Hillbilly body armor test

[Odd Job]

Seems to me the mosaic tiles would be like hiding from a BB gun behind a chain link fence.
Lots of cracks there for a bullet to slip through at any point there is a crack.

It has been done already, with Dragonskin. They had overlapping ceramic discs but there was a problem with the adhesive used to keep the discs in place. There were also legal issues which meant it could not be DOJ approved.
But the imbricated layout was sound.

 

[JDoe]

Body armor is available for everyone even if laws are made to restrict it.

Who is going to ban floor flies?

 

[Risky]

Always fun to test this stuff, but I'll stick to purpose-built armor for my protection. I went with AR500Armor's contoured set up. Carrier, front, back and side contoured plates for $345 shipped, they proved it to stop multiple direct hits of M855.

http://www.ar500armor.com/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=165

It's a little heavier than ceramic, and it's not true level IV (NIJ L IV rated to AP 7.62 NATO); More like L III+. But it's a lot less expensive, and the plates are not compromised after a hit like ceramics are.

Makes sense for those of us who want to have such protection available, but are unlikely to actually need it and thus unwilling to spend $1,000+

It can stop multiple hits easily but without a spall liner, all of that bullet splatter would be going into your neck/face, arms and legs.

It really bothers me when companies sell steel plate as armor without offering, much less mentioning the need for spall protection... its setting up their customers for severe injury.

 

[MachIVshooter]

It really bothers me when companies sell steel plate as armor without offering, much less mentioning the need for spall protection... its setting up their customers for severe injury.

They talk about that, and future products will option laminating Kevlar or another ballistic nylon to the plates.

I may investigate doing something like that, but the odds of me needing it are extremely low (this was more just a cool toy I wanted), and the carriers do offer some spall mitigation.

Not the best protection out there, but beats the heck out of a jacket!

 

[-v-]

It can stop multiple hits easily but without a spall liner, all of that bullet splatter would be going into your neck/face, arms and legs.

It really bothers me when companies sell steel plate as armor without offering, much less mentioning the need for spall protection... its setting up their customers for severe injury.

I've also looked into that, and its fairly easy to get 3000 denier ballistic Kevlar by the yard. 2-3 layers of it is enough to catch the spall and its easy enough to make a 2-3 layer pouch to place the plates in to catch the spall. Just requires a little leg work on the end user's part at the end, plus another $100 or so for the kevlar cloth. Also, some steel plate manufacturers do coat their plates in a ballistic compound to catch/minimize spall.

 

[JonnyGringo]

Maybe Martha Stewart would be willing to put her name on some of the more decorative models........

 

[chopinbloc]

The thread that got this started was a thread on Arfcom that was about reducing fragmentation from steel plates. Here are a few salient points from that thread:

Many steel plates can be defeated by M193 at close range, even though they stop M855. Velocity matters.

Although Kevlar can be used to stop fragmentation, it needs to be adhered well to the plate if you want to get away with only a few layers. If the fragments have to move roughly parallel with the surface of the fabric, 3-5 layers is sufficient. If a loose pouch is used, most of the fragments won't hit the fabric until they reach the edge of the plate and you need a LOT more than 5 layers to get the job done.

Plain bed liner does a fantastic job at reducing fragmentation. Proper surface prep is critical and both Herculiner brand and Line-X do really well. Duplicolor is total junk and will not work.

The carriers themselves offer virtually ZERO protection from fragments.

Video of plate carrier being totally shredded by 7.62x39mm (cussword in intro)

Video of fragmentation in gelatin

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Mythbusters several years ago tested ceramic floor tiles ability to stop bullets. It did.

 

[PGT]

What would be cool to see is the use of porcelain mosaic tiles that are 1" square that are attached to a mesh sheet and do the same thing (alternating the grout lines with the other sheets) but allow it to remain slightly flexible (maybe source some type of rubberized compound, in lieu of the herculiner) if one could achieve the same stopping power in something that could be molded into body armor. I would think the added benefit of smaller tiles is that when the bullet hits it would possibly not break the surrounding tiles which would remain intact. It also seems that the smaller tiles would have a slight give that would slow the bullet, rather than all the inertia getting absorbed by what the armor is attached to. These are all just my observations and thoughts. Hmmm....I might have to run to home depot this weekend.

http://www.pinnaclearmor.com/body-armor/dragon-skin/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aYaSRIbPWkM

 

[Derek Zeanah]

Yeah, but the Dragon Skin folks won't sell to us normal folk...

