The role of surface properties on the penetration resistance of scaled skins

•Scaled skins, namely fish skins, can inspire design of hybrid armors and lightweight, flexible protective layers.•Modulating bioinspired surface features of scaled skins can increase the energy dispersion and strength of flexible scaled skins.•We found that the addition of lightweight, bioinspired surface features resulted in a 663% increase in energy dispersion with only a 7–8% increase in weight.