Homemade Body Armor Soft Armor (Level IIIA)

Homemade Body Armor (Soft Armor)
We wanted to make homemade soft body armor with materials you can get from your local hardware store. We discuss the construction of the body armor and will then test it against the NIJ Standards. We test the armor up against a ballistic clay box to test not only pass throughs but also back face deformation.
If you want non-homemade armor that gives you the best value in armor protection then check out our website: www.predatorarmor.com
#bodyarmor #homemadebodyarmor #DIYbodyarmor #predatorarmor

[@predatorarmor]

PART TWO OUT NOW! kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6XaZI2DbceMeqs

[@kyleboisvert4501]

You can reduce fraying by adding basic clear packing tape over the lines drawn before cutting

[@user-ue7mw7hg7n]

Just stopped by to say I appreciate this comment, saved me time.

[@collinE83]

One thing I’ve found is taping the edges before you cut the fiberglass makes it a lot more manageable. You can easily remove the tape if/when you need to, but it helps hold the fibers together while you move it around.

[@Ollywood2.0]

The rapper?

[@collinE83]

@@Ollywood2.0First of all, I’m not a rapper.

[@mitchbeckham4488]

Anybody see this as a fugazi infomercial?? Nobody puts out content like this to make their product look inferior obviously . Makes me think if he actually tried to make the the diy version not half ass how much better is his product? Its done way better on other videos

[@ghettosled1976]

Right. I’ve legit never seen anyone’s DIY armor videos made this shabby. It’s like he’s more concerned with sewing than anything else 😂 I’ve never seen a video using a welding blanket that didn’t use resin to make it solid. This video is just embarrassing.

[@another3997]

​@@ghettosled1976 You may not have seen anybody make 'soft' armour out of a welding blanket, but you only have to look on KZbin comments to see some of the ridiculous ideas people come up with, most of which are terrible, and more importantly, they're often untested. Just like with Kevlar, the weave, thread count and denier of the fabric is important, and typically, welding blankets are very loosely woven... the fibres just slide out the way of a projectile. A tighter weave would help.

[@Tantheman.]

I worked with the same stuff but used resin with 35 layers. Advice with working with fiberglass or carbon fiber is to wear gloves. Tiny sharp particles will stick to your skin and are a pain to get off.

[@Kit-vb5rm]

AND A MASK.

[@Tantheman.]

@@Kit-vb5rmmy respirator has probably saved my lungs from fiberglass multiple times yeah

[@bakionigeri6414]

Great vid, good to see the professional guys experiment with the diy world also

[@predatorarmor]

We are always experimenting with new stuff. The limitation of keeping it sourced from your hardware store adds a nice challenge to it.

[@TonyPrower]

Yes, but it the DIY stuff minus a key component. Glass fiber is like cotton candy and will never stop a bullet. Add some resin, 15 minutes later you have a decent bullet proof shield. This video only reduces trust in the poster.

[@another3997]

​@@TonyPrower That shows how little you know about glass fibre, and materials science in general. Glass fibre is exceptionally strong, especially the 'S Grade' structural fibre. It's tensile strength is extremely high. But you missed some important factors. The weave... welding blankets are, cheap loosely woven fabric, so the fibres simply slide apart easily, rather than resisting the projectile. You saw the fibres unravelling when he picked it up. Other glass fabrics are very different. The denier or weight of the yarn makes a huge difference to a fabric. These factors apply to other fabrics too. Not all Kevlar fabric is suitable for body armour... ballistic Kevlar fabric is a different weave and denier to general purpose Kevlar fabrics. Enough of any material will stop a bullet eventually, even cotton candy.

[@B_r_u_c_e]

Thank you. More layers? Fold in half.

[@predatorarmor]

You are right, we should have just folded it half to see the results from that. Didn't think about that on the spot. We will get a follow up video for this one with more layers and show the results.

[@3RBallistics]

@@predatorarmorfolding it wouldn’t have helped. Let me know if you want me to send a soft level 3A homemade body armor. I love doing this stuff BTW, I have some of your body armor in my carrier 👍.

[@predatorarmor]

@@3RBallistics Awesome to hear! If you have some 3A soft armor then we would be happy to test it out. We always like testing out armor on the channel. Shoot us a message at our contact email and we can make some arrangements.

[@SamRosario-g2e]

I have a stainless "steel net coffee filter". Do you think it's possible to use stainless steel net sheet in between several layers of fiberglass; but... with resin? How does your fiberglass only pad work for stabbing

[@royhernandez9165]

What about if you spray poly urea. Would that do the job

[@puebespuebes8589]

In ancient greece they glued the fiber pannel using animal grease ( i think ) and it stopped arrow. Im wondering how would this work with modern material

[@robinhood2980]

As far as I can remember the Monguls used heavy silk shirts, with multi layers to stop arrows!

