Body Armor - Liquid armour

[liqnit]

This stuff really sounds like science fiction
Imagine "armor that could be spread on a person, almost like peanut butter on bread"
"sheer-thickening liquid" that stiffens instantly into a shield when hit hard by an object. It reverts to its liquid state just as fast when the energy from the projectile dissipates
wonder when we will se that stuff work....

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_32/b3996068.htm

[werty316]

I was amazed when I saw it on the tv and can protect areas of a soldiers body that can't normally be protected by their suits plus it is light which makes moving easier.

[Bio-Hazard]

Only problem I see with something like this is the heat retention for soldiers figthing in hotter parts of the world. Must get pretty darn hot once your covered in the stuff.

[Reyawn]

soo...if you made a bubble of the stuff, it would resist puncture?

Force fields!

[zachig]

That's really sounds like Science Fiction...:lol:

It really suprises me that it is so light and actually made of "liquid", but according to those researchers, it is to be five times as strong as still...:roll:

I wonder what will be their next invention? Maybe "liquid" weapons? :roll: :mrgreen:

[GIBSON]

Any minuses? No one knows yet how well the material will hold up after years of wear and tear.
Exactly my fist idea before I started reading the article. What'll happen after a few years. If I'd be a soldier I'd hate to find out in combat that my vest has gone out of date!

[liqnit]

Exactly my fist idea before I started reading the article. What'll happen after a few years. If I'd be a soldier I'd hate to find out in combat that my vest has gone out of date!

i think you would repeat the process of putting the liquid on like an overhoul every x time

[borschtBomber[SS]]

Sounds like a more advanced version of the "suits" worn by downhill skiers. The suits do that in a fashion...they stiffen to absorb some of the impact when they crash. Pretty cool stuff.

[=CDU=Above]

Only problem I see with something like this is the heat retention for soldiers figthing in hotter parts of the world. Must get pretty darn hot once your covered in the stuff.

This exactly right. I've mentioned in a few other forums that I'm a Federal Agent. Well, I work in Tucson, AZ.
I'm suppose to wear my vest now but the reality is I just can not do my job effectivly while wearing the thing in this heat. My job consists of hiking up and down mountainous/desert terrain tracking and then chasing groups of people that often number in the 30s in sometimes 110 degree heat. Even with out my vest, I get come home and my shirt is covered in salt from my own sweat.
Either I'm going to die from heat exhaustion or I'm going to get shot. Atleast with the last, I'll have a fighting chance.
If this substance covers what little air flow that kevlar yeilds...it just will not work in high heat or physical enviornments.

[GIBSON]

This exactly right. I've mentioned in a few other forums that I'm a Federal Agent. Well, I work in Tucson, AZ.
I'm suppose to wear my vest now but the reality is I just can not do my job effectivly while wearing the thing in this heat. My job consists of hiking up and down mountainous/desert terrain tracking and then chasing groups of people that often number in the 30s in sometimes 110 degree heat. Even with out my vest, I get come home and my shirt is covered in salt from my own sweat.
Either I'm going to die from heat exhaustion or I'm going to get shot. Atleast with the last, I'll have a fighting chance.
If this substance covers what little air flow that kevlar yeilds...it just will not work in high heat or physical enviornments.
Hèhè, sounds like border patrol to me :)
Anyhow, I suppose you all haven't read the article?! They aren't going to smear it on the person who they want to protect. (so they don't get them completely covered, things can go pretty wrong if you do. I'd say watch the mythbusters episode where they test out a myth concerning latex body paint.) Their actual goal with this substance is to put it into kevlar vests (between a few layers of fibres), so what you get is a lot lighter vest which also protects against knives and high velocity projectiles.

[liqnit]

yes
the liquid part is between layers of the vest or other coth the man is wearing.
i think at a ltaer (ver later) point technology will let us make a force field of some kind that could actually be made on a man skin

[GIBSON]

i think at a ltaer (ver later) point technology will let us make a force field of some kind that could actually be made on a man skin
No it can not. The human skin needs to be able to breathe. With a substance like this onto it, you wouldn't feel very well after a few minutes.

