I've read in the BoW and noted that it states the thickness of leather armor must be at least 3/16" thickness. Usually a lot of response from the forum is it has to be #12 leather, which comes out to being at least 1/4" or over.
I'm not trying to bend the rules nor rule *, but I practice leather armor building with waxing to harden the armor into plates. It's exactly 3/16" thick without the wax and usually solidifies the wax up to 1/4" thickness. Would this still pass under the mixed posted rulings?
I can demonstrate the durability of the armor as to how it stands up to the equivalent of metal plates! It can take hits from real swords , bokens, and waster swords just like metal plate. It is a historically accurate method of hardening the leather for armor, although not very widely known .