The suits of armour that the Kelly gang fashioned for themselves have become to the Australian public potent icons of a bushranger. It’s significant that the icons are of defensive armour as opposed to offensive weapons. The four suits each have very peculiar characteristics. Joe seemed very keen to protect his eyes, Steve apparently wanted to see as much as he could out of his helmet and  Dan’s armour appears to bear the bullet marks of testing against close range shots. (n)Ed’s armour protected more of the body than the other suits however all four were very heavy and would have required considerable effort to get used to.