[werty316]

I don't think they put apply it directly onto a soldiers skin. They would line it inside their combat uniform.

[Enigmachine]

If you want to see how this works at home really cheaply, I suggest you look up Oobleck (or ooblek) on Google. If basically a corn starch mixture that's a non-newtonian liquid - if you try to stir it up quickly it acts like a solid - stop moving the spoon and it's back to liquid.

Anyways, you've probably tried it in school already. :) I wouldn't recommend using corn starch as a body armor though... unless you want to be really stiff... :mrgreen:

[borschtBomber[SS]]

If you want to see how this works at home really cheaply, I suggest you look up Oobleck (or ooblek) on Google. If basically a corn starch mixture that's a non-newtonian liquid - if you try to stir it up quickly it acts like a solid - stop moving the spoon and it's back to liquid.

Anyways, you've probably tried it in school already. :) I wouldn't recommend using corn starch as a body armor though... unless you want to be really stiff... :mrgreen:

Hmm, a cheap viagra alternative? lol

I may have to check that out...though for some reason it does seem to tingle a bit of familiarity in the back of my mind.:confused:

[=CDU=Above]

Nah Gibson, I read the article and I understand that the substance would be placed between the layers of Kevlar. My point was that, I believe it would further suffocate the garment in which it was used. Clothing needs to breathe.
I've wore many different makers models...Unicore, Second Chance, U.S. Armor. They vary in flexibility from manufacturer to manufacturer but they are all like wearing heaters around your torso after the first hour.

We'll see were it goes. If it comes about I will definitely have it available to me.

[liqnit]

i was reffering to the day that we can make force field that are thin enough to put on man skin and between then keep the liquid

[=CDU=Above]

i was reffering to the day that we can make force field that are thin enough to put on man skin and between then keep the liquid

Well here's the thing. I have talked with agents that have been shot in the vest. I still hurts like the dickens. Depending on the caliber and the distance, it can fill like a 10 pound sledge hammer at a full swing. A .40 cal round (what I carry) shot at close range (which is where most gun fights take place) will still break ribs and cause damage. One told me that it hurt so bad that he at first thought he was gone.
I can't think of an earthbound substance or mineral that could be that thin yet still be effective. 'Course, I'm not in the business of make such equipment either.

I did hear some talk once about spider web. Believe it or not, it's suppose to be one of the strongest and most durable substance for it's size. Can't remember where I heard that.

[GIBSON]

I did hear some talk once about spider web. Believe it or not, it's suppose to be one of the strongest and most durable substance for it's size. Can't remember where I heard that.
You're right about that one, spider web is stronger than metal wires would be at that size :)
I have heard stories about getting shot in the vest too, and well, they do seem to hurt a fair bit.
On a sidenote: I do think the name of that one manufacturer is pretty funny for it's product "second chance" :mrgreen:

[liqnit]

but i think that manufacture a good spider web in industrial qunatity will take a lot of time

[Kougar]

If you want to see how this works at home really cheaply, I suggest you look up Oobleck (or ooblek) on Google. If basically a corn starch mixture that's a non-newtonian liquid - if you try to stir it up quickly it acts like a solid - stop moving the spoon and it's back to liquid.

Anyways, you've probably tried it in school already. :) I wouldn't recommend using corn starch as a body armor though... unless you want to be really stiff... :mrgreen:

It took me a minute to realize what "Oobleck" was... You would not believe the messes I made with it as a kid, my mother even still frowns when I mention the stuff... :twisted: No one ever read this (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&endeca=1&isbn=0394800753&itm=1) before as a kid? ;-)

As for the resultant damage taken from being shot in a Kevlar vest, I think the idea is that if you can spread the pressure point out far enough it would only equate to a good shove or punch in the chest. Maybe adding some of this stuff to a thinner kevlar lined jacket would also help distribute the damage to the point that nothing could be broken?

