Ballistic Sheeting

[TheHitMan]

Firstly, I don't know if this should be in Improvised Weapons or here. Move to another section if more appropriate.

The ballistic blanket provides a portable, flexible, lightweight means of protection against fragmentation and ballistics.

You could use this to cover windows, doors, ceilings or other openings permitting safe passage during a hostile situation.

The heavy duty webbing handles assist in suspension or hanging.

It's protection level is 11a min, 111a max.

Something like this would be good for fortifying your home. You could use it to cover your windows, as well as for many other useful applications.

Personally I'd first have a metal grate bolted well into the wall of my home, having a second wall behind it in case the bacon manages to pull it out of the wall. (otherwise you'd be left with a huge hole where your window used to be, allowing easy access for bacon!)

Then some kind of ballistic/shatter proof window. And then the ballistic sheeting hung up on rail's above and over the window.

If hung from window, it might be a good idea to hang from an angle of say 45 degrees.

Even without the grate over the window, if the bacon manages to break the window and try to launch a CS/smoke screen through, the sheeting would bounce it back out through the window as it would just bounce off. (Hence the idea of placing it at an angle.)

You could even have it running from ceiling to floor in a zig-zag fashion. In the event of a hostile attack, you could weave in and out of these and any possible attacker wouldn't be able to get a clear shot at you due to the ballistic sheeting being in the way stopping any rounds from coming your way.

You could even use a sheet of this in your own "creation labs" ie: preparing some dets in a "blast box" this could be applied on the inside/outside of the box to stop any shrapnel from shredding the rest of your limbs, if one should accidently go off. (your hands are inside the box, and there's only so much a pair of heavy gloves can do before your hands are meat paste.)

If there is a way to "mold" these sheets together, it might be a good idea to build yourself a "suit". If the ballistic sheeting is good enough to stop say 5.56mm ammo, then you could replace this instead of bulky body armor.

The "suit" could be worn under clothes and thus not immediately alerting anyone should you need that first moment of surprise. Moveability might pose a problem though. As I doubt this kind of material gives to movement well.

There's going to many other uses that I haven't listed that will have a practical use for the ballistic sheet.

What would be some of the uses that you would use the ballistic sheet for?

Picture of Ballistic sheeting. (http://www.sdms.co.uk/PersonalProtection/Images/Pe120.jpg)

Link for more info on Ballistic sheeting. (http://www.sdms.co.uk/PersonalProtection/Pages/Pe120.htm)

[Jacks Complete]

What a strange idea. Your house must look plenty strange.

So, you want to sew together a sheet of stuff that will stop a bullet, and replace your vest with it? Not too sure why you would want to do that. Why not just wear the vest? You say it is bulky, but IIa level vests are pretty thin, and the ballistic sheeting is pretty thick.Standard vests are designed so you can move, too. Since they are made from the same material (Kevlar) I would go with the one designed for the job.

As for the blast box, it is wiser to do such risky operations remotely, thus avoiding loss of arms or fingers.

Might I suggest that you simply buy polycarbonate sheeting, and replace your glass with that? It would be cheaper, tougher and far more discreet. Why buy that and have the opaque sheeting too? Surely you just make it thicker?

If the cops pull the windows out, they will use a winch that takes half the wall with it, btw.

[nuclearattack]

To do a ballistic sheeting i use 2 sheet of polycarbonate with a 2 cm layer of poliuretanic foam in a sandwich type structure (polycarbonate-foam-polycarbonate), it is very resistant, i tested it with a crossbow and a claymore mine. In any case the ballistic shield was able to stop the arrow and even the steel balls of the claymore mine! Now i use it as a shield in my detonation tests and i'm very satisfied by its resistance.

[TheHitMan]

Jack's Complete, "Why not just wear the vest" Well, a vest only cover's the chest and back. With a suit it has the advantage of covering your whole body. (You could make a face mask but I doubt it would be of much use!)

Also larger vests are often heavy and bulky, with this it could be worn under the clothes without much suspicion.

But I only stated some uses you could have for it, it was for the end user to decide what they could/would want to do with it.

"Your house must look plenty strange" - Rather have my house look strange than be leaving my house in a rubber suit, (body-bag). And if your neighbours are looking in your windows, put a higher fence up. Nosey neighbours are dangerous!

"If the cops pull the windows out, they will use a winch that takes half the wall with it" A moot point if you have a double wall. Sure they could do winch it out again, but not if they don't have anything to attach the winch too.

