From: | shadowrn@*********.com (Gurth) |
---|---|
Subject: | Body armors (was Re: Monofilament Whips) |
Date: | Fri Feb 23 05:05:01 2001 |
was...
> That's a bit of an issue. In fact, flexible, bullet proof armour just
> plain doesn't work, unless you invoke very stragne effects
> (superconducting wires in the cloth, forming loops, to resist a change in
> shape), at which point, they lose flexability. Note that the Kevlar vest,
> although woven is not flexable (so as you'd notice). It's woven because
> that's the only way to make it - cast solid it would be stonger.
It is very simple to make "solid" kevlar armor, though -- mold it in resin,
in exactly the same way things like polyester boats are made. If you look
inside a kevlar helmet, it's obvious that it's made from woven kevlar
fibers glued together to form the helmet's shell. (You would also be able
to see this on the outside, were it not for the paint that typically covers
that side :)
The main reason body armor is made from woven materials and not solid
plates is ease of movement. Some plates can be put into the armor (as is
often done with vests intended to stop bullets rather than grenade
fragments), but they will be restricted to those areas that don't flex
much -- that is, the front and back of the torso. If a whole armor were made
from plates, molded kevlar would be far too thick. Metal (or plastic) sheet
can be made into a full-body armor, as was done in the late middle ages,
but it won't be thick enough to stop bullets.
Which probably means that in SR, armor materials are far enouh advanced to
make very thin plates (a few millimeters thick) that still stop SMG bullets.
--
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