Can $1.39 "armor" save your life?

[chopinbloc]

A couple weeks ago I posted a test where a slab of HDPE I made by melting used milk jugs stopped a .22lr and a .38 spl but was defeated by .357 mag. I wanted to see what it could do with one porcelain floor tile in front of it. It's an interesting concept to me. While fired silica is obviously not the same as boron carbide or silicon carbide and HDPE is not the same as UHMWPE or Dyneema, they have similar material properties. That is, porcelain has good compressive strength and HDPE has good tensile strength. The OSAP project isn't intended to produce a valid alternative to proper armor. It is intended to produce a valid alternative to not having armor if you live in a locale where it is illegal or if you find yourself in a position where purchasing armor is not an option. It is also intended to produce a compelling argument against legislative attempts to ban armor. If we can make something almost as effective as real armor with things we already had laying around our house or with pocket change and materials from a big box home improvement store, then what is the point of banning armor? This time around, I put a porcelain floor tile in front of the HDPE slab and shot it with .357 mag American Eagle 158 gr JSP from a 4" S&W Model 13 and 7.62x39mm Yugoslavian M67 124 gr FMJ from a 16" WASR-10/63. You know the drill. Make your predictions.


TL/DR: I melted milk jugs into a slab and put a tile in front of it, then shot it with .357 mag and an AK.





https://youtu.be/Zfp6wL5zLkQ

 

[lysanderxiii]

Maybe two tiles?

 

[chopinbloc]

You're on the right track. ;-)

 

[Tirod]

I took the effort to read your OP. Now I get it. Whatever I thought casually at first now appears to be a sound reason for testing.

Yes, some jurisdictions do regulate against the ownership of armor - just like in the past where they took a negative view of switchblades and silencers. Given the continued expansion of innovative design and how Americans are looking at them with a more reasoned mindset, the negative conclusions are rapidly being reversed.

Nobody is going grocery shopping in armor, so we don't have to worry about Moms for a Defenseless America campaigning to keep it out of Kroger. It IS professional grade attire, so it WILL be something the average shooter wants, even if he'll never get to use it when he wakes up with a knife at his throat.

Being able to make your own armor, tho, with household level items does show how futile it is to say "you can't have any." Well, owning sheets of hi density plastics to make skid plates for your Subaru, or floor tiles for your bathroom, isn't going to ever be illegal - and anyone who's done a remodel has a box or two left over just because.

If they can cause the bullet to expand rapidly and dissipate energy fast enough, great. The next step is to get it to remain attached to the backing so that it can take another hit. And flexible enough not to shatter. I'm thinking high fiber content concrete mix, with embedded open weave matrix.

Oh, wait, they call that backer board. Hmm. got some of that lying around? http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...rs&qpvt=backerboard+for+tile+floors&FORM=IGRE

With a tile overlay epoxied (<--- words have meaning) onto the backerboard it would seem to be a good combination.

Just throwing fuel on the fire. Keep up the good work, we're all in this together.

 

[chopinbloc]

That's the easy part.

 

[unlimited4x4]

There was an episode of myth busters that looked into the idea of making armor from home goods. I believe it spawned a long thread here some time ago. They had good results using pieces of mosaic ceramic tile on top of plaster .The plaster was fiber reinforced. I'm trying to find the video link but cannot. The combination stopped I believe 9mm, 357 mag and 12 gauge buck at 15 yards. It was impressive.

This stuff may not be suitable as body armor, but maybe you line a few walls with it or hide it behind the dry wall during a remodel and have few bulletproof walls. Or you could melt and shape it to install in the doors of vehicles for added protection. Possibilities are limitless.

 

[goon]

Wouldn't be surprised if the tread section of a steel-belted tire would also be surprisingly effective at stopping pistol caliber rounds. Even cuir boili treated leather has been tested to stop some .38 special rounds.

 

[chopinbloc]

Good idea.

 

[M-Cameron]

could you try testing out some of the UHMW PE from Mcmaster carr?

http://www.mcmaster.com/#8752k117/=10r6p1j

you can get a 12"x12"x1" thick sheet for $30.....and you can order it thicker if need be.

i wonder if that would fare better than the milk jugs

 

[chopinbloc]

Maybe. $30 isn't bad, but it's a great deal more than free.

 

[HammsBeer]

Instead of one sheet where any stress cracks will spread through the entire material, would it be better to have several thin layers, or alternate layers of ceramic and HDPE?

 

[redbullitt]

The ceramic tiles with proper backing can be impressive. I believe there is quite a bit about using a tile backed with liquid nails type material, with and without denim. It stopped WAAY more things than you would expect.

 

[olafhardtB]

How about the fiber glass screen you can get at the hardware store?

 

[lysanderxiii]

To further the point, you can't stop people from getting good quality high strength steel.

The world is full of it.

 

[M-Cameron]

To further the point, you can't stop people from getting good quality high strength steel.

The world is full of it.

god knows that wont stop them from trying........going to need to get a license and pass a background check to order any type of "assault steel".......

 

[fireman 9731]

So how did you melt your milk jugs?

 

[chopinbloc]

In the oven. Cut them into roughly 1" pieces and put them in a roasting pan.

 

[wahsben]

Maybe Kevlar sheets placed in the HDPE when you melt it?

 

[chopinbloc]

That would probably work very well, but it isn't as inexpensive or easily sourced as I'd like for this project.

 

[Panzerschwein]

Very cool, and your beard is SICK!

 

[chopinbloc]

Lol, thank you.

 

[Elkins45]

I approve of your shirt. Browncoats unite!

What about those dense plastic food cutting blocks? Cheap, available and probably quite tough.

 

[chopinbloc]

Shiny.

Plastic cutting boards are made of HDPE and should with well, too. I just like the idea of completely free body armor.

 

[lysanderxiii]

Shiny.

Plastic cutting boards are made of HDPE and should with well, too. I just like the idea of completely free body armor.

Well, you still have to buy the milk....

And, if the wife sees you buying tile, you may be retiling a bathroom ($$$$)!

 

[chopinbloc]

I have two kids. We go through a LOT of milk.