Bulletproof Backpack
- Thread starter Good Ol' Boy
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Hokie_PhD
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I agree soft armor isn’t going to do much if they have a rifle.
Having been in a campus shooting, things happen too fast. I’d rather we outlaw so called “gun free zones”. If yo7 look at the stats these mass shootings almost always happen in them.
Having been in a campus shooting, things happen too fast. I’d rather we outlaw so called “gun free zones”. If yo7 look at the stats these mass shootings almost always happen in them.
Interesting concept. Not too expensive considering how much other options cost. I noticed they are available for pre order and shipping for 4 to 6 weeks rather than available for purchase today.
However I'm guessing just about any back pack, a couple inches of books and a laptop will probably stop most pistol rounds. I'd assume most people will be running from the gun fire so I'm not sure how helpful covering your front would be. If you've got enough time to take the backpack off, take it apart and put it back on you'd probably been better off just running in the opposite direction.
However I'm guessing just about any back pack, a couple inches of books and a laptop will probably stop most pistol rounds. I'd assume most people will be running from the gun fire so I'm not sure how helpful covering your front would be. If you've got enough time to take the backpack off, take it apart and put it back on you'd probably been better off just running in the opposite direction.
herrwalther
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The first backpacks I saw with ballistic plates was reviewed a few years ago and it was marketed towards children. It used lightweight soft plates to be relatively unencumbering to a child. Add in some textbooks and other bag items, small rifles would have a hard time penetrating as well.
As for this backpack, I would rather have a dedicated vest under my clothes. MOLLE webbing just screams "tactical" and "wannabe operator." One of my favorite backpacks is made out of all the high strength cordura we use in the military but it looks very low key. And it has pockets for ballistic panels if needed. I have traveled all over the US with it and it hasn't raised any hackles as far as I know.
As for this backpack, I would rather have a dedicated vest under my clothes. MOLLE webbing just screams "tactical" and "wannabe operator." One of my favorite backpacks is made out of all the high strength cordura we use in the military but it looks very low key. And it has pockets for ballistic panels if needed. I have traveled all over the US with it and it hasn't raised any hackles as far as I know.
Hokie_PhD
Member
Do you understand what happens in a school shooting?
Shots are fired.
People panic
They then run for cover.
Classrooms are locked down
People cower under desks
Doors are kicked in or shot up so gunman can get in
Gunman goes around shooting them at them point blank like toys in a shooting gallery
This continues until cops arrive
Gunman is killed by cops
herrwalther
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Yes. And what does your rant have anything to do with my post?
Hokie_PhD
Member
All the online bravado is BS. Having survived a campus shooting I get fed up with all of it. People talking like they’re experts but are clueless.
You’re right that body armor in the form of a dedicated vest would be best, but the reality is that when these th8ngs happen they’re rare events. Most of us aren’t going to be wearing body armor. We aren’t going to be taking a backpack apart to put on body armor.
People panic.
People get killed because of it,
And we let the uninformed push politicians to “do something” which often make us less safe.
I’m dealing with a cast of clowns who were just elected that want to make Va like CA, NY etc. they want mag size limits. They want to outlaw ARs, and limit purchases to one a month.
So don’t like my rant, but as someone who didn’t cower under a desk, and who started the gunman long enough so that he could be tackled from behind, I do know what happens and survived not because of some things I said I’d do, but by quick thinking and not listening to “experts”.
I guess what I’m saying is we need to not buy into gimmicks like what the OP posted, but work for sane gun laws. By sane I don’t mean anti gun so called sane, but sane such as eliminating gun free zones, sane such as permits similar to drivers licenses so one can carry in any state. And sane in no stupid limits on mags and gun types. Finally sane as in put criminals away and stop harassing innocent people making us less safe not safer.
Not true at all. In Sandy Hook the shooter was only able to get to one room. He attempted to get into other rooms but the lock down prevented him from doing far more damage.
