Right now neoprene arm sleeves have a protection of 6, versus a protection of 3 from a sturdy pair of army pants
I guess it depends what we’re talking about, which isn’t clear from the description. Still, it beggars my belief that that foam is twice as strong as an army pants or jacket, which are at least marginally designed to stop fire and shrapnel. probably 3-4 imho
In case you missed it, ^please enjoy my post about neoprene arm sleeve protection values
I imagine that armor value was made considering the cushioning effect of the neoprene vs blows that would put it above even a fairly rugged cloth such as used in military canvas. Personally if I really had to be beaten with a metal pipe or clawed up by a wildcat i’d rather be wearing a wetsuit than some surplus camo.
The camo will likely last a lot longer and be worlds easier to repair and clean up… but that’s not what armor value represents.
Tactical vests, armored jackets and knee pads and plate inserts, yes those would have higher values, but some pants of patterned canvas?
I’m not saying I disagree, it’s just not that clear from the description of the item what we’re talking about. When I think neoprene arm sleeves I think basically like underarmor,
That there is really not going to give you more than 2-4 protection. If it’s something like an internally worn shoulder pad for football that needs to be clearer from the description. Maybe it needs an encumbrance raise.
If it’s anything like the wetsuit I’ve got, it’s not encumbering at all, there’s really nothing loose to get in the way. That’s the whole point of the material choice.
Really, the most accurate way to depict neoprene would be to give it nice bash protection but be especially vulnerable to slashing/cutting. I am speaking as someone who can’t even remember how item protection values work, but yeah. Six seems like a bit much unless it’s a material that is very easy to destroy.
(I’ve had to fix a tear on said wetsuit before - you use a particular type of glue to repair it and cross your fingers. Not even really tailoring, and thus trickier. Neoprene items aren’t listed as any type of material tailoring can repair right now, right?)
You repair them with soldering iron and plastic chunks, afair.
I imagined it as something that firefighters wear, so it’d also be fairly protective from falling building parts, for smashing through windows and…stuff.
I think a lot of this confusion stems from a misunderstanding of what ‘army pants’ means.
These are your ‘army pants’. They’re not armor, they’re not designed to stop shrapnel or fire; they’re just clothing.
All I see is a brick wall with some peoples faces floating in front of it. Are the army pants camouflaged?
Heh, yeah, the pants and jackets are meant to be kinda durable, they can sometimes catch a small and slow piece of shrapnel, but really it’s just meant to be something you wear for the camo and coverage, all your actual personal protection comes from the plate carrier.
Army Pants were designed just have a very good storage and a decent armour value; I know everyone’s already said this by this point but they’re not made out of any exceptionally special materials. It probably is fair to give Neoprene Arm Sleeves the protection is has now because they’re pretty tough.
I can’t remember fully, but I think a pair of knee pads/elbow pads have a bash/cut protection of 12. If you think neoprene arm sleeves are a little too good, consider picking up some knee or elbow pads and wearing them over your army pants or whatever. ‘Army pants’ are just meant to signify generic clothing worn by the army for camouflage (and storage) purposes.
Just a little misunderstanding, is all. 
