# Wearable Technology Scientists Discover How to Turn Ordinary T-Shirts Into Body Armor



## Bob Hubbard (Apr 10, 2010)

http://www.ecouterre.com/15824/scientists-discover-how-to-turn-ordinary-t-shirts-into-body-armor/


> A Hanes  Beefy that can deflect bullets may sound like the stuff of comic  books, but scientists have developed a way of bulking up an ordinary  T-shirt to create wearable armor. By splicing the carbon in the cotton  with boron, the third hardest material on the planet, researchers at the  University of South Carolina markedly  increased the fabrics toughness. The result is a lightweight shirt  reinforced with boron carbidethe same material used to shield military  tanks.



I want a Super Suit.


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## CanuckMA (Apr 11, 2010)

With no padding, the bullet may not make it through, but I bet it stings a bit. :ultracool


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## Bob Hubbard (Apr 11, 2010)

I bet it knocks you on your ***, but that's preferable I think to having a big hole punched in you.


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## Dirty Dog (Apr 11, 2010)

Bob Hubbard said:


> I bet it knocks you on your ***, but that's preferable I think to having a big hole punched in you.


 
Not really. The laws of physics make it mandatory that impact down range is less than recoil. 

I once met a man who sold "Second Chance" vests. Part of his demo was to shoot himself in the chest with a 44 mag. He got bruises, but nothing worse.


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## Bruno@MT (Apr 11, 2010)

Dirty Dog said:


> Not really. The laws of physics make it mandatory that impact down range is less than recoil.
> 
> I once met a man who sold "Second Chance" vests. Part of his demo was to shoot himself in the chest with a 44 mag. He got bruises, but nothing worse.



While that could be true for a vest that spreads the impact, if the t-shirt has enough give, the bullet will still do enough damage to matter.

To illustrate what I mean, put your thumb on your t-shirt, between 2 lower ribs. Start pushing. This will be uncomfortable but keep an eye on your t-shirt. It is not penetrated, but your thumb is going to be deep between your ribs before it starts exerting force to push back your thumb.

Replace your thumb with a 44 mag bullet and replace your t-shirt with a bullet proof one. The same principle applies. The bullet will not penetrate the shirt, but it will hit you hard and deep, and break some stuff before being stopped.


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## jks9199 (Apr 11, 2010)

OK, folks, it's clear that even if the fabric is truly bulletproof, you still don't want to get shot.  It's like getting punched -- at several hundred (or close to 2000!) fps.  It'll leave a mark, even if it doesn't make a hole.`

It's still an interesting development.  Among other things, it might produce much more comfortable, much more concealable body armor.  But I'm still curious about how flexible it really is...


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## Bill Mattocks (Apr 11, 2010)

My T-Shirts are all bulletproof.  I don't wash 'em.


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## jks9199 (Apr 11, 2010)

Bill Mattocks said:


> My T-Shirts are all bulletproof.  I don't wash 'em.


That's not bulletproofing... That just means that they're so dirty & gross that not even the bullet wants to get close!


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## Bill Mattocks (Apr 11, 2010)

jks9199 said:


> That's not bulletproofing... That just means that they're so dirty & gross that not even the bullet wants to get close!



A perfect example of a distinction without a difference.  End result, nothing comes near me.  Self-defense achieved.  Pre-emptive, passive, and free.  No training required.


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## jks9199 (Apr 11, 2010)

Bill Mattocks said:


> A perfect example of a distinction without a difference.  End result, nothing comes near me.  Self-defense achieved.  Pre-emptive, passive, and free.  No training required.


Sure, no training required.  Just a very strong stomach... and extreme disinterest in human company!


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## Bill Mattocks (Apr 11, 2010)

jks9199 said:


> Sure, no training required.  Just a very strong stomach... and extreme disinterest in human company!



Not seeing any downside here!


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## CoryKS (Apr 11, 2010)

But is it shark-proof?


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## CanuckMA (Apr 11, 2010)

Chuck Norris once spit on my shirt. Hurt like a SOB, but I can now withstand anything up to a small tactical nuke.


