Someone make this because I don't know how Options

[James]

Let's see here. A few nights ago, I was watching a documentary on bullet proof vests. The problem is that they can't really protect your entire body and if they do then they're too cumbersome. I didn't think anything else of it after that though. Just something cool to watch on the History channel.

Then yesterday, I'm sitting in my office, thinking about random things, tossing my orange from hand to hand. Then the bullet proof vests came to me. It would be cool if you could stop the bullet before it actually hit the vest. Kind of like I would stop the orange before it hit my palm by catching it with my fingers. Granted, that was a lot slower, but it still seems like it would work. Make a lightweight material that you could wear and it has a bunch of feelers on it. They would react to incoming bullets, catch them, and drop them. The other benefit would be that the person wearing this vest wouldn't even get bruised. That would be amazing.

All this is fine and dandy, but I don't know how to even construct this. I know most bullets have a tin/lead material in the actual projectile, so that rules out using magnetism to detect and catch. If enough bullets are flying at you, I don't think a computer could be made small enough to detect all the projectiles fast enough, but if it could, what would they control to catch the bullets. I guess with enough frictional force, you could bring the bullet to a halt. How to make this though? I don't know. You figure it out. I just think that if this actually came into existence that it would be very beneficial to both our police officers and military.

[Jim]

'eh, something like that'd be kinda cool, but the cost of technology for it seems outrageous.

[James]

Yeah. That's why I considered magnetism first before I realized the material of bullets.

[Jim]

What you really need is Elven Mithril. Elven Mithril is inpenatrable, but also fictional

I guess the best way to make better body armour is to make better, lighter composite materials. Usually, though, thinner and lighter means it's more brittle. Body armour is a finicky subject, it seems.

[schwab]

seems like that would hard to accomplish

for example how woudl you wear them in a car and how would you shoot someone

[Jim]

Sound waves could stop bullets, I suppose, but yeah, it'd have to be a very big boom.

[JRockTTU]

Ask Keanu, he can stop bullets.

[James]

Well, the more that I think about it, the more I think that nanotechnology could play a big role in it. The idea was that the material would be very hardy. Think something like a wooly sweater. At rest until detecting a bullet, then grabbing it.

[taatimmi]

the 'feelers' on the extremities of the body (esp. hands) may be very problematic when conducting everyday tasks... maybe you could turn it off/on?

[James]

the 'feelers' on the extremities of the body (esp. hands) may be very problematic when conducting everyday tasks... maybe you could turn it off/on?

I don't think they would cover the fingers. make them long enough on the sleeves, legs, neck, and helmet and you could keep the face, fingers, and feet uncovered.

[Billy]

What about using triangluar/prismatic wedges that would convert the x directional force into 4 smaller y and z forces that would be redirected to the edges of the armor. This way all the stress goes to the edge of the armor and no force would be left to bruise the body? I don't know, needs more investigation. If you want to construct some stuff, have some money to buy materials, we can run some experiments.

[James]

Would that still allow for a high degree of flexibility? I know a big problem with current vests is that they're so bulky and uncomfortable, but discomfort is better than death, so they wear them.

[Inferia]

'eh, something like that'd be kinda cool, but the cost of technology for it seems outrageous.

You'd be surprise at all the shit we make even though it's cost is outrageous...

I guess the best way to make better body armour is to make better, lighter composite materials. Usually, though, thinner and lighter means it's more brittle. Body armour is a finicky subject, it seems.

Thinner and lighter does not translate to brittle at all. It usually means it's weaker, as in the strength of it is not as high. There are plenty of material that's both thin and light but not brittle, ie saran wrap, however it doesn't make it strong. I think most bullet proof vests are made of kevlar nowadays, which is a very strong plastic.

I'm sure nanotechnology will play a role i this somehow, but nanotech is typically in the nano range sometimes in the micron range. Even though they are strong, they are still very very small and chances are they will be more a coating rather than the body of the armour. One of the strongest nanomaterial is probably carbon nanotubes, and there are plenty of problems with those. And I'm not sure how these "feelers" would work.

I think there was a study done in England on how if you were 2 feet underwater, the bullet essentially disintegrates by the time it gets to you. Since the water absorbs all the energy from the bullet.. Perhaps all we need is to wear a swimming pool around us

[Divergent Realit...]

I think there was a study done in England on how if you were 2 feet underwater, the bullet essentially disintegrates by the time it gets to you. Since the water absorbs all the energy from the bullet.. Perhaps all we need is to wear a swimming pool around us

mythbusters did it too.

[Billy]

I think there was a study done in England on how if you were 2 feet underwater, the bullet essentially disintegrates by the time it gets to you.  Since the water absorbs all the energy from the bullet.. Perhaps all we need is to wear a swimming pool around us

mythbusters did it too.

Was it true or was it a myth?