Same with the recent shooting in California. The school was locked down and the gunman was unable to get inside at all.
herrwalther
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I'll agree with you on some points. Gun free zones are stupid. And I avoid them whenever possible. However, the likelihood of them going away is pretty low. If I were going back to university, I would wear a concealed body vest. If it were at a school with higher security measures, I would opt for a more discrete backpack with armor in it as a side option.
I don't claim to be an expert. I have just done a few things, been a few places, and have a few T-shirts for it. I know how crazy a shooting involving children can be. I got pulled into a mass shooting involving 3 children between the ages of 7 and 12. I HAD to do triage on a basketball court because there wasn't enough beds for the victims. Having a little girl scream at you while you are trying to keep her breathing while the doctor tries to remove a slug from a collapsed lung will give me nightmares for the rest of my life. And I am sure if she had a backpack with panels, she would have had an easier time surviving.
CapnMac
Member
Is this what gecko45 is up to now? 
armoredman
Member
My son's backpack has a lap top slot in it that a plate would fit in easily, and NOW...there aren't any books. It's all on the school issued laptop. His "book bag" is quite light and owe nothing to the book store...it's gone.
We've discussed what to do in the event of a school shooting. Oddly enough, all the schools in his district has HUGE brightly colored posters all over the walls and gates giant red "NO" symbol over a....cigarette. Not one "gun free zone" or "no guns" sign to be found. People who know, already know what the law says. People who don't care might be wondering if there are some people who don't know wandering the campus....
We've discussed what to do in the event of a school shooting. Oddly enough, all the schools in his district has HUGE brightly colored posters all over the walls and gates giant red "NO" symbol over a....cigarette. Not one "gun free zone" or "no guns" sign to be found. People who know, already know what the law says. People who don't care might be wondering if there are some people who don't know wandering the campus....
chicharrones
needs more ammo
I had the same thoughts about stopping handgun bullets. However, no books are issued for my kids that were in elementary, middle, or high school. Only a few library books for those students that actually visit the school library.
So far, the local colleges still have some books on the class requirements list. But digital is creeping in there, too.
captain awesome
Member
as said before these shootings are extraordinarily rare when you look at the large number of school campuses there are in the USA. while its disgusting that it happens at all, and it is a terribly sad event when it happens, there are much bigger fish to fry. car accidents, heart disease, cancer ect...(I could go on, there are a lot more) claim astronomicly more victims than school or mass shootings. I dont consider it a large enough issue in the grand scheme of things to merit the panic, and attention it receives. you dont see a long list of the names of cancer victims on the news in the morning, or any large public memorials (that i am aware of) or presidents and polititians addresing their familys promising to do "Do something" or "make sure no one ever is killed by this epidemic again"
to put it in perspective, i have never known anyone killed in a mass shooting, and dont know anyone personally who does. i am related to one person by marriage and one person in my extended familly who were murdered. With both, you have to go back to great grand parents to establish the a common ancestor, and both of them tight gun laws would never have prevented. I knew/am related to several people who have been claimed by heart disease, cancer, diabetes, even one by Lou gehrig's disease. many of them well before their time, if you believe in such things.
I suspect the vast majority here would be in a similar camp as i am if you think about it unless you are in a profession that puts you in regular contact with victims of violence.
sorry about my spelling, I just reread the post and I know its riddled with errors. I rely heavily on spell check.
to put it in perspective, i have never known anyone killed in a mass shooting, and dont know anyone personally who does. i am related to one person by marriage and one person in my extended familly who were murdered. With both, you have to go back to great grand parents to establish the a common ancestor, and both of them tight gun laws would never have prevented. I knew/am related to several people who have been claimed by heart disease, cancer, diabetes, even one by Lou gehrig's disease. many of them well before their time, if you believe in such things.
I suspect the vast majority here would be in a similar camp as i am if you think about it unless you are in a profession that puts you in regular contact with victims of violence.
sorry about my spelling, I just reread the post and I know its riddled with errors. I rely heavily on spell check.
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I'd rather have it look less like a military pack and more like a civilian bag.
Is this what gecko45 is up to now?