[@another3997]

They wouldn't use grease... grease is a lubricant, which would give exactly the opposite effect to what they wanted! The same way that wax hardened leather is less effective at stopping pointy things going through than other types of hardened leather. They would use some kind of glue or a sticky resinous substance. At various points in histroy, archers were known to apply grease to their arrow heads because they found it helps penetrate shields and soft armour. At most, grease might have been used on the outer layer to protect against rain and moisture, like a wax jacket.

[@another3997]

​@@robinhood2980 Almost every type of material has been used in protective armour at some point in history. Be it a simple animal hide and scales, wood, bone, tree bark, simple dried plant fibres, metals and of course linen, wool, silk and cotton. Humans have a knack of trying things out, using whatever resources are available to them. Before 'modern' fabrics like Nylon, polyester and Kevlar, people had successfully used cotton or silk to help protect from typical handgun rounds at the time.

[@jamesquinney6686]

If It doesn’t stop a bullet, will it stop fragmentation?

[@fidelcarter9162]

Dies steel tape come in 12 inch widths?

[@bsouza4441]

A guy did it using latex coated fiberglass it works. But not for fmj 9mm

[@fratersol]

You have to put epoxy resin on each set of 5

[@another3997]

No you don't. Some glass fibre fabrics are designed to be used in composites with the addition of resin. But others are not. Welding blankets and fire blankets are two obvious examples. Using the correct weave and denier of a fabric is as important as the material it is made of. Coarse, loose weave fibres aren't ideal properties for any ballistic armour, and welding blankets are generally cheap, coarse and loosely woven. Glass fibres are extremely strong, you can easily check the figures and compare E glass and glass to other materials. With the right fabric, it is quite possible to make a soft level 3A panel... it just won't be as thin or as light as an equivalent Kevlar one.

[@4godandcountry663]

Question, can you cutdown old soft armour, like a full-size Safariland

[@chezoreo1336]

you guys said in the beginning that panel makers put their stitch count on the product. why didnt you stitch the entire panel?maybe a spiral that goes to the center? or a cross hatch?that would make it super stiff.

[@another3997]

It wouldn't help much, the coarse, loose weave typically used in welding blankets isn't suitable for soft armour. The individual fibres in the yarn just slide apart. You have to start with the right weave of fabric, be it glass, nylon, polyester or Kevlar. A higher grade of glass fibres, with a different weave would make a huge difference... but it would also be far more expensive.

[@AubreydaSoul]

I wish closed captions were available

[@larryriddle4474]

Why do they make the so small?

[@davo8802]

......PURPOSE..... To get people to buy theirs. 🤔 I've made Armour that would easily stop those hand guns.

[@predatorarmor]

Have you made "soft" armor that would stop those handguns? If so go ahead and contact us we would be happy to recreate and test out the product. There are plenty of homemade "hard" armor options. We were looking to make a soft armor option with commonly available items.

[@ricky1925]

Why no ppe with the fiberglass? Makes my skin crawl.

[@robinhood2980]

Fascinating I am just starting to look into hard body armour but your video is now shifting my notions away from rigid panels, great video, thanks.! With the news here in the UK of potentially starting conscription should a war startvwith Russia, I believe this kind of marerial could be needed sooner than later!!!

[@SeñorDossierOficial]

I didn't get what did you use for the panel Fiberglass layers or kevlar layers?

[@bakionigeri6414]

Fiberglass, he just compares it to kevlar here and there as a reference

[@SeñorDossierOficial]

@@bakionigeri6414 ha, thats why it failed, if it were kevlar those 25 layers would have stopped the 9mm

[@predatorarmor]

That depends on what type of kevlar is used. There are ton of variations and use cases of kevlar.

[@SeñorDossierOficial]

@@predatorarmor but you used fiberglass for the tests?

[@predatorarmor]

@@SeñorDossierOficial Yes. In response to your comment about 25 layers of kevlar would stop it. That depends on the type of kevlar used. For this video we used products that you can get at your local hardware store. We tested a fiberglass welding blanket.

[@aarvolaredonjunior1032]

Epoxy resin

[@Davidautofull]

when you grow up you can buy your own scissors. i have a large set of the one you have i believe. quinn right? great ones. edit: dude dont think im raggin on ya but when you handle that stuff and sling it around like you did, it falls apart. and, when you sew it sew it up like a quilt. side to side and top to bottom so there are squares an inch big. then double it. hmm that will make it 5 pounds though, but its cheap.

