Kilts with Body Armor

[Doc Hudson]

Oh! I just know if we ripped the suit somehow, it had to be sent out special. Good to know! Maybe I'll make myself a Kevlar bra for really cold days.

Be sure to put a tartan cover on it. That kevlar might be a tad scratchy on tender skin.

[Sir Robert]

Davedove was saying that soft armor does not soften the blow, au contrare mes ami.

Soft armor catches the bullet and transfers a huge percentage of the energy 90 degrees to the line of flight by bunching up. Imagine throwing a softball at a sheet on the close line drying. No matter how hard you throw that ball it uses up its energy puckering up the sheet. Now make it 12 sheets. See what I mean?

What you may not see on TV is the "NUTGUARD" on the body armor. In Iraq it is there. The nutguard is an upsidedown tombstone shaped kevlar flap that hangs down in front to the knees. It is in fact the front half of an armored kilt.

[Miah]

the modern flack jackets do have a little part that comes down to protect you berries. most troops don't wear them that much unless they are going to be doing building clearings and such. While it is a great idea to protect the troops legs and such it is not the main goal of armor. The main goal it to trotect the vital organs, and thats about it.

[Doc Hudson]

the modern flack jackets do have a little part that comes down to protect you berries. most troops don't wear them that much unless they are going to be doing building clearings and such. While it is a great idea to protect the troops legs and such it is not the main goal of armor. The main goal it to trotect the vital organs, and thats about it.

Before anyone thinks legs are not vital organs, let me remind you of General Albert Sidney Johnston. He was wounded in the thigh at Shiloh, no one around him knew how to apply a tourniquet. Before they could get a doctor to him, a matter of less than 20, he bled to death.

[Shay]

Well, you can bleed out from any major wound in 20 minutes without a tourniquet! From what I read, (from other sources, too, wikipedia's just on my favorites list) he didn't think the wound was serious and bled to death because he didn't seek medical attention.

And it's true about soft armour, but it's still like taking a sledgehammer hit instead of a bullet going through you- that baseball's slowing down, but it's still making it through the plane of the sheet!

[Mike n NC]

Anybody remember a little excursion, maybe some others of you were there too, called Viet Nam? There was a very, VERY low tech threat for body armor that, as far as I know still works today especially the soft armor. Ready for the answer?
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Wait for it...
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a pointed stick...

the point doesn't have to break the fiber, just slips between them.

I think I'll just keep my kilts for everyday wear and if it comes down to it, go back to the armored division.


Mike

[Rigged]

Before anyone thinks legs are not vital organs, let me remind you of General Albert Sidney Johnston. He was wounded in the thigh at Shiloh, no one around him knew how to apply a tourniquet. Before they could get a doctor to him, a matter of less than 20, he bled to death.

That would be the femoral artery -- one of the largest arteries in the body. The main part of it extends from the inside of the hip near the groin to where it branches off at the knee.

I take it that "less than 20" means "less than 20 minutes".

Definitely worth protecting.