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KalasVordak said
Heavy-molecular-mass polyethelene should be both a good defense against cutting weapons, and very lightweight at the same time, shouldn't it? If so, it's quite a nice alternative against blades for heavy ceramic plates.
I can attest to this. I used to do medieval-style combat with people from an SCA Heavy Fighting Unit. The armor we wore was patterned on Roman Lorica Segmentata, and made from High-Density Polyetheline with light padding beneath. In addition to being light AND a flotation device (yes, you could swim in it), that shit stopped both impacts and the rare sharp weapon ( in the case of a weapon breaking, as all weapons were blunted and wooden... but a break still happened now and then and made a pointy thing. ) very effectively. Making a similar material out of an even heavier element would produce substantially more durable and protective armor.