AnthonyG

I agree and have thought about it, after this ballistic test another test sample will be getting an environmental stress test to see if elements weaken the structure of the materials.

UPDATE: I have been kinda busy with life stuff and finally finished the test sample completely. I didn't wanna leave anyone hanging that has shown support in what I was coming up with or let anyone think that I wasn't going to produce on my idea. So where I stand right now is I have been in touch with someone that has a range to test this at and firearm I need to do this first test. The test is going to take place in mid June, sadly it has to be done semi quietly and will have to be me and just this person that's helping me because quite a few ranges have been reluctant to let me test this on their range for whatever their reasons may be, I understand and appreciate where they are coming from though. Here is a few pictures of it finished without its outer cover(its upside down) and then with its cover and then the marked out testing area. I am only showing this because a lot of people were very interested in whats going on and I figured its only fair to share my journey since people are sharing their time in what I am doing. The secrets in this "plate" are not really visible from the images but it gives you an idea of its shape. The actual test section is 7x5 rectangle from dead center. Thanks for everyone's time.

I was going to say the same thing about that metal roll up gate being a weakness, it should have been solid sliding wall or something. Its cool none the less but if your goal is maximum security and spending all that money go all the way.

Ok so rayray will do the initial test with 357, time frame I am thinking like 2 weeks + depending on where I get permission to test this. After the armor piece is shot and I check it for penetration and such and take pics of the damage. Then you guys can shoot it with whatever you want, a course vjf you can come and shoot at it after the test and anyone else interested can as well. I don't have any date set in mind but, Ill have to coordinate it to rayray since hes shooting and vjf since you have shown alot of interest in whats going on as well.

Anyone that wants to come out and see the testing can I may have to have you sign a paper just a non disclosure type so as to keep what I am doing quiet. All I want is someone to shoot either .357 or .44mag at this with one to two shots center mass and I want to inspect what happened once I am satisfied and document what happened. I think you guys can shoot it to pieces with whatever you want and then after its obliterated I have to collect all those pieces for obvious reasons since its a prototype. Does anyone here have a .357 or .44 mag?

I have a px4 its a really great gun love shooting it, never tried it in 40 but I am sure it handles it quite well. I got hogue grips for it and made the gun even more amazing to shoot.

Finish putting together the segments and then having someone shoot it.

Its probably more of a tactical team/military use as my plans are set now,maybe with time and some testing and if it works I have a way to make it flexible enough for someone to wear daily. Time and testing will tell, in general this will be lighter then whats issued in military.Most plates to reach certain cert levels require installment of trauma plates in addition to hard plates, my system has one plate and that is it.

Nick your crazy haha, if the full vest wasn't going to cost me pretty penny to produce I would do it for the fun of it. Maybe after testing the vest someone can end its life with one. If the concept works and I get the right machinery and do some refining I could get it to an inch, but the core isn't flexible its a hard armor so even concealed I don't know if it will be comfortable haha. To your second question, I have plans for what I call tactical crush resistant gloves, goal is I could run your hand over with a truck and you wont feel a thing yet still be able to shoot a gun. It would be for cops when they are frisking people or apprehending so the person cant bite their hand or bite a finger off.

Right now its just under 2 inches but I can bring that down a lot, I did each part separate just to make sure it came out right. If it works I can change the forming process.

Even if I stopped a 9 and a 40 but not a 45 the size and weight of the armor wouldn't be worth carrying for the level of protection. By stopping a 44mag I could safely say it would stop most popular handgun rounds and I could focus on rifle rounds. That would make this armor more practical and the added weight worth it, That's my thought right now.

Since this armor test piece is going to be kinda small it will only be able to take a round or two in the one spot before losing its structural strength. If I use a more powerful round like 44 or 357 and it can handle that then it can handle the 45 40 and 9 correct? If you have a better round to use to eliminate the other popular rounds im all ears.I just need the proof that its financially worth it to go forth with the full size armor and run it through the real tests.

I am doing more a test of concept in this test because making the big vest is going to be pretty expensive and I need some proof that it will even work at a II to III level if it doesn't work at that level I need to either redesign or throw the project away. If the armor works at that level I will be looking to make a full vest and be testing to better classify what level it sits at and doing the velocities and distances.

Just a bit of a update: I got all the materials in beginning of week and I decided to construct a sample section for testing, I got a two day break in my schedule so I spent last two days and nights building each segment and everything just grinding it out and everything is complete now. I am waiting for everything to finish curing then just need to trim the segments to the right sizes then fuse the segments and put on the outer coating and then its ready for someone to shoot it. Test area on the piece is only 5x7 so I think it could only be shot once or twice. My question is what would be the best round to try to get best test out of this small piece, I was thinking either .357mag or .44mag. Kinda go all or nothing in handgun protection, if it stops those then I know its worth it to go forward with the full size armor and test rifle rounds. Let me know what you guys think. Ant

Awesome, I just got my P229 Enhanced Elite last week shot it on Monday it was amazing, you will like yours when you get to shoot it.