Wasn't he the "Mall Ninja"?
armoredman
Member
Yes he was, the Commander of the Mall Cops with steel plates duct taped under his uniform, IIRC...
herrwalther
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Statistically speaking school shootings are incredibly rare. I have had lightning strike within a few feet of me more times than I have ever been near a school shooting. However I understand where a parent would be coming from if they wanted to put plates in their child's backpack. "Hey little Jimmy, just carry this extra 20 pounds around with you okay?"
lemaymiami
Member
I wore armor for 22 years (purchased my first one from Second Chance all those years ago, 1974, then used what we were issued until I retired out in 1995) and there's a few things to think about - mainly comfort and whether extra weight and bulk in a back pack would be something any kid would tolerate for long (no matter how light it is - body armor takes a bit of determination to wear day in and day out..). Kids going to school would only have that backpack during school hours - and I can guarantee that they'd ditch the pack at every opportunity once they're in school... More than a few of the guys and gals I worked with years ago simply could not tolerate armor - and never wore it if they could possibly avoid it - no matter how hazardous their jobs were. I know that body armor isn't the same as a backpack with armor - but the same problems exist with both - mainly how to you fare with it - and will it be something you'll make a point of having with you and actually using, day to day?
I don't care how folks spend their money (and whether some enterprising outfit sells stuff that's not particularly needed - doesn't that pretty much describe most of the "stuff" we buy?). The big question is utility to my way of thinking... I'd much rather make a point of sitting down my kids (long grown) or my grandkids and spell out for them a bit of the "facts of life" in that once in a lifetime moment when cool thinking and quick careful action might actually be life saving.... I suspect though that their attention span would get in the way....
To my way of thinking your best defense is always that small item that sits on your shoulders and a willingness to look at life around you and pay attention to what is happening - wherever you are. All of us are rabbits in a crisis (with rare exception our initial response to something life threatening will be to freeze in place) that's why training and mindset are so important to overcome that first fear response. Getting through to young'uns is tough business indeed (think about everything basic military training involves for young adults, just to get them up to speed and actually moving when something bad is going down....).
I will always maintain that tactics in a crisis are far more important than any weapons or equipment you might have available. Having something armored with you might be a benefit -but I think the probability is that it would either never be used or simply not with you on that one moment when it might have been of use...
I don't care how folks spend their money (and whether some enterprising outfit sells stuff that's not particularly needed - doesn't that pretty much describe most of the "stuff" we buy?). The big question is utility to my way of thinking... I'd much rather make a point of sitting down my kids (long grown) or my grandkids and spell out for them a bit of the "facts of life" in that once in a lifetime moment when cool thinking and quick careful action might actually be life saving.... I suspect though that their attention span would get in the way....
To my way of thinking your best defense is always that small item that sits on your shoulders and a willingness to look at life around you and pay attention to what is happening - wherever you are. All of us are rabbits in a crisis (with rare exception our initial response to something life threatening will be to freeze in place) that's why training and mindset are so important to overcome that first fear response. Getting through to young'uns is tough business indeed (think about everything basic military training involves for young adults, just to get them up to speed and actually moving when something bad is going down....).
I will always maintain that tactics in a crisis are far more important than any weapons or equipment you might have available. Having something armored with you might be a benefit -but I think the probability is that it would either never be used or simply not with you on that one moment when it might have been of use...
fallout mike
Member
This is what I wear when I'm patrolling the Orange Julius at the mall.....
Zaydok Allen
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Seems overpriced and really not all that useful. Think I'll just spend more money on practice ammo and avoid gun free zones.
Sunray
Member
Friggin' Tactical One model weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces, empty. The "Civilian" one weighs 5 pounds 3 ounces. And over priced. $329 for the "Civilian" model.
By the time you get the thing 'converted' the fight'll be over anyway.
"...a couple inches of books and a laptop will probably stop most pistol rounds..." Highly unlikely. A .22 LR will penetrate about a foot of stuffed newspapers.
By the time you get the thing 'converted' the fight'll be over anyway.
"...a couple inches of books and a laptop will probably stop most pistol rounds..." Highly unlikely. A .22 LR will penetrate about a foot of stuffed newspapers.
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