[borschtBomber[SS]]

:twisted: No one ever read this (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&endeca=1&isbn=0394800753&itm=1) before as a kid? ;-)

aha...thats why it was familiar...just couldn't place it. :lol:

[=CDU=Above]

On a sidenote: I do think the name of that one manufacturer is pretty funny for it's product "second chance" :mrgreen:

Yeah it is quite crafty, so was the owner and CEO of the company when he would actaully take a bullet to the chest while wear it to demintrate his faith in the product. He did it many times in seminars and videos.
I had one and guess what, it turns out that they degrade after only a year and the company had to recall and replace all of their vest that people submitted. Until they were able to do the replacement, they recomended that you slip a blank of steel or "breast plate" in to the front pocket. That happend back around 2000.
Anyway, a bit off subject I guess.

[liqnit]

well if push a steel plate then you lose the whole point of it...

[GIBSON]

Yeah it is quite crafty, so was the owner and CEO of the company when he would actaully take a bullet to the chest while wear it to demintrate his faith in the product. He did it many times in seminars and videos.
I had one and guess what, it turns out that they degrade after only a year and the company had to recall and replace all of their vest that people submitted. Until they were able to do the replacement, they recomended that you slip a blank of steel or "breast plate" in to the front pocket. That happend back around 2000.
Anyway, a bit off subject I guess.
LOL, I hope they found out before their CEO was doing their annually seminar with his old "trusty" vest. :mrgreen: So they must have been using cheaper materials, or other materials as as far as I know other companies don't need to recall their vests.

[Enigmachine]

but i think that manufacture a good spider web in industrial qunatity will take a lot of time

A lot of compagnies (there's at least two in Canada) are trying to do just that, use genetic engineering to find ways to produce silk in bulk. I think they managed to get sheep to produce silk proteins in their milk.


And they laughed when I invented giant blobby jell-o tanks! Ok, sure, you get seasick every time the cannon fires, but hey when the enemy fires at you, the shells go right back at them with a lovely sproing!! sound.

[liqnit]

i thinbk geneetic enginering you coukld make the web from other plants\animal
but still it is have to tested in large scale

[Enigmachine]

Actually the problem turns out not to be quantity, but the fact that genetically engineered silk is not spun - spiders have spinnerettes to make silk strands, but sheeps don't. (Ok I'm having a mental pictures of sheeps with spiderman's powers... I need caffeine!)

They simply produce silk proteins which have to be spun in machines, and a lot of fake fibers/materials are not as good as the natural ones.

Hmmm... Actually speaking of which, why doesn't Spiderman weave himself an armor out of his own silk?

[GIBSON]

Hmmm... Actually speaking of which, why doesn't Spiderman weave himself an armor out of his own silk?
Because he is a fictional caracter?!
BTW liqnit, were you drinking when you wrote that? :P

[liqnit]

Because he is a fictional caracter?!
BTW liqnit, were you drinking when you wrote that? :P
sorry :grin:
i wasn't drinking but was doing somthing else at the time...

[zachig]

sorry :grin:
i wasn't drinking but was doing somthing else at the time...

Doing what???????? :roll::confused::mrgreen::wink::lol::twisted:

[liqnit]

Doing what???????? :roll::confused::mrgreen::wink::lol::twisted:
Posting like mad :wink:

[=CDU=Above]

I think they managed to get sheep to produce silk proteins in their milk.
See, now I've hear something about before as well. Didn't remember until you posted it.

Web spinning sheep.....now that would have changes those coyote and sheep dog cartoons a bit, wouldn't it.

[liqnit]

See, now I've hear something about before as well. Didn't remember until you posted it.

Web spinning sheep.....now that would have changes those coyote and sheep dog cartoons a bit, wouldn't it.

http://www.bjorn3d.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=195&d=1155220253

yes it would
i can imagine the coyote get cought in the web and blowing his way out

[GIBSON]

See, now I've hear something about before as well. Didn't remember until you posted it.

Web spinning sheep.....now that would have changes those coyote and sheep dog cartoons a bit, wouldn't it.

http://www.bjorn3d.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=195&d=1155220253
That link is dead :roll:

[=CDU=Above]

That link is dead :roll:
Fixed it.