I agree Kpd and I think I mentioned it a small bit in a earlier post that quite a few deaths with body armor is just the force crushing the lungs and heart not the bullet going through. I am going to have to work on the carrying system that will hold the core, but I want to make sure the core holds up before working on the displacement system. Chris I have been trying to keep that in mind in my construction I actually was just weighing materials and quantities to get some ball park ideas on the weight before I came on here. I know of a guy made armor that was strictly made from cotton cloth same as a undershirt and it was infused with resin and then compressed. It held up quite well to quite a few different rounds but it was 4 inches thick and weighed I believe 20 lbs haha. Stopping the bullets in one thing, getting it where people wanna wear it is the other half of the battle.

Crap, I am going to have to make quite a few sets to test all these different rounds, I may make smaller sample sections maybe 6"x6" squares just to get feel of whats working and whats not, it will be cheaper and I can make that faster then a bunch of full size cores. Ill keep you guys posted on progress and when Ill have something for you guys to shoot.

Yeah I am gonna need a couple of people with all different types of rifles and handguns, like I have mentioned before I have a strong feeling most handguns will not defeat this armor cause I am sort of over engineering it on the first go. What I can tell you about the armor is and I am sure you guys already know this but most armors are one or two parts either strictly Kevlar or Ceramic plate or both. My armor is 4 different materials and each material will handle a specific type of weapon for example bird shot will hopefully be stopped in the first material, buckshot may go into the second material pistol rounds should stop at the second material. Slugs should make it to third material and stop,rifle/ high powered rounds should god willing stop on the 4th material. If after the first round of tests there is some promise in what I have made I will get a patent going and I will disclose in depth to all those that helped me,since I will owe it to you guys for helping but acourse an agreement will have to be signed to protect what I made.

Yes I totally agree inventing and running a company are very different, luckily my family made me a business runner with our family business first before I decided to tinker and make things. I have business running skills but defense and armor industry have very different variables then what my families business works off of. It should be interesting to say the least if it all pans out.

Of course! anyone that helps will get them at cost if it all pans out.

Lol the only problem with testing on a watermelon is you cant gauge the shock trauma that plate may have transferred to the melon. I assume that was for penetration purpose only but a watermelon is so thick it could take shocks and not break but a humans lungs and heart would claps from that level of energy. That is one of the big problems with armor in general is the armor not only has to stop the bullet it needs to absorb its energy. I don't remember the numbers but a portion of deaths while wearing body armor, the bullet doesn't penetrate the armor but the force crushes the chest cavity or organs under that vest.

After I run the ballistic tests on it,if the armor isn't defeated or meets my expectations I will file for patent on the basic design if it fails but I know how to fix the issues I will re engineer test and then file for patent.I will then find a lab to run the tests, a few labs I found do the tests for around 300 dollars I will meet with them sign a agreement in order to test my armor. If it all works out and the armor gets certified I will look into production.Most likely I will not sell off my armor to any company because I want to make sure if this can really save lives it going to get to those that need it and I will make sure it does myself.I also have other designs for different forms of armor so selling it off would make developing the next armors more complicated since someone would take ownership of the original armor. I wont be making any partnerships most likely, I will work with either investors to manufacture the armor myself or I will find a plant that can do it for me and do some form of profit sharing. Thanks for the info though you brought up some things I forgot to consider.

Yeah there's a whole "check list" of requirements and distances it has to with stand without penetration in order to meet the different ballistic ratings.I want to make sure that it has bullet stopping abilities or potential before getting more in-depth with the tests. If it holds up in raw range tests I will pay to ship it out to a lab and run it through the paces or have some of the forum members bring out their different firearms needed to run the protocol.

I have bought some out of date vests to disassemble and look at construction already, the thing is what I am designing is quite a twist on conventional vests . I will see what kind of testing protocol the military does on vests and other third party labs and try to work around that once and if I get a prototype out.

For the past couple of years in my spare time I have been working on paper some body armor concepts and designs, Its part of the reason I went for my FID and PP's. In the next month or so I hope to be working on producing one of the prototypes, I am not even sure if financially I will be able to go through with it. My question is though if I do finish this prototype where would I be able to test it would it be hard to get a range to allow me to test this, Or should I try to test this out of state. Thanks in advance for any advice.