DIY Homemade Body Armor Info and Basics

The major factors effecting a bullet’s ability to penetrate through a barrier are the following:
1. Speed: The velocity of a projectile is the most significant factor of a projectile’s ability to penetrate through a barrier. Example: A M193 pushed through a 16” barrel traveling at a muzzle velocity of 3100 fps and cannot penetrate through AR500 LVL III plate less than 25 yards away. The same cartridge out of a 22” barrel travels at a muzzle velocity of 3300+ fps and can penetrate AR500 LVL III plate. This as well as the use of military sabot rounds out of anti-tank weapon systems demonstrates the importance of speed when it comes to penetrating armor.
2. Bullet Construction: The way a bullet is constructed is almost as equally important to speed. Bullet compositions of FMJ with lead or mild steel cores are capable of penetrating barriers to a significant extent when compared to hollow point, soft point, or ballistic tipped projectiles at the same velocity. This is observable through several military tests as well as commercial manufactures’ tests for armored and non-armored targets. Likewise, penetrators comprised of high carbon steel or carbide will resist deformation during its interaction with a barrier maximizing its energy at a single point (see cross sectional area). Example M193 vs M855 vs M855A1 at a distance of 300 yards have significant differences in penetrating capability on barriers.
3. Momentum: The Mass x Velocity of a projectile directly relates to the projectile’s capability to penetrate through a material when compared to similar projectiles. This is one of the most tested and well know factors as tested by military, and civilians (hunters) while taking on tanks or large game.
4. Cross-Sectional Area: The bullet’s 2d circular area as well as its initial penetrating contact point relate to all of the above factors of penetration as well as how the bullet interacts with the contacted material. Pointed bullets will penetrate better than round nose; round nose will penetrate better than flat nose.
The armor components that I have been working with are used as a system that utilizes the strongest material properties of each individual component as a means to combat the bullets penetrating capabilities. The materials that I use are broken down into three different categories.
1. Ceramic Front Plate: The ceramic plate has a relatively high compressive and shear strength and that act to absorb the energy of the bullet and degrade its material and shape. Ceramic tiles are available in different ratings. The PEI5 rating is the strongest and hardest tile available at an inexpensive price. The ceramic tile strips away the copper jacket and exposes the softer lead core. The front cross-sectional area also increases allowing the rear plate to have a larger surface area to spread the remaining energy of the bullet on.
2. Fabric Back Plate: The layered fabric plate is comprised of any fabric that has a tight weave and is strong under tension. The fabric back plate exhibits a high tensile strength as well as a minimal amount of shear strength. Fabrics such as denim, canvas, nylon, Kevlar, or fiberglass can all be used for this purpose and should be comprised of 8 layers at minimum. Fabric can also be wrapped around the entire plate to capture spall fragments exiting out the sides and front of the plate. Denim has displayed the greatest strength per dollar spent. Layer per layer it seems to provide better strength than fiberglass. However, this is also due to the extra thickness it gives the plate and weight. Denim is easy to work with due to its ability to stay together and not fray when compared to fiberglass. Denim and canvas can be purchased at Walmart or any fabric store by the yard, or it can be salvaged off of old garments. Products like Kevlar or fiberglass is best purchased online in bulk to get the best value.
3. Adhesive: Adhesives when applied and impregnated into the fabric layers increases the tensile and shear strength as well as provides compressive strength to the composite material. Almost any type of adhesive has seemed to increase the layered fabric’s material properties. However, construction adhesive that is of polyurethane base like Locktite Premium Proline 3x Strong construction adhesive has proved to be extremely resilient, reduces back-face plate deformation, and has multi hit capability. The adhesive can also be applied to the whole surface of the ceramic tile to reduce spall.
Homemade Bulletproof Armor Plate 1 (Fiberglass):
• Homemade Bulletproof B...
Homemade Bulletproof Armor Plate 2 (Denim & PolyResin):
• Homemade Denim Bulletp...
Homemade Bulletproof Armor Plate 3 (Denim & Construction Adhesive):
• Homemade Liquid Nails ...
Homemade Bulletproof Armor Plate 4 (5.56 Protection):
• Homemade Bulletproof B...

[@1968CudaGuy]

Good presentation about the basics of what body armor is trying to do. For those interested in hardening furniture to use it as both cover and concealment the 2" square tile sheets with a skimming of bathroom caulk to fill the gaps three layers thick and offset so there is no lining up of the voids between the tiles then wrapped with denim at least 10 layers on the back face and five on the front soak with fiberglass resin and compress the sandwich to press out the air and fill all the cloth with resin. I have a dresser and homebuilt tv cabinet with these panels that I am absolutely sure will stop multiple hits from 223/556, 7.62x39,5.7x25, and every handgun round I have tested with. Yes, the panels weigh almost 80lbs each but they are screwed onto the back of both pieces of wheeled furniture and offer a 36" wide by 48" zone of protection that can be moved.