[@predatorarmor]

I will stick to the automated cutting machines and lasers and keep borrowing the scissors from someone else. We do not use scissors to cut kevlar or materials in our shop. The whole point was to show that you can make this with common household items. In the video we discussed that different sewing patterns would make a difference on plate performance. With as flimsy as this material is you would probably have to go with a sewing pattern that you discussed. We state that in the video. It will add weight for sure. We would want to stop the round while keeping the weight down as much as possible. This was a first test run to see if it would stop the round and what kind of backface deformation would happen. Seeing as it did not stop the round we will move on to another rendition.

[@psychopathmedia]

Not gonna matter when he shoots himself in the dick with that appendix carry

[@TonyPrower]

This is the first time I have seen fiber glass without the resin! Most folk use a band saw, yet you use a sewing machine. Would I trust you to protect me?

[@predatorarmor]

If you add resin it is no longer soft armor.... It becomes hard armor. The whole point of the video was to make soft armor. There would be no need to sew it if you use resin either.... And yes you would need something akin to a band saw to cut it if resin is used.

[@The_Tactical_Wook]

Dude I see your face and expect Hugh Jackmans voice lmao

[@AbdulMajeeed-l5h]

How can I buy it

[@4godandcountry663]

I do have a question if you have one of those full-size soft body armor, the kinds that the military used around 2005, that wraps around a little bit on my waist, and if you want to cut it down to a normal like 10x12 how would you do it?

[@SashaTheDog]

I'd say don't, the fabric seams to fray fast and easy and you may not be able to make the cover waterproof again, dryrot and moisture pretty much mess up normal fabric so I'm sure it will mess up the Kevlar as well. (only know stuff about clothing fabric but woven fabric is woven fabric)

[@Ollywood2.0]

Electric fabric cutter or handheld cutoff wheel saw (or like a dremmel with a cut off wheel)…you can use a jigsaw too, but have to be sure to clamp down the material you are keeping right up to the edge of the cut or else the fibers will “tear” and pull rather than cut (a fine wood or ideally a blade for cutting polycarbonate it best) I just place a 12-14” x 3-4” x .25” piece of wood or a 14g piece of metal sale dimensions but only 3/16” height. **If you can, get polycarbonate to sandwich it and have it cover the entire are (both sides of where you want to cut, and clamped both sides, and then cut your material along with the polycarbonate (that gives you the best “clean cut”)

[@psychopathmedia]

Now I know why there are so many Harbor Freights in the hood

[@hadesdogs4366]

As much as I’m a believer in the placebo effects, I doubt even with the added benefits of said placebo effects in play wouldn’t do a whole lot for your chances of survival 😂😂

[@DKikkert-u6c]

Thanks for the video, but please say it right, couse "fiberglass and resin " make people buy the white stuff, but as an former aircraft builder at fokker in the netherlands, i know you must have the "yellow " the aramide/kevlar! Otherwise you will end with an "ali expres helmet " not bullet resistant, like the russians are supplied with

[@another3997]

Aircraft building and producing body armour are two very different things. Glass fibre fabrics come in all sorts of different types, just like nylon, polyester and Kevlar fabrics do. Weave, denier and construction are important. Not all fabrics are equal. Welding blankets are typically fairly coarse, loosely woven, low grade fibres... not ideal properties for ballistic armour, no matter what the material. Whilst "E" Glass and "S" Glass are different chemically, both are actually extremely strong, S (Structural) glass being the stronger. But again, the construction of the fabric makes all the difference. You can make a viable soft armour from it, it just won't be as thin or light as ballistic Kevlar. But then not all Kevlar fabric is suitable for body armour either.

[@zomakblah7804]

Most homemade will use resin in conjunction with carbon fiber, and it does do the trick. they don't just sow them together.

[@another3997]

Carbon fibre isn't a good material for ballistic body armour. Whilst it is extremely stiff, it's also extremely brittle. It can be mixed with something like Kevlar, and you can buy such a fabric, but they don't use it in body armour. It's more for making rigid shells for things like boats. What is as important as the material a fabric is made from, is the way it is constructed. For balistic armour, a coarse, loose weave of low quality fibres (such as those found in welding blankets, a cheap knitted jumper or a typical dust blanket) isn't ideal, no matter what the material. Many off the shelf Kevlar/aramid fabrics are also unsuitable. Many glass fibre fabrics would make a better soft armour than that welding blanket, but would also be more expensive.

[@BA-ti6ne]

You should use resin on each set of five, then put them together

[@N8-O]

How many layers of XP KEVLAR does it take to stop a rifle round. Say, 7.62.