 

[PGT]

True. Is Spectra still in vogue? My bro worked for a company that made vests from it way back when (Oliver North was involved somehow) and a friend is a mechanical engineer for Dupont that designs the machinery that Spectra, Kevlar and a new fabric is made on (not sure if its released yet). He just got the patent for the machinery's design in the last few months.

 

[Geno]

Just when I was wanting to armor my truck tires, here comes this thread. Now, I just have to locate some square truck tires!

Okay, seriously, it really is interesting. I'm thinking, as in cost-effective "safe room", or something to that effect. Thanks for the post!

Geno

 

[Sol]

This is a job for aramids. Stiff and rigid material tend to become secondary projectiles. I guess you could cover it.

 

[chopinbloc]

That's what the bed liner is for.

 

[chopinbloc]

New version is two tiles with a cutting board backer in tactical red. I cut it down to 10"x12" and cut the corners. I actually just measured my Level III steel plate for the dimensions of the corner cuts. Turns out they took 2.5" from each corner so that leaves 5" across the top edge. Those Herculiner cans are a real pain to open. Thought I could make it happen with the Dillo but I had to take after it with a screwdriver. They actually glue the lids down.

 

[Deadman644]

For all us ignorant Cajuns just what is S-Mart?

 

[Pinkbunny]

For all us ignorant Cajuns just what is S-Mart?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFriRcIwqNU

 

[chopinbloc]

So when I pulled it off the grocery bag I had it sitting on to dry, the bed liner peeled right off the cutting board. I roughed it up with a wire wheel and reapplied the bed liner.

 

[Millwright]

"Plastic Armour"; it'll take a thumb tack

In WW2 a similar "armor" was created by the "Wheezers and Dodgers" (DMWD) for use by cargo shipping and light military vessels as protection against straffing attacks. They used Penlee granite chips in a road tar mastic composition, as I recall.

Thanks for sharing ! The current hoplophobic fad is going to generate a lot more of this sort of inventive thinking I'm sure. Right now I suspect there are hundreds of inventors pondering ways to evade idiotic "assault weapon" designations and the current, (and perhaps indefinite ? ) ammo shortages ! >MW

 

[Trent]

Tagging for updates.. cool stuff!

 

[coloradokevin]

I`d like to see somebody all decked out in that get-up waiting for a 50 cal, Ap round to end there existance. There are times when folks have way to much spare time on their hands.

There's a limit to anything, but I have to say that I'm impressed with the performance for a cheap home-made plate armor that isn't all *that* heavy.

Lets face it, my Level IIIA vest at work (with a trauma plate) still isn't rated to stop the .223 Remington or the 7.62X39mm. And, the plate armor we keep in our armory is quite heavy when we're looking for protection against rifle threats.

I don't know of any wearable armor that will stop a .50 BMG AP round. Period.

 

[zbird]

Thanks for the idea, I'm going to do my safe room with your design.

 

[RustHunter87]

I think if you added a mud flap or 2, to the equation it would hold up a little longer

 

[Trent]

I don't know of any wearable armor that will stop a .50 BMG AP round. Period.

I sure as heck wouldn't want to be wearing it either.

Blunt trauma from a handgun can kill you or seriously injure you.

Blunt trauma from a 50 BMG with 45 times the kinetic energy?

I'll pass, thankyouverymuch.

 

[chopinbloc]

Blunt trauma is primarily the result of back face deformation. Hard armor plates usually have very little, if any, back face deformation. If there were a wearable plate available that could stop .50 BMG it is unlikely that it would hurt any more to be shot while wearing it that it does to fire a .50 BMG rifle.

I doubt that this configuration of plates can stop 7.62x51mm, let alone really energetic stuff but I intend to test it to failure as soon as I settle on a configuration.