[@ProfessionalPepper]

Thanks, good thoughts.

[@concernedaussie1330]

We don’t all live in America! Most of the rest of the world doesn’t have the availability of goodies you guys have . That said the risk of quality rifle cartridges & marksmanship threat is also less . However crims & people with bad intentions still exist, so as a prepared person / Johnny on the spot , 1st responder “ man of the house “ it’s our duty to confront danger to protect ourselves & loved ones. Hence there’s totally a place for theory & practical testing & diy . I really really appreciate all the American guy’s for sharing this stuff it’s priceless & very important information to share ! As it will soon be banned , I’m sure of it . Thanks again.

[@ProfessionalPepper]

100% best of luck to you

[@trundelingporpoise2404]

so guys I've messed around with this in the past. I bought jst plain Jane floor tiles from Menards. 3 of them wrapped in ducttape will "stop" a .556 from my 16 inch ar15. now when u say stop, the bullet goes through the first 2 plates and stops in the third. it breaks the third, but stops. what I have found is that 2 tiles wrapped in ducttape backed by a soft composite layer works better. the soft layer catches the bullet pieces better than the 3rd tile will. now, this setup will not take multiple shots in the same place. the shots can land faaairly close together, but not too close. 2 tiles plus several layers of poorly laminated fiberglass stopped 6-8 .556 shots at 15 feet. I had to carefully place my shots though in order to get the maximum number. so if you space out 6 or 8 shots evenly across a 10x12 plate profile, that gives you an idea of how close you can place the shots. 2 tiles plus the soft layer weighted roughly 6 lbs. I tried swapping the soft layer for a .25 inch sheet of 6160 aluminum, and this kind of helped survivability (MAYBE one or two additional shots), but the aluminum bulged really bad after each shot. the problems inherent to all ceramic armor still apply to diy armor. the bullet breaking surface will simply degrade under fire and multiple strikes to the same area will cause quick failure. but I realize building stuff to stop bullets is FUN! so I'm not gonna be the guy who says "Go buy real armor scrubs. do u even operate?" ; ) if anyone has a way to slow down the degradation of the tiles, I would love to hear it!

[@trundelingporpoise2404]

Aaron Washburn hm ok good tip! I'll try that

[@simplegaming2781]

Use small tile sectionals that are suitable for you and 4mm thick and up. Then use silicone to fill the gaps between the tiles gaps. Seen a video on KZbin about and it's pretty good. you said something about extending the degradation of the tiles, this kinda helps because only the single tile sectional got destroyed not an entire plate.

[@jndvs95]

It might be more time consuming, but mayb cut the tile into little hexagonal pieces and make a honeycomb like double layer, staggering the seams from the 1st layer to the second. Perhaps sandwich this layer in between a soft material to catch bullet/clay fragments, and a composite layer like fiberglass. Dunno how weight would be, but if you can stand it, maybe add a metal strike plate somewhere in there and leather/pads on user side to help impacts. Im a big dude and dont have the luxury to run fast. Sacrificing a little speed for extra protection might be worth

[@sleepyghostisme7558]

Have you ever thought to try to make full armor or a chest plate?

[@siuolsretlaw8166]

I would try using several alternating layers of small tiles in a a mesh grid, fiberglass mesh, sheets of aluminum and some type of dense rubber "self healing" material and resin. Like a dense rubber floor mat or rubber flooring tile. Just make sure the small ceramic tiles are staggered in order to increase the chances of stopping several impacts in the same area. The smaller and better quality ceramic or polymer tiles the better!

[@merecatbear114]

for a spall catcher you can cut up a rubber floor mat from the 99c store, and some notebooks, put the note book in the center of the plate, put the cut up floor strips around the edges of the plate and duct tape those into a position to block spall in each direction, .. somone made a good video on it on youtube i saw. i think it looked pretty reliable

[@octaviusgalacticus2253]

Haha sounds very rudimentary but if it works it works I guess

[@LyadinDima]

Or coat in linex

[@pjnealon3476]

Excellent video. thanks for putting it out.

[@aleksandarcurguz2428]

The feel when somebody does something before you hahah :D great video keep it up man, I am looking for the testing :D

[@Jagdtyger2A]

A very well presented works. Effectively armor basics for non-physics majors (or dummies)

[@theheretic1081]

very good video thank you!

[@jessicadominguez9620]

Nice presentation.

[@anthonyburch9823]

Nice job Jon. Looking forward to the 5.56 tests. Maybe sum up all the tests and recipes on your whiteboard after all is said and done. Happy hunting.

[@Findout49]

Great stuff man good job!!! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@ProfessionalPepper]

Thank you!

