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Homemade Kevlar/bullet resistant vests

Radtekk

Radtekk

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Interesting question posed by Lady Radtekk tonight... Is there a source for Kevlar or a Kevlar-like material that can be purchased and made into a vest? Or is the only way to get a vest "retail"? Inquiring minds and all that...
 
Demolition Ranch on youtube does all kinds of sometimes good sometimes stupid home made armor tests. for its weight and size ceramic tile over a softer medium or a few layered to break up and catch the bullet seems to work well. I’ve seen subsonic 22’s go through things I wouldn’t expect at 100yds so I wouldn’t trust much DIY on the receiving end.

you just going to have fun out back trying to shoot watermelons behind them?

my opinion if I’m not pulling an A-team during the end of days with DIY. i’d rather spend a little money on a proven life protection item. grab some recerted trade ins as was mentioned or a net new. I went with plates. they are heavy but don’t expire like kevlar.
 
Problem with DIY Kevlar is that the weave, layer pattern, and underlying materials really matter. So just because something is called "Kevlar" doesn't mean it is ballistic fabric. Kevlar-like materials are all over the place with much of it used in things other than body armor. So you get varying degrees of strength, from knock-off materials that just look like real Kevlar to actual ballistically tested Kevlar fabrics. Once you get up into the latter, the fabric alone isn't cheap. But that's because it has been tested and sometimes even rated. So the DIY aspect becomes less appealing because it is no longer just a cheap weekend hobby. I'm assuming you'd want to test out a prototype, and that would just exasperate the issue of cost.

That's not to say DIY body armor is impossible. I've seen footage of people making extremely cheap fiberglass and resin plates that have been quite impressive considering the low overhead. But would you want to bet your life on it? One air pocket or bad layer alignment could mean the difference between stopping or swiss cheese.
 
Can you buy your own Kevlar/aramid? Sure. But why? It sucks to work with, and it's not like there are DIY patterns out there that are certifiable, so anything you make is going to be best guess at viability. Obviously, you could test some samples of your work, but now you're engineering lifesaving equipment.

There are only a couple states where it's illegal to buy/possess armor; I'm pretty sure you're not in one. It's going to be less expensive and less stressful to just go out and buy gear, whether you want soft armor (Kevlar) or plates. There are tons of options out there...
 
There was a Modern Marvels on body armor/bulletproof vest and IIRC one of the first vests was made of silk. That might be a reasonable substitute.
 
OMG. So there's this leather/western store on the Cape. Sur somethingorother. Sur la Tan???

Anyhow, the guy there was trying to sell my wife some boots. He can't find two matching, same size boots. That's how disaster this store is.

But for some reason, we get on the subject of hte old west. He thought the best thing to do was have an iron plate across your left arm and then stand sideways. ROFL!!! He was convinced this is not only a great idea but exactly what they did. Or no. LOL
 
If I had a few million in capital I’d have a startup for graphene plate armor. Hope we’ll see 1-pound level IV plates out of it in our lifetimes.
 
Hdpe plastic plates

i found one the right size to toss into my backpack, for hunting in yahoo country, where everone thinks i look like a deer. Not very comfortable, though
 
Could you make your own? Absolutely. But considering you really only wear a bullet proof vest when you expect to get shot, a human life seems to be worth more than the few hundred you'd be saving by going the DIY route.

But yea, I imagine you can buy the material in bulk for things like proofing door panels, etc.
 
Dennis in MA said:
OMG. So there's this leather/western store on the Cape. Sur somethingorother. Sur la Tan???

Anyhow, the guy there was trying to sell my wife some boots. He can't find two matching, same size boots. That's how disaster this store is.

But for some reason, we get on the subject of hte old west. He thought the best thing to do was have an iron plate across your left arm and then stand sideways. ROFL!!! He was convinced this is not only a great idea but exactly what they did. Or no. LOL
Click to expand...
So just "blade at a 45 degree angle"?
 
I have hundreds of yards. It was used to make furniture meet fire code. I did some research and it's used for cut proof gloves, fire protection, and I guess armor or some short. It's like a yellow felt..
 

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