrooper armor isn;t that strong. A close up blaster shot (like Leia) will most likely penetrate the armor. A blaster shot from a distance can possibly be deflected/absorbed (It depends on what weapon was used). The armor can undoubtfully stop projectiles (like spears and ROCKS), but unfortunately, Stormtrooper armor does not make a stormtrooper less of a pussy when fighting killer teddy bears.
True to a point.
"Armour Characteristics: A stormtrooper's suit performs as both body armour, NBC suit, and combat aid. It would be best to examine these functions separately.
A stormtrooper's body armour capabilities are very impressive. According to the SWVD, the hardened white shell is virtually immune to corrosion (very important considering the fact that corrosive gas grenades exist), and it can resist any hand-held projectile weapons. In fact, we learned in "Rebel Dawn" that stormtrooper armour is so well made that it commands a high price on the black market, which is why Han Solo was smuggling stolen armour for profit. Not once in any of the three original films did we see anything penetrate the hardened armour apart from a direct hit with a blaster bolt, although the rubberized flexible joint sections were obviously not quite so strong (numerous stormtroopers were killed by arrows to the flexible neck covering in ROTJ, and Leia killed one with a shrapnel hit to the wall behind him, taking advantage of that same small weak area). The novel "Lightsabres", from the Young Jedi Knights series, contains a sequence of events which helps demonstrate the mechanical strength of stormtrooper armour:
"Qorl stood inside the training chamber holding a wicked-looking spear in his black-wrapped left hand. His droid replacement gripped the gleaming shaft with enough force to dent the metal."
...
"He cocked his droid arm back - and hurled the deadly weapon ..."
"Norys slammed into the wall, his helmet ringing against the hard metal bulkhead. His vision sparkled with impending unconsciousness."
...
"He looked down at his chest in amazement and saw only a nick in the white armor where the spear had struck."
Qorl's droid used its superhuman strength to throw a spear with such great force that it lifted a man off his feet and hurled him against a nearby wall. It should be noted that we have no materials in real life that can be manufactured in lightweight thin plates and yet retain such strength against deformation or cracking. Moreover, no real-life assault rifle fires projectiles with anywhere near enough momentum to throw a man around like a rag doll, so this means that stormtrooper armour is basically impervious to present-day small-arms fire (not to mention the shrapnel that is ejected by anti-personnel weapons). A real-life soldier would have to score direct hits with concussion grenades or use a very heavy tripod-mounted gun in order to kill a stormtrooper through his armour (contrast this with Federation soldiers, whose pajamas wouldn't be of much use against an M-16). Blaster bolts are much too powerful to block, but by blocking shrapnel, a stormtrooper's armour ensures that the enemy must score a direct hit in order to kill the man inside.
The NBC protection of stormtrooper armour is just as important as its physical strength. According to the SWVD, a stormtrooper's armour is the product of millenia of refinement in personal combat protection equipment, and it affords the wearer complete protection from a wide variety of threats, such as extreme temperature variations, the vacuum of space (albeit only briefly), radiogenic fallout, nerve gases, and biological agents. The observed characteristics of the armour are consistent with this description. The armour seems to be based on a black, rubber-like "body glove", upon which the white armour plates are bonded. When Han Solo and Luke Skywalker had their helmets off in ANH, we could see that the suit extended all the way up to the neck, and the SWVD's helmet diagram labels a "hermetic auto-seal" around its base, which is obviously designed to form an airtight seal around the suit's neck collar. Furthermore, when a stormtrooper speaks, his voice sounds tinny and distorted, as if it is electronically reproduced or otherwise filtered. It does not sound like he's simply speaking through a barrier, and it does not appear as if this electronically filtered voice reproduction can be turned off in favour of direct speech (even Han Solo and Luke Skywalker communicated that way en route to the Death Star detention centre). This is generally indicative of a sealed helmet." -Curtesy of
www.stardestroyer.net)
Also the rocks used by the ewoks wher larg the concussion would have been very bad and I think ewoks are very strong also wich would add to that concussion. A strong little creature throwing a three foot rock at you even though your armor is strong would give you a bad headacke because of your head rattleing around in your helmet. Things like that could break bones.