a question on cover/concealment

[mekender]

ok, in light of the recent mall shooting i had a thought... i know that clothing offers minimal protection... but what about a full rack of clothing? say 50-70 layers of cloth loosely arranged with air spaces between them? for example, a rack of jeans or jackets or polo shirts?

i remember back in my boy scout years that you could build effective air gun traps by using a single layer of denim in front of a metal lined box... that was provided that the cloth wasn't tight, that it was hanging loose...

so physics would seem to dictate that the same would apply to heavier, faster moving projectiles... i know it wouldn't be reliable cover, but how bad would the rounds be deflected?

 

[Blackfork]

I'd take it over nothing...

But I wouldn't expect bullets to drop out on the floor between L and X-L. I'd use it but keep moving.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I'd take it over nothing...

Simple and yet conveys so much information!
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They may not be deflected at all. Probably the best you could hope for would be a decrease in velocity and maybe premature tumble (rifle rounds) such that when they do hit you, they don't penetrate as far.

There are a lot of variable with clothing on racks. I think I would be looking for hard cover, not soft.

 

[redneckrepairs]

hmm considering that MY sks will shoot thro a telephone pole or rail road tie handily i would consider racks of clothing as concealment not cover .

 

[mekender]

ok, agreed that its not cover... i suppose that my thinking is that 60 + layers of denim, cotton, wool or some other fabric would be fairly effective at deflecting shots.. and possibly stopping them... according to wikipedia, silk vests were used in the past to stop incoming arrows... wool was used in the 20's by criminal gangs... and Kevlar vests use up to 30 layers of cloth...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_armor

all of the above refer to cloth that is tightly packed together in layers... but loose clothing on a rack would have air pockets in it... im thinking that could make a significant difference because air takes some amount of force to compress, and will actually push back and create resistance when it is confined even if confined loosely...

im thinking that my next trip to the range will have to be proceeded by a trip to the fabric store... though im not sure if the size of the cloth would matter, a rack full of jeans would have a heck of a lot more cloth and mass than what i could reasonably afford to test... if i were to test this i would probably be able to get at most 1 foot squares... to me the mass of the jeans would make a difference...

 

[sacp81170a]

Let's put it this way. One of the most common traits we have to train out of troops in the military is wanting to see your target before you shoot. We all get that pounded into our heads and it's also a natural inclination. Shooting in the general direction of your enemy to keep his head down is a good thing in combat, but it must be done in a disciplined manner or you're just wasting ammo. The slime in question would still probably have that tendency, so anything that blocks his observation of you would give you a better chance. If he can't see you, he probably won't be shooting at you, therefore you wouldn't need to worry about whether his rounds penetrated or not.

There have been situations where BG's have been caught on video tape in store robberies shooting around racks of clothing and similar insubstantial obstacles. Remember, it doesn't matter whether it's really cover or not, as long as the BG thinks it is.

 

[Titan6]

If you really want to test clothing go to the thrift store and buy the cheapest stuff possible. No need to waste good fabric.

 

[MASTEROFMALICE]

Also bear in mind that clothing tends to clog hollowpoint handgun rounds and effectively turns them into FMJ, which actually increases their penetration.

 

[wdlsguy]

Time for a Clothing Rack O' Truth...

 

[mekender]

Time for a Clothing Rack O' Truth...

aup, id love to see that done...

 

[oobray]

I would have to think that in a situation like the mall shooting, that someone of such awareness as you must have in order to be participating on this forum would first seek to remove yourself and your loved ones from the view of this psycho. In all likely hood, this would make the psycho move on to other targets, because he's not anticipating an armed response until the police arrive. Once you have taken cover, or removed yourself from his view, it's time to place your gun on a rest of some sort and make that ever so careful head shot. There's no reason to be involved in a gun battle with this guy.

 

[dredwinggirl13]

I think this is a job for mythbusters. :]

 

[BlackBearME]

Why didn't I find this thread last night? We went out this morning, took an AR-10, a Win. Mod. 94, Taurus 605, Saiga 12, WASR-10, and a 10-ga. (OK, ow.)

Spent like 100+ on ammo for the trip, another 20 at Goodwill wouldn't have made much of a difference. One pair of 5 dollar jeans could be cut up into at least 16 6x6" squares.

It's getting too cold to do this much longer though. Someone resurrect this thread in April.