A thick, padded leather or cloth coat worn as body armor during the 17th century, usually made of buff (soft leather).
Compound of 'buff' (the soft leather made from buffalo or oxhide) and 'coat'. Common military wear in the English Civil War era.
Buffcoats were surprisingly effective armor—they could stop musket balls by slowing them enough, which is why soldiers wore them even as metal armor became less fashionable. A single coat might take weeks to make.
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