If it's as good as they say it is, one can only hope they don't run into the usual supply problems . . . My only question is: is it better than Dragon Skin? Or, only a pale imitation that won't do the job as well? Thoughts?
If this is the same stuff I saw on Future Weapons...it is remarkable...they put a vest on a manikin and laid it on top of a grenade...it blew the front padding of the vest but no penetration...was very impressive...not certain if this is the same vest however...but whatever saves lives!
WHAT A JOKE! 5 YEARS FROM NOW THE MILITARY WILL BE CYING FOR BILLIONS MORE OF YOUR TAXPAYER MONEY FOR A VEST THAT THEY CLAIM WILL STOP AN R.P.G! WAKE UP AMERICA. THIS IS COMING FROM AN INFANTRY VET OF AFGHANISTAN. THE MILITARY WILL ALWAYS PROMISE SOMETHING THATS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE...JUST LIKE THE IRAQIS WOULD WELCOME US WITH FLOWERS. AMERICA...WAKE UP AND TURN AMERICAN IDOL OFF!
Its for "protection". Its not going to stop ever g@damn thing that comes at it. The whiners will say it cant stop a t-72 round and blame Bush as usual. Same with the Hummer- it was NOT designed to be a tank.
I do not wear body armor at work and before I retired I wore it very little. Having said that, if I was going to wear any today I would not want to wear anything but this. I am sure that if there are features to the body armor the Army is fielding now that Dragon Skin does not have it can be incorporated.
Everybody take a look at the link above, which directs you to an article from Army Times. The article talks about the new IOTV and it includes a video and a 360-view of the vest.
One thing I don't like about the vest (as seen from the video above) is the fact that you can pull one loop on the front of the vest and the whole thing falls apart instantly. It's almost like a rip cord; after the vest is broken into two pieces, it takes two to three minutes to get it back together. What makes me think someone is going to snag this loop on something in the field, and then have the vest fall off them into two pieces? Or two young E-1s get pissed at each other while wearing the body armor in basic and one of them, out of anger, pulls the other ones's "rip cord", only to have the other soldier's vest fall away.
The new armor is a definite improvement. Let's give the Department of Defense credit for trying to better protect our troops. Nothing is foolproof when you put boots on the ground, but every improvement made in equipment is a plus.
Just looked at the links and videos. The new vest looks a hell of a lot more bulky and cumbersome than the one by dragon skin--And perhaps alot heavier as well--sure looked it.
Be interesting to hear from somebody who has worn both kinds and see which they think is better.
Protection wise a step forward. After looking at the site though, I agree with Cat, looks ratehyr bulky and awkward. Of course protection is never simple!
ARMY FIELDS NEW BODY ARMOR DESIGN Military.com Christian Lowe April 03, 2007
“The Army is set to field a new body armor vest that the service says is lighter and offers more protection from bullets and shrapnel than the current design.”
Well, this is certainly good news! In the early 2004, the lack of any kind of body Armour created a national and deep concern for the lives of the members of our armed forces.
During those days when the board of directors and perhaps the Chief Executives did not seem to know that their companies were not informed of the storage of these protective vests; therefore, I proposed that any company creating such protective Armour vests and any other product for the U.S.military services fax a copy of the Internal Accounting and Technical Reporting that the Chief of Executives and the Chairperson of the Board of Directors receive on the same hour, not a week or a month later. If the corporations, companies, do not want to do this, then the U.S. Government Agencies must insist that they begin immediately after the General Accounting and the Internal Revenue Services make their report on the integrity of that manufacturing company.
Remember that Internal Control functions will include the cost of doing business, the accounting process in the manufacturing costs: the U.S. Government should not have to pay for the cost of marketing these products, nor should the U.S. Government be paying for the high cost Fringe Benefits including high Officers and Directors benefits. Perhaps, these companies will always cover the cost of making improvements through the Cost of Doing Business in the income tax reporting, anyway.
Again, these matters are not this simple as I am stating, but can being Wordy in arguments or proposals will just lead to confusions.
So, I am stopping here. Take good care of yourselves, we need each other in solving problems. 4890952
Thanks Mad, might be better than Dragon Skin, but looks a lot less comfortable--and don't suppose it will provide greater protection, don't really know what to say, since I've never had to wear the stuff, don't really know how you compare one product with another except by comfort and what they'll stop in terms of projectiles . . .
The video states it's lighter.The Army still has OD Duct Tape doesn't it? Use it on the quick release. There are certain things no amount of armor will stop, but if this is an up grade to what they have there now, that's fine with me. I to would like to hear from people who have used both. Tanks
Hey, I'll take more protection when I get in country. And it doesn't look any bulkier than the the Dragon skin. If you look at the Dragon Skin's additional coverage options (pinnacle website is linked in an above post) it looks pretty much just as bulky. As for the rip cord, it's tucked in out of sight and shouldn't have an issue with getting snagged. They did put a big to do about mobility with this design after all and it'd sort of kill it if you snagged it every time you had to exfiltrate your vehicle. I know people can be dumb and I guarentee that the cord will be yanked on quite a few times in fun (shoot I'll probably do it when I 1st get it issued), but I'd be shocked to see it happen in a combat enviroment. Still, an upgrade is an upgrade and I'd rather that over the current armor if it protects more. If dragon skin protects more, I'm sure we'd rather that, but since it's not an option anyway we're **** outta luck.
