From:	Jordan findlerman@*****.com
Subject:	armor
Date:	Wed, 10 Feb 1999 07:30:07 -0800 (PST)

Sorry for the delay in response. I have been under, and am still
recovering from some nasty form of the flu that's been running rampant
around here. Not to worry, though, I've been told that it isn't
communicatible though e-mailings, so you can stop rushing to put on
your bio-hazard suits.

For what it's worth (and I'm not saying that's much) I learned,
through a recently promoted marine-friend of mine, that it takes near
three feet of 'roughly packed dirt' to stop a round fired by most
firearms, currently (circa 1998). I am sure that most of us can find
access to three feet of 'roughly packed' dirt to use as a base of
reference. Also, though, add in the advances in Guns, ammo, and
space-aged pillow-making techniques.

> > Hmm, make that one, full stop. I remember in high school, during a
> > physics
> > class on force. My physics teacher (black belt third dan in tai
kwon do)

It's _*TAE*_ Kwon DO. TAE, TAE, TAE!. Tai is one 'h' away (thai)
from pissing off a bunch of korean (where Tae Kwon Do originated)
Matial artist.


sorry bout that...I need sleep...and lots of happy-pills to make this
head-ache go away...:)


> The phonebook is reasonably solid and thus will transmit the force of
> the blow well (although it *will* distribute the force over a larger
> area). The pillow will compress a lot and will thus absorb a quantity
> of the energy. The pillow would probably give an impact of 1 or 2,
> depending on the pillow and the weapon used (sword? impact=0).

I do not agree. I only say this because i have recently done
something similar to this. I was testing out the new edge on my
Shiro-sai (Tanto). Sure, the phone book was (eventually) demolished,
but it put up a reasonable fight, and I don't live in a huge town.
Similar results came when I tried it out on a pillow that we use a
padding for my dog's bed. Mind you, my tanto is NOT monofilament, but
it *is* sharp. It put a welt-like cut in the pillow, and sent some
stuffing flying after that first hit, but it would still protect. So,
on the phone book rating, it would have to depend on the town the book
came from, but I would put an L.A. or New York phone book up near 3-4
Impact, it desperses the impact of it well, and out right stops the
cutting of the blade...for the first few cuts....mind you, this all
depends on either covering your body with phone books and pillows, or
being adept at the art of pillow-defense.

I dunno, maybe i'm being too liberal with the protection points....oh,
well....if all else fails, i'll blame it on the flu impairing my
judgement. :P

Go with whichever god you believe in,
--JW
_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @*****.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com