Presumably, the development and the later popularization of this type of harness is directly linked to the knightly needs for better protection against cavalry lances, since the former protection of mail and aketon made the horseman vulnerable only to such strikes. In Mike Loades' military documentary called "Weapons that Made Britain: Armor", the older set of mail harness and aketon proved itself unable to stop lance strikes at horseback charges. The addition of an authentic reproduction of coat of plates, however, provided sufficient protection against all the lance strikes, even the most powerful of them couldn't penetrate through the combination of padding, mail and plates, proving its effectiveness as the new cavalry protection.