Kevlar Vest substitute

[Puncha]

Good day Gentlemen,

If kevlar vests are decleared illegal in some localities like Australia, how would a reproduction 15th century style Brigandine incorporating 1.5mm thick overlapping steel plates do against a .38 special 158gr LRN slug travelling at 740ft/s?

If we forget about blunt trauma, would the Brigandine stop the slug? If not then would the wound be less severe?

I'm asking because i have a cousin from Brisbane who was recently threatened with a revolver (or what looked like a real revolver) in a rough part of town. He is actually considering putting on his SCA style armor when he makes his delivery route (he's a dispatch clerk) from now onwards.

 

[Oyeboten]

I've always thought that ample under-padding, and, layers of Perspex/Lexan, of say, 1/2 inch or 5/8ths thickness...would probably do pretty well against the median or smaller Handgun projectiles...so long as the angle of their arrival were roughly perpendicular to the Plates.


A moulded single piece, or, two moulded layers/pieces of uninturrupted Lexan/Perspex with ample underpadding, would probably be better, if less comfortable.


Steel Plates when 'thin'...everything would depend on the type of Steel, and, it's Temper.


Your Cousin needs to remember that even a Torso guarding 'Armor' will not help if the assailent elects a Head Shot.

If his delivery route is done in an automobile, then his head is the most inviting target to someone standing outside the car.

Finding a different occupation might be a better solution.

 

[Coatofplates]

Hi, I've lurked here for about a year now, and decided to join in order to reply to this post.

a 15th century brig is a great design, overlapping plates, good flexibility, and reasonably comfortable, however unless your friend has a much higher class of SCA type armour than even the top 10% of the SCA use he's looking to get hurt.

Almost all SCA armour is made of mild steel even the really good looking stuff, and a .38 will go right through it.

However if you were to have a spring steel Brig made, using a 1050 or better steel in 18 gauge or thicker and heat treated properly you'd have a good chance of stopping a .38

For reference a WWII US army helmet is about 18 gauge or a hair thinner, and it will reliably stop a 9mm (boxofturth.com) but it is a high carbon steel and heat treated.

I would add that even if he had another Brigandine made he'd still have to deal with bullet defection.
Also while I don't know your laws, most around here that prohibit body armour, prohibit all body armour, not just kevlar.

All that being said, I've made a suit similar to what you describe, with the high carbon steel but using a kevlar front opening vest as the underlayer/padding.
As I understand it my customer was in a living history group that used a lot of handgonnes (70 or larger cal hand cannons) and he wanted some extra protection.

 

[Ben86]

Finding a different occupation might be a better solution.

I second that.

Kevlar was produced because all the other stuff had spotty reliability at best, not to mention being unwieldy. It might end up being a wast of time. It would probably be easier to armor his vehicle, assuming it's his.

Purchasing kevlar vests may be illegal, but could he get his hands on some kevlar sheets and perhaps make a vest?

 

[mcdonl]

What would gecko45 do?

I guess your friend should weigh the risks of the job against the rewards of a pay check.

 

[devildog32713]

armor the vehicle, and why can't he carry a gun? Tell him to have a Glock in his vehicle, If he trains hard on how to use it, and he shoots first, then problem solved.

 

[Ben86]

You should check into Australia's lack of firearm related freedom some time.

 

[lloveless]

Call your Representative and let him know that the governments gun control isn't working, then notify the local media via letters to the editor and make a regular muck fest of this. Rile up more of the locals and stage a protest. TAKE BACK YOUR FREEDOMS!
ll