Another good idea might be to add abestos in powder form in the gaps of the walls. So if bacon pulls out the wall, a couple of years down the line there dying from cancer. It's a win-win situation!

nuclearattack, how big were the steel balls, and what explosive was used and how much? Also how much draw does the crossbow have?

[nuclearattack]

I used 9 mm steel balls and 50 gr of AP putty. My crossbow has a force of 80 pounds.
I think it's a good result!

[YayItGoBoom!]

That sounds like a very useful idea for making your home into a fotress of sorts (ha imagine one of those Discovery makover shows: Monster House - Waco House ;)) The only problem I could see you running into is cost.

I have also thought a lot of the idea of "finger savers" gloves, being a bass and saxophone player, I value my fingers a lot. I have no live experience with explosives, but surely chain mail (with heavy leather underneath that) covered with that polycarbonate balistic material would fend off a lot of the damage that might be caused by a small charge of AP going off.

[Skean Dhu]

Originally posted by TheHitMan

Another good idea might be to add abestos in powder form in the gaps of the walls. So if bacon pulls out the wall, a couple of years down the line there dying from cancer. It's a win-win situation!


What good does them dying in 20 years do you while they're assaulting your home? Sure when your old and decrepit(sp?) sitting in your 8X12 box you can have the satisfaction that it took you 20 years to kill them but Woulnd't it be better to have killed them 20years sooner and not be in prison?Also I don't really understand this "double wall" concept you keep talking about.

@ YayItGoBoom, your fancy gloves are going to do little about the massive shockwave that is surging through your hand. Polycarbonate is sheet plastic similar to lexan. Its what Nalgene bottles are made of and not very flexible. You best choice is to never have a charge of AP or anything for that matter go off in your hand, no matter how small. Thats the whole point of a remote press for blasting caps. Also its more likely that your chainmail would turn into shrapnel and tear your arms apart. Or if your really unlucky the blast may just tear your arms clean(well not really all that clean) off, but rest assured your hands are fine.

[NightStalker]

Shear thickening fluids, based on collodial silica particles suspended in a glycol-based fluid, are being developed for the US ARMY's "Warrior 2025" project.

A 4-ply kevlar target impregnated with STF has the same protective value as a 10-ply kevlar target. It also has the same weight but, unlike the 10 layer, is much more flexible, even more so than a dry 4-ply target.

Energy dissipation is BETTER for the STF 4-ply than the dry 10-layer, meaning the hit is less painful.

Combine improved flexibility and impact dissipation, and some way of taking the weight of of the soldier (exo-skeleton), and you've got full body armor.

For the criminal, which I'm expecting you to be intending this for if theyr'e the target of police raids, since you wouldn't be facing heavy weapons and artillery, you could likely get away with a poncho-type of armor that you could throw over in a hurry that'd protect everything down to your knees.

It'd be heavy, like a wet blanket, but how much weight, and for how long, would you need to carry to break through a police cordon or kill a few cops before escaping or being killed yourself?

[TheHitMan]

Skean Dhu, ok fair enough - use Ricin or something else that would be fast acting to knock out/kill the bacon before they enter your house.

YayItGoBoom!, "The only problem I could see you running into is cost." Which do you value more? Your wallet, or your life?

NightStalker, I like the idea of a poncho for a quick-fix in a emergency situation.

I have made a diagram to explain my "double wall" idea. Here's the link: http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-1/622077/wall-diag.gif

[Skean Dhu]

Wouldn't the liquid based bodyarmor transmit a shockwave better? So if the wearer were hit with a HE round it would do internal damage without actually penetrating? Thats assuming the bullet is stopped at all and this is the conventional vest type.

[PHAID]

here is a link to a site that makes basicly what you want.

http://www.armortex.com/index.html

[Jacks Complete]

"Shear thickening Fluid" means that as you try to stir it, it gets harder to stir. Hit it with a hammer, and it will shatter, but put the hammer on it and it will sink slowly in. Silly putty does this. The idea is that the armour is only rigid and really defensive when it is being hit, and the rest of the time, you are barely protected! Of course, the faster someone tries to hurt you, the stiffer the fluid becomes, and the more protection is provides. :)

As for my "why not wear the vest?" comment above - surely you just want to buy an EOD vest? My point was, get a defensive aid designed for the job. If, as you say, money is no object, this is the way to go! Class IV EOD body armour will be a PITA to wear, but will be far better than a cut up blanket!

Also, from what I know, the ballistic screens are designed only to stop penetration, NOT to absorb the energy within (say) 3 mm of travel. This means that the screen will hit you plenty hard, as you will be missing the rather essential trauma liner!