Home made body armor project

[BLQQD]

I have been fantasizing about making and testing homemade body armor for years now, and I also want to film it and put it on YouTube. The reason for the post is just to get opinions/amusement from other gun nuts, and maybe find people who would like to help or contribute in some way

I plan on making a sort of mini series on YouTube, and starting as basic as possible. The first "plates" I would make and test would be from household items that most people would actually find in their homes without a trip to the store. E.g. Denim jeans, bathroom tile, and duct tape

My goal for the final set of plates is to make them able to withstand multiple hits from m855 at close range (Might be dreaming but I have ideas)

I plan to be very methodical with the testing, including the range, bullet type, velocity, and grain. I'd also like to include statistics on the most common guns, calibers, grains, and velocities and use the most prevalent ones in the testing. I plan to include cost of materials, final weights of all plates and any and all prevalent information. Most videos on homemade body armor skip right over most if not all of this information

My current arsenal includes (S&Ws are hand-me-downs, along with the pump);
.22lr revolver S&W
.38 revolver S&W that's out of action
9mm S&W 39-2
.45 S&W 625 JM
.45 HK USP Expert
5.56 Rifle I built Aeroprecision upper/lower
12ga pump mossberg
12ga semi (that's cool but I regret, should have bought a benelli M4)

http://knowledgeglue.com/what-are-th...ers-in-the-us/

The caliber range I want to stick with is probably the top 4 from ^this list. Would be willing to try other stuff if it becomes feasible

Things I need/want before I can begin
-A safe place to shoot and film that's within 2 hours of the North Bay area
-More common handguns in .38, 9mm, and .45
-A chronograph
-A quality high speed camera (wet dream)
-A better camera and some mics, but could squeeze by with what I've got
-Clay block/mannequin to demonstrate back face deformation
-Fiberglass cloth, Kevlar cloth, and other materials that I will acquire along the way
-If people actually want to participate, just showing up and shooting some plates would be very beneficial

Hopefully I can find others who would participate, and bring some of these things to the table. I can supply ammo. There's no need to be on camera.

My Channel (UPDATED - Let me know if it breaks again)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSL7X31CBLQU7Z2vY65c_7A

I have no videos yet. The body armor project would be the first set.

I live in the North Bay area and am surrounded by anti gun demcrats (please dont tell me to move, I'm tired of it) So meeting people with similar interests is kind of challenging

Let me know what you guys think! Any and all comments/suggestions/criticisms are welcome. Thank you for your time!

[sigstroker]

MrGunsnGear on youtube already done it.

[MarikinaMan]

I have fancied the idea too. Ive worked with composites.

As long as you have some foundational understanding of the technology, its pretty straight forward.

Obviously, a lot of testing must be done before one should trust one's life with it.

[Citadelgrad87]

The armor needs to be powered.

[MarikinaMan]

The best stuff these days is made of Dyneema. Is the same stuff used in braided fishing line. Not cheap.

https://dutchwaregear.com/product-category/myg/fabrics/dyneema-composite/

[sealocan]

The old idea of steel-belted radial tires as some type of protection always interests me for several reasons. All the used semi-bald tires you want in the world are free at the junkyard if you were able just to cut out the flat steel belted part of the tire it has the curved shape of the body and you could lay them on top of each other in a similar fashion to ancient Japanese overlapping but flexible armor.
Although cutting the good part out of the tire will be a lot of work I've heard reports that shooting at a steel-belted part of the tire can cause a ricochet. So if that's true several tires on top of each other might slow down the bullet or ricochet it away.

I'm sure someone probably already made a YouTube video of shooting tires or something similar, I just never looked for it.

[sealocan]

I will also throw out the idea of a armored system I saw that consisted of many small ceramic balls that are placed between two walls. It was a newer technology but I'm not sure if it found its big application because it sounded like it was just too secure normal-looking walls. The article I read stated basically that the loose round ceramic balls inside the walls get hit by the projectile and bounce around enough that they slow down the projectiles velocity. ( I think small round metal balls would work too but they might not break apart as easily as ceramic and then become their own projectiles out the other side of their wall).

