BODY ARMOR: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

[d-r]

Bulletproofme shot up a 25 year old panel and it did just fine. They have pics on their site.

Ordered a test panel from them just one have a vest with out the carrier. These panels are either really old or in bad condition. Meant for test shooting not wearing. I shoot it with lots of shot gun buck shot and 9. Held up just fine.

Yes, their "test" panels are in rough shape. If you want ones in good shape let me know.

[syferstream]

Is anyone here familiar with any liquid armors? I heard of one being developed by BAE, and I think the US military researched liquid armors as well. Are there any liquid armors currently on the market?

[mindwip]

Bulletproofme shot up a 25 year old panel and it did just fine. They have pics on their site.

Ordered a test panel from them just one have a vest with out the carrier. These panels are either really old or in bad condition. Meant for test shooting not wearing. I shoot it with lots of shot gun buck shot and 9. Held up just fine.

[40calibre]

Has anyone purchased a plate carrier from Ar500.com I have been searching and searching for a thorough review.

[d-r]

All equipment made by the hand of man has a finite life. The good news is, woven Kevlar can, if properly maintained, last 25+ years and still be GTG. There are actually tests of older armor performing better than brand new.

The biggest killers of woven aramid armor are UV (Sunlight and flourescent bulbs) and mold/mildew/bacteria caused by sweating heavily and then putting your armor in a dark space. The beasties will begin to compromise the strength of the fibers. Best way to keep your armor from deteriorating is to treat it well. Rinse it in baking soda to neutralize any acids, then a very mild detergent. Rinse again and let it dry completely. Keep it out of the sun, or bright artificial light. The carrier will keep the UV under control.

My bump in the night armor has main panels from 1985. I have utter confidence in them, since they have been tested extensively by myself and many others. Like anything else, YMMV, but as long as the armor was not mistreated, it will last a LOOONG time.

[Maltese Falcon]

Regarding soft armor longevity.

I understand soft armor has a finite life.

Is this based on a set period of time or is it more from the wear and tear that daily LE / Mil wearers undergo?

I have had some SA since 2009 that I have worn maybe 3-4 times max just to get a feel for it and wonder if they are still GTG?

.

[d-r]

Zamble,

AR500 plates are excellent for their price and protection (M80 ball @ 2750 fps and lesser threats). The Line-X does provide some spall mitigation, but it is not a perfect solution. Impacting rounds will ablate the coating, leaving you subject to spalling for subsequent rounds. The Line-X works in conjunction with my spall guards (which are much more resilient to multiple hits).

A good example of truck bed liner and how it reacts to impacts can be found on page 3 (WITH THANKS TO VFLORES915 FOR USE OF PICTURE):

[Zamble]

I was looking into buying plates of AR500 with 1/4" of line-x for a spall guard. How would these rate and does the line-x prevent the round splatter?

[d-r]

Syfer,

Tank armor is a whole 'nother subject. The threats facing tanks vs. humans cannot be scaled reliably. Tank armor is still (even at this juncture) mostly steel (RHA, High Hard, Dual or even Triple Hardness).

The projectiles are either hypervelocity DU or WHA (Tungsten Heavy Alloy) darts at approximately 3Km/s, or even higher velocity molten metal jets from shaped charges. Stopping these threats requires much more mass, and different materials. B4C is a great material, but there are more appropriate materials for tanks (which don't *HAVE* to be light and thin, even though that would be a benefit).

Tank armor by nature cannot be fragile, due to the extreme vibration and impact they are subject to just in the course of road marches. And even with all the whiz-bang tech that we have arrived at, it is still MOSTLY good old fashioned steel.

B4C is a good choice for current body armor because it is lightweight, extremely hard, and is moderately tough. If weight was not a factor, there are much better choices.

[syferstream]

So correct me if I'm wrong, d-r, aren't tank armors composed of boron carbide? How do they overcome the fragility of their armor?

Another thing I'm wondering is how well can ceramic armor defeat repeated hits in the same spot. If say theoretically three rounds were to hit the same spot consecutively will it defeat the ceramic armor?

[d-r]

d-r, are you aware of any personal body armor incorporating boron carbide? You have the potential to be a bipedal tank, no?

Of course.

Sintered B4C has actually been in use since Vietnam (the disparagingly named "chicken plates" were B4C). There have been many improvements since then, mostly with regard to increasing the theoretical density (100% being optimal). Depending on how it is processed (hot pressed, sintered, pressureless sintered), it will exhibit different properties. All variations exhibit extreme hardness (third hardest substance in the world behind diamond and boron nitride). It is the go-to material for facing AP rounds, along with SiC (silicon carbide). It is also very low density compared to other ceramic solutions (2.5-2.6 g/cm3 vs. 3.2-3.9 g/cm3 for SiC or Al2O3).

Like all other ceramics, the achillies heel is fragility, more specifically the fracture toughness. B4C has moderate fracture toughness compared to other ceramics, so care is needed in handling. Recently, a company has begun using carbon nanotubes to enhance the fracture toughness of B4C. This makes the ceramic very durable, but the drawback (as with most things nano right now) is the extreme expense.

Until more engineered nano substances arrive on the scene with better cost to weight ratios, B4C, SiC and Al2O3 are here to stay.

[syferstream]

d-r, are you aware of any personal body armor incorporating boron carbide? You have the potential to be a bipedal tank, no?

[d-r]

Scandal- Twaron is made by a Dutch company called Azko. They hold the patent on several processes for spinning aramid fabrics into armor, and Dupont actually pays them royalties for these processes. I regard Twaron as equal or slightly better than equivalent Kevlar fabric due to increased fibriliation (more fibers in a given strand), and the ability of Twaron to function better without as much quilt stitching as Kevlar.

Good stuff.

Fidget- They still use laminates in some of their products. It is not as simple as saying this or that company is all good. If I had to pick one it would be US Armor.

Syferstream- While a good concept, Dragonskin had issues with the laminate discs coming unglued due to high heat environments. With further development and product maturity, I think the concept has great potential.

[syferstream]

Are you guys familiar with Dragon Skin by Pinnacle Armor? What kind of materials are their plates made of?

[Fidget253]

The only company I would trust with my Armor is Protech

http://www.protechtactical.com/