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## Omar B (Apr 11, 2010)

Bill Mattocks said:


> A perfect example of a distinction without a difference.  End result, nothing comes near me.  Self-defense achieved.  Pre-emptive, passive, and free.  No training required.



I also have a tiger replant key chain, have not had a tiger incident yet.


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## kaizasosei (Apr 11, 2010)

Very cool.  I just had to share this with my friends from the design field.  Maybe they have already heard of it as those designers know about most 'stuff'.

j


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## Cryozombie (Apr 11, 2010)

Omar B said:


> I also have a tiger replant key chain, have not had a tiger incident yet.



If no tigers have come near you, how do you know your key chain can replant them?  And why would you dig them up in the first place?


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## CoryKS (Apr 11, 2010)

Cryozombie said:


> If no tigers have come near you, how do you know your key chain can replant them? And why would you dig them up in the first place?


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## jks9199 (Apr 11, 2010)

I do believe the word being sought is "repellent" not "replant"...


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## Cryozombie (Apr 11, 2010)

jks9199 said:


> I do believe the word being sought is "repellent" not "replant"...



I got that.  I was making a joke on his misspelling of the word to Replant.


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## Archangel M (Apr 12, 2010)

Blunt force trauma and internal injuries can kill you just as dead.


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## RandomPhantom700 (Apr 12, 2010)

Sheesh, tough crowd here.  Yeah, the blunt force of the shot will still do damage, but c'mon.....IT'S A BULLETPROOF T-SHIRT!  How cool is that?


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## jks9199 (Apr 12, 2010)

Cryozombie said:


> I got that.  I was making a joke on his misspelling of the word to Replant.


I knew you'd caught that...  But it seemed the humor had escaped him.  

As to bullet proof t-shirts...  Neat idea, once again, but as Archangel said, not much good to have no holes, but significant internal bleeding and bruising...


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## Bill Mattocks (Apr 12, 2010)

jks9199 said:


> I knew you'd caught that...  But it seemed the humor had escaped him.
> 
> As to bullet proof t-shirts...  Neat idea, once again, but as Archangel said, not much good to have no holes, but significant internal bleeding and bruising...



I was visualizing a person wearing one of these with an entry wound, and the shirt pulled clear through the hole and out the back.  Part of the reason a Kevlar vest works is not that it is impenetrable, but also that it spreads the impact over area (the t-shirt does this too) and time (Kevlar is relatively thick and absorbs the impact over time).  The t-shirt does not do that last bit, unless I'm missing something.


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## Marginal (Apr 12, 2010)

Bill Mattocks said:


> I was visualizing a person wearing one of these with an entry wound, and the shirt pulled clear through the hole and out the back.  Part of the reason a Kevlar vest works is not that it is impenetrable, but also that it spreads the impact over area (the t-shirt does this too) and time (Kevlar is relatively thick and absorbs the impact over time).  The t-shirt does not do that last bit, unless I'm missing something.


The bulletproof t shirt's not really the point though. That'd be impractical, but a denser weave and some reinforcement etc would still mean lighter body armor.


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## Bill Mattocks (Apr 12, 2010)

Marginal said:


> The bulletproof t shirt's not really the point though. That'd be impractical, but a denser weave and some reinforcement etc would still mean lighter body armor.



That makes sense.  What would be even cooler would be cloth that predicted or reacted to impact by becoming stiffer.

http://www.newscientist.com/blog/invention/2007/06/liquid-body-armour.html

Not sure if anything ever came of this though.

Anyway, I'm for anything that increases protection and decreases weight, heat, and cost for the user.


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## Big Don (Apr 12, 2010)

Bill Mattocks said:


> That makes sense.  What would be even cooler would be cloth that predicted or reacted to impact by becoming stiffer.
> 
> http://www.newscientist.com/blog/invention/2007/06/liquid-body-armour.html
> 
> Not sure if anything ever came of this though.


I don't know if anything has come of it, but, Dale Brown put that technique into use in his book The Tin Man. Which, is what this discussion popped into my mind.


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## jks9199 (Apr 12, 2010)

Big Don said:


> I don't know if anything has come of it, but, Dale Brown put that technique into use in his book The Tin Man. Which, is what this discussion popped into my mind.