[@LandersWorkshop]

Good lecture, waiting on the practical video now! :)

[@LandersWorkshop]

***** Just have mate, good work! They aren't AR500 but are a great thing for a DIYer.

[@marcomartini9239]

Curious to see some aviation alluminum; aramide and microfiber bed sheets incorporated into the tests

[@The_Tactical_Wook]

id like to see microfiber layered with epoxy

[@bakionigeri6414]

Just found this video! I love ballistics, its the best art or science

[@ProfessionalPepper]

It is pretty cool stuff

[@lyfandeth]

Of course this neglects the fact that everything except steel must be 4" taller and wider, because a 2" band all the way around any other plate is too weak to be rated.

[@mhfisc]

Would the denim/adhesive work for spall protection over steel plates? Is there something else that you would recommend?

[@mikeemmons1079]

We need effective solutions in case our access to commercial armour is cut off.

[@Krymoff]

thanks for showing this idea of making bulletproof materials‼️ my friends and relatives in Ukraine fighting for their country and their families with strongest and dangerous aggressor in the world we looking for every way to help them save lives if you can please help to develop level 3+ level 4 improvised DIY step by step method to make SAPI plates for our patriots and civilians in Ukraine easy made stand alone plate has to withstand against 7.62×39 LPS Mid Steel Core and 7.62×54R LPS Mid Steel Core rounds which Russian army troops commonly uses in general it equals 30-06 rounds but have some specifics such as a small steel penetrators inside bullets in the middle ...

[@Maiharihommia]

Russians don't use 7.62x39 anymore but 5.45x39 which is close to 5.56x45 with piercing power because of the structure of the bullet. 7.62 stops on 6mm hardox but the fragments might be even more lethal. 5.56 would need more steel to stop. We're trying to create sufficient DIY sapi plates so we can send them out to Ukraine. It will be uglier and probably heavier than commercial products. But during these times you have to do what you have to do.

[@bakionigeri6414]

BTW I found the box for those tiles I have good news is there Pei 4 and I have a handful of them, bad news is I was really hoping they were level five LOL

[@ProfessionalPepper]

Good to go

[@appleseedfanatic]

Why not use washers or other construction metals layered over the tile and sandwiched with demin and poly resin? So 5.56 hits it could deform on washer before hitting tile. Just an idea

[@ProfessionalPepper]

That's a good idea. You should try it!

[@Fudmottin]

Say what you like about YT algorithms, I got here because of them. Anyway, the CRS Firearms channel is running a contest on DIY armor. I consider it more of a fun, intellectual challenge rather than a practical exercise because the professional armor industry has some really good stuff that would cost far more for an individual to reproduce. Have a look if you care to. 👍

[@ProfessionalPepper]

I'm already on it brother👍

[@ItalianAvalanche]

I appreciate what you said about saving up for commercial body armor but this diy stuff is probably for vehicles and structures

[@ProfessionalPepper]

Gregory Foresi yes I would never recommend it for personal use unless there is no other means to procure systems designed by professionals. I will be doing a video on both cars and buildings in the future.

[@deltashot5608]

@@ProfessionalPepper if body armor gets banned there will be no choice

[@shawnmatthews5118]

try powdered ceramic suspended in oobleck (water and cornstarch) as a layer behind your ceramic plate. The force of the impact should result in this layer hardening and dispersing kinetic energy over a larger surface area within the armor itself.

[@lyfandeth]

Would so-called "quartz" (rock particles in epoxy resin) or granite, etc, be stronger than tile? The stone and composite countertop materials are available in 1/2"-1/4" thick. Cutting scraps are cheap from the shops.

[@ProfessionalPepper]

I was thinking of gluing Pea Gravel to the front of the denim layers.

[@AppalachianScholar18]

Excellent video. Have you found anything on how to determine the force of the bullet acting on the target?

[@AppalachianScholar18]

+Prep Know Do (PrepKnowDo556) I have also been thinking about if there could be a way to calculate the changing pressure the point of impact experiences as the bullet is stopped. Really, I would like to do the research and try to create a formula for bullet penetration through a uniform material.

[@AppalachianScholar18]

Thanks

[@ProfessionalPepper]

Since we have the dimensions of the bullet, I'm sure there is a way to do it, it's just so difficult be cause of all the variables and it being a complex differential equation.

[@ProfessionalPepper]

The overall energy and momentum could be calculated by knowing the bullet's velocity and mass. It would be a complex differential equation for sure with all the many variables interacting with eachother and causing change as the bullet deforms.

[@senseigreen3395]

Would tile sized denim plates consisting of 5 layers and a steel front work any better than ceramic tiles? Very curious to how you would think it would go down since you have much more experience with this than me.

