DKX floating body armor field test against 308 @ 20 yards Vid

[erudne]

Blowing the Crap Out of DKX Armor Plates: Fail? - YouTube

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[Morpheus]

Does anyone else keep talking themselves out of buying body armor as the crazy line they won't cross? Or is it just me?

 

[Stomper]

It's cool stuff, but in a SHTF deal you're going to really stand out if you wear tacticool kit. All the cool-guy chest plates won't protect your legs and (generally) groin area from those "in the know" on wear to aim at on an armored opponent(s).

It's on my list of things, but it isn't at the top of my priorities... Yet.

 

[billdeserthills]

Does anyone else keep talking themselves out of buying body armor as the crazy line they won't cross? Or is it just me?

I think about it from time to time but always find a reason to not buy any

 

[chemist]

There's thin, light, affordable Level II armor which you can easily conceal and wear in our climate up here. Like anything else, its value is maximized when nobody knows you've got it. So no, I'd never consider buying it.

I don't think it's crazy to add a little more defense to all the offensive capability we're always talking about here.
"For what profit it a man, if he dumps his whole mag, but gains a new hole?"
Or words to that effect.

 

[CamoDeafie]

concealable is the only real way to go...especially under jackets one or three sizes too big

 

[chemist]

At just shy of 2 minutes in, he says he thinks an unsupported plate is a tougher test than a steel-backed plate. That's exactly wrong: the floating plate can recoil and spread the impulse out over a longer time better than a rigid-backed test. It may not make as much difference with a plate as it does with a soft vest, but you can get a vest to fail easily if you wrap it tight over something hard like a telephone pole before shooting it.

IIRC it's a clay dummy, not ballistic gel that backs up the armor in the NIJ test. Any dent in the clay less than 1½" counts as a passing grade. (Inch and a half? Ouch!)

The pistol plates do look cool, and might be a great alternative to a standard trauma plate. If I had infinite resources to throw at it, that is.

 

[SCARed]

There's thin, light, affordable Level II armor which you can easily conceal and wear in our climate up here.

concealable is the only real way to go...especially under jackets one or three sizes too big

I can wear my level III vest under a polo and no one seems to even notice. Under even a tighter fitting jacket you'd never even know I had it on.

 

[Stevenav]

thats some tight armor there. very effective. Love to see what it'd do against a 30 06 loaded with a turned brass bullet or a bullet with a steel core to it.

 

[chemist]

In a previous life I had to develop some composite armor, for a multi-role application that was unique and....

That Dyneema (or any other brand of UHMWPE fiber) is absolutely amazing, head and shoulders above what aramids like Kevlar can do. Since the whole DKX package floats, it must be almost completely polyethylene, which has some drawbacks. If you were willing to trade off for added weight, you could get better performance against penetrators like a steel-core 30-06 or even 50BMG. Thin, small ceramic plates on top of the Dyneema only stand up to one hit each, but they'll mess up even the toughest penetrator and allow the polyethylene to do its job. The trick is to trade off the size of those ceramic plates so they just stop the worst threat you're anticipating - something like 1" squares of ceramic for 7.62X51, and maybe 2" or 3" squares for 50BMG. Most of the thickness is still the soft vest underneath.

That way you don't have the weight or "turtle" effect of Chobham armor, but it gives you a big boost over the protection level of Dyneema alone.

 

[erudne]

If you get hit in the torso w/a 50BMG penetration, or lack there of, is not a concern

 

[chemist]

I don't think that's true about 50BMG. If it had enough momentum to flatten the target, it would flatten the shooter too. Beyond preventing penetration, the main requirement for armor is that the impulse is spread out enough in area and in time that it allows the body to react and recoil, absorbing the blow.

 

[Whitey375]

I think if you're taking rifle fire, you have real problems.

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Riot]

I don't think that's true about 50BMG. If it had enough momentum to flatten the target, it would flatten the shooter too. Beyond preventing penetration, the main requirement for armor is that the impulse is spread out enough in area and in time that it allows the body to react and recoil, absorbing the blow.

I think being hit with a .50BMG wouldn't just knock you on your butt...but it would probably still kill you (breaking your neck, shattering ribs into your lungs and heart, etc.) even if it didn't penetrate. 50BMG is way too much bullet to be stopped by any type of personally worn armor...

 

[Stomper]

The flippin' shockwave alone from a .50BMG round will rip parts off of your body if it zips by close enough.

 

[simon99]

The flippin' shockwave alone from a .50BMG round will rip parts off of your body if it zips by close enough.

+1

Exactly...

 

[Certaindeaf]

But at least you'd float.. if you fell in a mud puddle or something.

 

[Stomper]

But at least you'd float.. if you fell in a mud puddle or something.

LMAO... If you take a .50BMG round, I contend you would BE a mud puddle.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Ha, I hear you.
I saw years ago some proprietary metal that'd incorporate aluminum with steel though it was homogenous, not layered. If memory serves, like an inch (and it was light) would stop a .50 but the "divot" was like a graph of how time/space is warped.. it was like a 4-5" dagger or spike.

 

[erudne]

I agree, the 50 is a massive hunk of 'Burning Luv' I've seen it penetrate lots of dirt and exit the far end of a berm, there is no Personal Ballistic Protection from that