I've seen variants in a few books.

Including using a fabric that stiffened to deflect kinetic energy to trap someone by causing it stiffen, and not letting it relax...


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## zDom (Apr 12, 2010)

RandomPhantom700 said:


> Sheesh, tough crowd here.  Yeah, the blunt force of the shot will still do damage, but c'mon.....IT'S A BULLETPROOF T-SHIRT!  How cool is that?




Very cool. Wish I could have some.

Call me a prude, but I prefer blunt trauma over penetration.


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## Bill Mattocks (Apr 12, 2010)

zDom said:


> Very cool. Wish I could have some.
> 
> Call me a prude, but I prefer blunt trauma over penetration.



A little Astroglide will change your mind.


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## geezer (Apr 12, 2010)

Bill Mattocks said:


> I was visualizing a person wearing one of these with an entry wound, and the shirt pulled clear through the hole and out the back...


 
I had exactly the same mental picture! It kind or reminded me of that battle scene in the mines of Moria in _The Lord of the Rings_ movie where Frodo takes a full-on chest shot with a huge spear thrown by a giant cave troll only to be saved by his silky-soft mithril mail shirt. Even if there was something that strong, it wouldn't work if it was silky-soft. The spear would just drive the impenetrable fabric through you. Yeah I know, I should be willing to suspend my logical faculties and just watch the movie, right? Then again, what about internal consistency.Tolkien was very good at that. Hollywood--a bit less so...but I digress.


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## Ken Morgan (Apr 12, 2010)

This sounds to me to be good secondary protection. If it feels and acts like a normal T-Shirt, wear it under your normal protection.


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## Sukerkin (Apr 12, 2010)

jks9199 said:


> I've seen variants in a few books.
> 
> Including using a fabric that stiffened to deflect kinetic energy to trap someone by causing it stiffen, and not letting it relax...



Larry Niven I believe?


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## jks9199 (Apr 12, 2010)

Sukerkin said:


> Larry Niven I believe?


Possibly.  It's been a while... and it's been a while since I read Niven, too.


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## Marginal (Apr 12, 2010)

Sukerkin said:


> Larry Niven I believe?



Those suits pop up a lot in Ringworld.


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## Big Don (Apr 12, 2010)

I can't tell you all how amused I am that this discussion devolved to science fiction books. Anyone read Catherine Asaro's Skolian novels?


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## cdunn (Apr 13, 2010)

This just makes me wonder how long it will be before ultracapacitors make hypervelocity weapons trivial, and make all our current armor moot.


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## dancingalone (Apr 13, 2010)

Big Don said:


> I can't tell you all how amused I am that this discussion devolved to science fiction books. Anyone read Catherine Asaro's Skolian novels?



I've read a few and enjoyed the first couple that had Sauscony and Kelric as the protagonists.  The others seemed to drag.  They're too formulaic for me ultimately.  

If you like fantasy, Guy Gavriel Kay's Under Heaven is about to be published in May.  He's probably somewhere in my top five authors for speculative fiction.


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## Archangel M (Apr 13, 2010)

I like David Drake's "Commander Leary" series. And "Enders Game".


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## Ken Morgan (Apr 13, 2010)

dancingalone said:


> If you like fantasy, Guy Gavriel Kay's Under Heaven is about to be published in May. He's probably somewhere in my top five authors for speculative fiction.


 
I think its out already, i seen it at the book store last week!!
Great author. Though I have to rank Charles DeLint right up there too!


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## Big Don (Apr 13, 2010)

Big Don said:


> I don't know if anything has come of it, but, Dale Brown put that technique into use in his book The Tin Man. Which, is what this discussion popped into my mind.


See this? This is where I hijacked the thread into comparative fiction.


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## jks9199 (Apr 13, 2010)

Hey, guys... Much as I like talking good science fiction/fantasy, this thread's about a real world product.  There are a few other threads around to talk about books... or we can start a new one.


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## Archangel M (Apr 14, 2010)

Recall this stuff?

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/poc-spine-vdp-armor-bmx-sportwear


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## Big Don (Apr 14, 2010)

This is the one that caught my eye. What a cool idea.


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