The photograph in the article remind me of something so I checked online and sure enough they sell ceramic pie weights that look very similar but probably aren't built to the same indestructibility as the the round ceramic balls the article might have been speaking about. Anyway you can buy ceramic pie weights for not too much money.

"Pie weights are small ceramic or metal balls that you use when blind baking a pie crust. To blind bake a pie crust means you bake it naked, without its filling."

[sealocan]

And If anyone thinks those two ideas above are clever or interesting, I'm loaded with great ideas.

Just in case anyone needs a post-apocalyptic warrior for rent.


I'm available.



(Get your reservation in now before the busy season.)

[BLQQD]

I will also throw out the idea of a armored system I saw that consisted of many small ceramic balls that are placed between two walls. It was a newer technology but I'm not sure if it found its big application because it sounded like it was just too secure normal-looking walls. The article I read stated basically that the loose round ceramic balls inside the walls get hit by the projectile and bounce around enough that they slow down the projectiles velocity. ( I think small round metal balls would work too but they might not break apart as easily as ceramic and then become their own projectiles out the other side of their wall).

The photograph in the article remind me of something so I checked online and sure enough they sell ceramic pie weights that look very similar but probably aren't built to the same indestructibility as the the round ceramic balls the article might have been speaking about. Anyway you can buy ceramic pie weights for not too much money.

"Pie weights are small ceramic or metal balls that you use when blind baking a pie crust. To blind bake a pie crust means you bake it naked, without its filling."

I SERIOUSLY doubt the pie weights have any real strength behind them that cant be out matched by a large variety of other materials. As for the ceramic balls, your talking over $1000 just to cover one 11x14 plate with 1/2" ceramic bearings. I'm in the middle of finding a cheaper alternative method with similar results

EDIT: I think I got a quote for $42000 earlier for 616 1/2" bearings in some fancy engineering grade ceramic

[BLQQD]

The old idea of steel-belted radial tires as some type of protection always interests me for several reasons. All the used semi-bald tires you want in the world are free at the junkyard if you were able just to cut out the flat steel belted part of the tire it has the curved shape of the body and you could lay them on top of each other in a similar fashion to ancient Japanese overlapping but flexible armor.
Although cutting the good part out of the tire will be a lot of work I've heard reports that shooting at a steel-belted part of the tire can cause a ricochet. So if that's true several tires on top of each other might slow down the bullet or ricochet it away.

I'm sure someone probably already made a YouTube video of shooting tires or something similar, I just never looked for it.

While that's a great apocalypse warrior emergency idea, I imagine the weight would be tremendous. Will look into it though

[BLQQD]

The best stuff these days is made of Dyneema. Is the same stuff used in braided fishing line. Not cheap.

https://dutchwaregear.com/product-ca...ema-composite/

Looks pricey alright. Will keep it in mind, thanks

[BLQQD]

The armor needs to be powered.

What would the power do?

[BLQQD]

MrGunsnGear on youtube already done it.

What I'm planning will make him look like quite the amateur...

[sonofeugene]

Seems to me actual companies with millions for research have this covered. But whatever.....

[BLQQD]

Seems to me actual companies with millions for research have this covered. But whatever.....

First off, the public interest is there. These videos get 10s of thousands of views, so that in itself warrants the time and effort I'll put into it.

Secondly, yes these companies do invest tons into research, but they dont share the results or bother to inform people on the small specifics that make or break armor. Also these companies are investing to make a profit from their findings. If they find a game breaking advantage in armor creation, but cant really make any money off it, and in fact will end up losing money because of it, are they really going to bring it to the table?

Look at ar500 and their massive marketing campaign. According to most well informed gun people, ar500 is just selling over priced, overly large paper weights. Most people I've talked to say that ar500s products are as likely to kill you as to save you. People throw out all sorts of claims but no one ever actually shows proof of anything.

I could go on, but do I need to?