It only takes one arrow or crossbow bolt

[fosterrl]

Maybe the shield that they put up to block things, like blasted rock, aren't always hard. Maybe the weave is soft and lets in air until it comes into contact with a large amount of kinetic energy. Then again Taim did tell them to put up the shield as soon as they blast so does that mean that as soon as they blast they take it down again. Wasn't there a weave that the Asha'man could use to keep rain off of themselves to. I don't remember which book that was in.

[Erunion]

There are rain-off weaves used by both AS and Asha'man.

 

What I've always wondered is this, why has no one made one power armour? Make yourself a "breastplate" out of air and earth, same with forearm guards/etc. Not a perfect covering, but makes your vitals invulnerable to any non-channeler! Simply tie the weaves on when you are going into a dangerous situation, and voila - OP armour.

[fosterrl]

Doesn't one of Nynaeve's ring ter'angreal create armour out of air?

[Gentled Ben]

The Aes Sedai had been doing the same thing previously.

The spears encircled the wagons, pressed in on them, showered arrows toward them, but those at the front seemed to push against an invisible wall. At first the arrows that arched highest passed over this wall, but then they too began striking something unseen and bouncing back.

It's worth keeping in mind that the Shaido Wise Ones knew virtually nothing about military uses of the Power at this point.

Yes, the Tower Aes Sedai raised a shield at Dumai's Wells, and Cadsuane raised one at Shadar Logoth during The Cleansing. There must be practical reasons, perhaps the very ones previously stated, that prevent the Aes Sedai, or the Asha'man for that matter, from using such shields as a matter of course.

[Arani Lepenque Aes Sedai]

Also remember that many Aes Sedai are not as strong as the Asha'man, so that if they maintained their shield all the time, it would take away valuable energy and power that they would need to cast fireballs and other offensive weapons.

 

It's a choice between being safe and killing your enemies over a longer period of time, or taking a risk to eliminate them faster.

[Durinax]

hte issue is usually the channeller cannot see the attack coming. whereas in training they know whats coming and can counter it. as to not putting up a shield around them. Think of AS as a battery in a gaming device, if you turn it on and leave it on all day the battery will be drained and become useless

[dovien]

The other thing to consider is that if an Aes Sedai has to walk around with a protective shield or magical armor all the time then she's clearly not done her job correctly. It's like with spies, real spies don't need to know about weapons or martial arts because if they need those skills then they've already messed up beyond recovery.

[OptimusPrime]

So... if that is the case... why the hell don't the far more experienced Aes'Sedai wake up every morning, weave a nice shield of air around themselves, tie it off, and go about their daily business not worrying about arrows and crossbow bolts and whatnot? Or at least when they are in publicly crowded places, where they mention this fear and need to be careful.

 

I can think of a few reasons.

 

First, the Aes Sedai are divided into factions with different ideals. The ideals of their Ajahs often place themselves in situations where such a shield would be inconvenient to maintain, particularly for Aes Sedai not particularly strong in the Power.

 

Second, Aes Sedai are supposed to work together. Having such a shield would no doubt be noticed as even a tied weave can be seen. Such an easy to see act of protection would imply that you expect attack, and would likely cause other Aes Sedai to think you had reason to protect yourself, as in, maybe you were preparing to attack.

 

Not to mention that most Aes Sedai dont have to worry about debris from explosions. The Ashaman are built for nothing other than battle. The first thing they learn is how to blow something up without killing yourself. Seems ok

[cgk84]

Ashaman are weapons, to the point where they have to think about every way they can use the power as a weapon and how to use it to protect themselves in battle. For the Aes Sedai only the Greens and to a lesser extent some Blues engage in any sort of major combat using the power and they certainly don't think of themselves as just weapons. They simply don't think up some of the crazier/more practical things because they are not of the mindset. Also, an awful lot are arrogant as hell and probably think no-one would dare try fill them with arrows but instead be too dazzled by the ring and shawl (at least in the early books).