Cape or no Cape

If your a street level hero a cape would just get in the way. We all can't be batman lol. First thing I thought when I saw night wing was "ah no cape. Smart"

Me personally, I narrow it down to whether I can fly or not. Flying? Cape. No flying? No cape.

Originally posted by -Pr-
Me personally, I narrow it down to whether I can fly or not. Flying? Cape. No flying? No cape.

Originally posted by -Pr-
Me personally, I narrow it down to whether I can fly or not. Flying? Cape. No flying? No cape.

yeah that sounds about right.

Originally posted by SevenShackles
So your in it for the dramatic flare, eh? 😄

That, and how bitchin it looks.

Capes look dumb in real life Pr.

Originally posted by Blair Wind
Capes look dumb in real life Pr.

If I'm a herald level guy that can fly, I'm really not going to care if people think it looks dumb, tbh.

Originally posted by bluewaterrider
You keep getting the analogy wrong.
Any sensible hero taking gliding considerations into account is going to modify their cape to work with the rest of their costume.

Think more along the lines of the following:

No, I'm not. That was your analogy. And then you changed it to what's more of a glider, which a cape is not. It has no structure. Except I guess for yours, which is made of lead (which will make it all the more fun for you when a 100lb lead lined cape lands on you after a fall from, well, any height).

Not as a street leveler

Originally posted by Cogito

you changed it to what's more of a glider, which a cape is not.

Batman's is.

Originally posted by Cogito

a cape ... has no structure.

Batman's does.

Originally posted by Cogito

Except I guess for yours ...

Batman's too.

And anybody who realizes they need to have their costume aid them in gliding.

And it's not all that far fetched. It is, in fact, nearly exactly what the first people who designed hang-gliders did:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8WEJ8fHQv0
(Otto Lilienthal)

Originally posted by bluewaterrider

Think "40 story tall building", where a cape can catch enough wind to direct you to the roof of a 10, 20, or 30 story building and save your life.

Originally posted by bluewaterrider
Cape, definitely.

1) Increases concealment/camouflage/blending in to shadows ability.

2) Has pouches to conceal weapons.

3) Gives protection from the elements.

4) Pads against blows to the body, especially from the sides and rear.

5) Offers some protection from radiation when lead-lined

6) Enables emergency transfer of objects too hot or cold to touch with bare or even gloved hand, in some cases.

7) Usually has just enough aerodynamic qualities to save your life when you find yourself falling from a great height.

Number 8:
Can be removed and placed on something else to act as a decoy.

how does superman keep his cape from ripping off when he's flying a light speed?

Heh.

I was just thinking yesterday how obvious the answer would be if we were allowed to have the cape worn by the PRE-CRISIS incarnations of either Supergirl or Superman, along with all the protective, reality-bending features THOSE came with.

No street-leveler with any SENSE would leave home without the cape either Kryptonian wore if given that option ...

I happened upon 2 rather remarkable YouTube programs which talked almost exclusively about the batsuit.

Posting the shorter one here.

Strongly recommend watching it. The last 2 minutes are especially relevant to the gliding discussion we'd been having.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdiSk8XyBu8

Originally posted by Raisen
how does superman keep his cape from ripping off when he's flying a light speed?

it's made of kryptonian materials and is very durable.

At Street level, your cape would need to be functional and more than just there to look cool. Like one of those Spider-Man heroes who helped him out. The bulltproof one whose cape let him fly/glide. Or Batman's whose is bulletproof, etc.. To just have one would be more of a hindrance than a help.

Batman's fighting allows him to have heavier armour and cape than say, Nightwing, whose tendency is to dodge. Batman would rather block or just flat out take the punch and keep advancing, so he can afford it.

Is his cape bulletproof though?

It's been bulletproof at times. Or lined with Kevlar and stuff like that. But with the way he's written, it might as well be bulletproof.

Yeah, that's true.

I just asked because I've seen it pierced a few times.