You are probably well aware that even the very best soft armor is no help against rifle ammunition. Even relatively slow cartridges like 7.62x39mm and .300 AAC can still easily slice right through level IIIA armor. But what if several panels were layered on top of each [Read More…]
Having spent a fair amount of time encumbered (yet appreciative) in full battle-rattle, I can say that full armor, especially full military body armor is hot. The coverage required to keep one safe from high-velocity fragmentation also keeps the body from being able to [Read More…]
BulletSafe announced the company was introducing its new Ballistic Shield at the 2017 SHOT Show, and it will have a very affordable price: only $599. The new shield is 700 square inches in total area and weighs 9.9 pounds. Exact dimensions have not yet been provided, [Read More…]
The running joke in the Marine Corps is that one tends to get their common sense and intelligence back with their DD-214. Having been in and living it for years, there is certainly some credence to the joke which often gets nods of understanding when told. However, its [Read More…]
Eric from IraqVeteran8888 and crew are back at it with the cannon, this time instead of taking on poor, old, defenseless ballstics gelatin, takes on something a bit more formidable, AR500 armor. The armor is Level III) a standard “triple-curve shooters-cut” [Read More…]
The Safariland Group announced the expansion of the X-CAL line of hard armor plates sold under its Protech brand. The new plates are a special threat plate that has been tested to meet the Level III requirements under the NIJ 0101.04 standard. The X-CAL line is made up [Read More…]
The United Kingdom has become the first nation in the world to receive a modern cased telescoped ammunition (CTA) automatic weapon, the French 40mm CTCS, according to IHS Jane’s. The UK procured the weapons in July of last year to upgrade their Warrior IFVs, and [Read More…]
Remember the Ares Armor RAD Pack? It was a backpack system that rapidly deploys a front armor plate and a handgun from a backpack. Well these people made a better version of that design. This backpack has a sub machine gun inside it along with the armor. The armor panel [Read More…]
While your standard tin foil is, of course, not bulletproof, there is a long history of using aluminum for armor in fighting vehicles. Its relative strength to density (and therefore weight) makes it ideal for a variety of applications that need rigidity and strength. [Read More…]
In a combined marketing ploy and to prove the capabilities of their Maybach “Guard” edition cars, Mercedes took their own gloves off and assaulted the vehicle with a rifle. At the end of the magazine, a $513,000 (yes, five hundred and thirteen thousand [Read More…]
I’m not sure that wearing around an inch and a quarter thick plate of titanium is an improvement over the thinner steel (based on bulkiness), but it sure does stop the rounds, even a black tip .50BMG (which almost made it through). I imagine that the energy [Read More…]
Ryan B. Flowers of Galac-Tac has been making Boba Fett inspired cosplay armor for a couple years. Here are some photos of his work that have circulated around the internet. It has garnered massive interest in the Airsoft community. Well now he collaborated with [Read More…]
A company called Hoplite Armor has come up with an armor package that are shoulder plates, that covers about half of a shooters bicep. The system is attached to the arm via a strap that connects to an existing plate carrier shoulder straps, and then another strap that [Read More…]
Body armor is a topic that comes up on a fairly regular basis, and for good reason. Although some see wearing body armor as something strictly in the realm of military and law enforcement, the truth is that owning good body armor isn’t just for fun, it’s a [Read More…]
The subject of armor penetration previously was largely confined to the realm of big bore rifles or cannons intended to tackle tanks and other kinds of armored vehicles, but as the popularity of steel and composite body armor increases, it has become more and more [Read More…]
Angel Armor out of Fort Collins, Colorado has released some new ballistic protection called the Ally One Level IIIA. It seems to be shaped in the size of a rectangle. Not sure if it is meant to be worn in a vest, or just carried in some sort of bag. From the press [Read More…]
The Target Man’s Spartan AR550 Armor isn’t just tough, it’s tough as nails – or, more accurately, tough as Level III body armor. According to The Target Man, their AR550 has a 10% harder ballistic core than its predecessor, and they’ve done [Read More…]
Those of you have that have worn plates, did you wear steel or ceramics? I was issued ceramic plates (ESAPIs), and while lighter than steel (the ESAPIs were somewhere around 6 lbs each, if I recall correctly), were pretty bulky. RMA Armament has a solution that is [Read More…]
Okay, I was a little bit sarcastic in the title, but the idea behind Dragon Skin armor is to use overlapping discs of armor. That said, I would hope that they would not use a hockey puck as the basis of the armor, as it fails miserably in defeating either a .30 carbine [Read More…]
Tactical Revolutions has published a video showing how their AJAX armor system works. Last year I posted an article about the armor. In this new video you can see how the armor is installed, deployed and removed. There is also slow motion video of bullet strikes on [Read More…]
SAAB, yes the Swedish Auto Manufacturer, has a defense division called SAAB Barracuda that develops things like this bullet proof wall. Here is their website. The “Soft Armour” uses Lemonhead candy sized ceramic balls as the bullet proof medium. It sort of [Read More…]
Saab Group (out of Sweden) has developed a new type of modular armor which can be utilized in buildings or vehicles. It is lower cost than full ceramic (and composite) solutions, and adds in the ability to reuse and reconfigure the setup. The idea is that it is [Read More…]
Demolition Ranch tests out an AR500 armor plate against 50 slugs. The most challenging aspect of this test appears to be finding a method of holding the AR500 steel still for multiple shots.
In his latest video Robert Kaiser, CEO of the PPSS Group, lets one of his staff hit him in the chest with an axe, ice pick and police baton while he wears the company’s new PPSS Cell Extraction Vest. This video got me thinking, how would modern [Read More…]
Pat Cascio reviews EnGarde T.R.U.S.T. Body Armor over at our sister side All Outdoor … I wore my sample T.R.U.S.T. vest around for several days, and it was very comfortable. The Ceramic material makes these hard armor plates lighter than all-steel plates. EnGarde [Read More…]
Every time the 5.7x28mm cartridge comes up in a discussion, you always hear someone talk about its ability to penetrate a row of Abrams tanks and then continue on into the next county, but there is not a lot of information out there to prove the manufacturer’s [Read More…]
The Army Times is reporting the United States Marine Corps placed an order for more than 3800 new helmets capable of stopping rifle rounds at point blank range. The new helmet is called the Enhanced Combat Helmet or ECH. According to Military.com, the new helmets use [Read More…]
The guys at Girls n’ Guns are testing different materials with the hopes of making DIY body armor. In the video below they test paper and ceramic tile combinations … What materials do you think would work well? Obviously you could always go the Ned Kelly [Read More…]
I blogged about the bulletproof iPhone case earlier this year. Richard Ryan put it to the test. [ Many thanks to Jac for the tip. ]
A company called Backpack Shield is manufacturing Level IIIA (9mm FMJ, .44 Magnum SWC) ballistic plates designed to fit into typical high school and collegiate backpacks. The company says that these are carried by Federal Air Marshalls. I can see the benefit of these [Read More…]
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