[@iambilly610]

i think the idea is somthing hard first to deform the bullet. then somthing to catch it. if you want you can message me on facebook im also working on building one. we could make a business haha.

[@iambilly610]

***** ceramic works ok though? and what kind. i was just at home depot and got fiberglass resin, i wasnt sure if i should grab floor tiles or what haha. i am thinking of ordering a small amount of carbon fiber or kevlar to put before the denim so i can use a little less denim. is their any other fabric you recommend?

[@iambilly610]

whatttt that stuff is so cheap, ill be ordering some, thanks. i was to the point where i started getting mad because i started spending on materials and with the fabric i founds price i could have just bought plates. this will bring me back in budget.

[@buyerenogurlfwendo2106]

I’d still do 1 tile in front of the steel.

[@kippperry7321]

I'm thinking tile wrapped with Kevlar and fiber glass then coated with linex....

[@shawnmatthews5118]

LineX would go a long way toward protecting you from fragmentation.

[@AshGreen359]

There is a bill to ban body armor so better perfect the technique

[@puckerbutton7025]

cant ban the homemade stuff HDPE is decent

[@AshGreen359]

@@puckerbutton7025 I don't think it'll stop level IV threats which is what they want to ban

[@puckerbutton7025]

@@AshGreen359 with a steel plate or a ceramic core I've heard good things

[@ensarzahiroviv1240]

Sorry for My bad english but is it better one plate of steel of 8 mm or 2 plate 4mm, what is better or its eqval (=).???

[@ProfessionalPepper]

One plate of 8mm would be stronger than two plates of 4mm. Unless it is AR500 steel, it probably does not have the best strength vs weight characteristics. You may be better suited to try different materials. Watch some of my other videos for more information on plate design.

[@tombakabones274]

I have a design that incorporates a layered build ceramic tile combined with a sheet metal like from off a old washing machine glued to gather with liquid nail and raped in several layers of fiber glass

[@kevingolden734]

Tom B/aka bones dude it's wrapped not raped, don't rape fiberglass no means no

[@tombakabones274]

Lol good one (ya I know my spelling suck ) but that is funny lol

[@Eng586]

So Tile and Woven Fabric??? That's insane

[@ProfessionalPepper]

Astral Astral proof is in the pudding.

[@ProfessionalPepper]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqTclIeqr7yqaNU

[@spectergadget248]

It pretty much sounds like u need a body armor that is effective against all the ammo ur talking about

[@ProfessionalPepper]

I beleive its important to have body armor for whatever your assessed and likely threats are.

[@kevingolden734]

I'm making full fiber glass body armor Thigh, forarm, upper arm, shins and I bought a mil spec Kevlar helmet. I'm thinking the whole system is gonna be around 12 pounds

[@ProfessionalPepper]

Kevin Golden to actually have IIa capability it should prob weigh more. How many layers of fiberglass are you using?

[@michaelwilson2497]

Need minimum 1 1/4" of fiberglass fabric/epoxy layered. Clamped tight along/across form template.

[@cruiser97eric1]

Denim is made of cellulose fibers. Paper and cardboard are also made of cellulose fibers. Used paper and cardboard are available in huge quantities for free all over the world. Has anybody tried using layers of paper or cardboard instead of denim to wrap the tiles? For glue, how about using something liquid such as wood glue or polyurethane paint instead of a harder to apply paste such as construction adhesive?

[@ProfessionalPepper]

It's all about the strength of the materials. Tensile, compressive, and shear.

[@cruiser97eric1]

@@ProfessionalPepper If the the paper/cardboard is weaker than denim one can always use more layers to compensate. Again, used paper/cardboard is available for free in unlimited amounts everywhere, and recycling it in armor plates is good for the environment. As for glues, a liquid will have a much easier time saturating denim or paper/cardboard. I would personally use epoxy because it cures by chemical reaction instead of evaporation of a solvent. The epoxy takes the same time to harden regardless of how many layers of material have been used, and there will be no shrinkage that could results in internal voids. If you put the epoxy under the hot sun or in an oven it can be hard in a matter of hours.

[@dr.froghopper6711]

Paper made from mulberry trees was used in Feudal Japan as a very effective armor against arrows. But compressed into what would essentially a wooden board, I don’t see it helping a lot. I think it would be too heavy. Denim and other woven fabrics compressed into a resin matrix would still have the woven tension that could flex and distribute the energy better. But I could be completely wrong too.

[@ProfessionalPepper]

Best homemade body armor plates. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqTclIeqr7yqaNU

[@nocknock31]

lol. you know. you know . you know. YOU KNOW !! I say you know a lot to lol

[@nocknock31]

+Prep Know Do (PrepKnowDo556) I agree my friends get mad when I say you know. By the way nice video.

[@nocknock31]

+Prep Know Do (PrepKnowDo556) I can't think what to say on camera to lol