[@Leo-lq9vq]

Tensile strength varies from 28.25 MPa to 78.83 MPa for Fiberglass.... Aramids have a typical tensile strength about 3000 MPa, so for 9 layers of aramid ~ 9 * [3000/ ((28.25+78.83)/2)] = 505 layers of fiberglass blanket to make it equal in tensile strength capacity. But that is a very rough estimation ... there Is much more that must be taken into consideration to make it work. Wait for next video :D

[@another3997]

Im sorry but you are completely wrong. I don't know where you got your figures, but they don't tally with any of the figures I've come across for GLASS FIBRES. Whilst it varies with the various chemical compositions and the fibre diameter, Glass fibres can certainly achieve a tensile strength of 2400MPa. It would seem you are confusing glass fibres with typical bulk glass, which is very, very different.

[@Leo-lq9vq]

@@another3997 Thanks. I will check it again.

[@eziciyokedici214]

Hi, i buy UHMWPE for 32.4 dollars per kg, what price do you buy, could you say it? Have a nice day.

[@peterfranco6610]

Ok so here’s one for you. Mythbusters S9E18 - Bed liner as a blast proofing coating. Try coating tile based armor with bedliner.

[@alphawolfgang173]

good content. keep it coming! (3+ stahlhelm, shoulder plates and thigh armor)

[@predatorarmor]

More to come!

[@echohotel1094]

What a nothing burger this video is...

[@Ollywood2.0]

I can create a level 2A/2 with 16 layers of the welding blanket plus 12 layers of s-glass (Bondo Autozone stuff) and 2 bottles of $10ea “matrix” materials and one other $2 item - and it will be “soft” just as Hyperline, Hardwire, Alpha Elite soft-panels are … can’t “crumple” but you can bend and fold it and it will contour to your body in conceal carrier … both plates and full coverage (with sides&shoulder coverage). If you send the materials I’ll create, record, and send finished plate back for you to shoot ….

[@another3997]

Anybody can make something that is bullet resistant given enough of any material and enough time and money. This is about testing one particular possibility, a very cheap and quick one. Glass fibre is known to be very strong (it can have a tensile strength close to that of Kevlar), and like Kevlar, it can come as a fabric, so it makes sense if some people to think that things like woven glass or carbon fibre can make good armour. But the strenth of the material is only part of the equation... the way any fabric is constructed, it's weave and denier are also hugely important, even with Kevlar. The welding blanket failed more because it has a relatively coarse, open weave and the fibres have a low coefficient of friction. Other types of glass fibre fabrics would behave differently, irrespective of any "matrix" materials. But would be considerably more expensive.

[@DBOYsmith-bv2ht]

I neuer saw a DIY soft body armer the Video saw the fiberglass Was saturated with resin

[@ВладимирОкшин-з9ж]

стекло ткань????нужно было брать "капрон" ,"лавсан", стропы в магазине тканей из полиамида,стеклоткань не тянется

[@DKikkert-u6c]

And you need a kevlar sissors haha, special one

[@OneShadow7]

I'd say 3 layers should be enough and you are good to go 😂 might want to put some metal in front of it, like laminated armor.

[@SashaTheDog]

One day I'll just do body armor for cosplay purpose, cause I'm bored with way too much free time. I mean there's shops selling 300g/m² kevlar, maybe it could work.

[@robertdelamare4129]

Callar some steel plate shaped

[@Tee-ina-Skee-Mask]

this is why the diy armor guys make their armor hard because alot of them have put in the work to test materials n in diy, soft isnt really viable. i will say this would probably make a great backer to the diy hard plates

[@ConspiracyOrProphecy-vp1py]

Bro the test 😂😂😂😂

[@James-wd9ib]

Too much energy, you'd still need some sort of hard plate in front of that to take some energy away

[@Santaheckler]

Well atleast the welding blanket will keep you warm while you’re dying…

[@weepingwell]

so no useful information then. what a waste of my time.

[@Theire1]

size matters that is why my wife is small lol

[@psychopathmedia]

Had to match parts somehow

[@caseykelso1]

Fold it in half😂 shoot it again...pretty simple stuff here kids

[@shamimchowdhury4283]

Didn't pass Level 1, Plywood does a better job.

[@RenatoAlcantara-yd2ts]

Try cross stitching.

[@damocles7230]

Long leave armor ?like a shirt , no .

[@JonasErik]

What a waste of time.... Omg

[@katiekale1410]

You didn't use fiberglass resin between each layer. That's why it didn't work. Come on Guy don't be dumb.

[@skoppingeveryday]

WELP, better go out and buy your armor just to be safe!!

[@dvpzy]

He didn't use fiberglass resin. So this is a half baked failure.