Comments on: Armored Chaps, Hearing Pro and Slimmer Vests

By: alexis foreman

alexis foreman — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:18:15 +0000

By: Roy Smith

Roy Smith — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:19:56 +0000

Has anything been done in relation to face protective masks? Running in an open battle field makes these full armor suits totally impractical,but would the suits work in,say,a SWAT type situation of entering houses & clearing rooms? That seems the only real practical use for them.

By: Pantera

Pantera — Wed, 21 May 2008 17:19:24 +0000

Of course, it’s obvius to us bloggers that you should only make a man wear part of the suit. That’s the point of the suit.
But war isn’t always so cut-and-dry. I’m reminded of how in “Black Hawk Down”, the men didn’t bring night vision because they were sure the mission would be done before dark.
NCO’s want to make sure every man gets home safe as opposed to whether every man is comfortable. And yes, I do realize its easy to defend NCO’s when I’m not around them

By: Christian

Christian — Wed, 21 May 2008 12:31:03 +0000

atacms,
First, the exoskeleton was not discussed at the conference. I think that’s too far off in the future to be practical and may be overcome by events such as carbon nano-tube empregnated polymer fiber armors and other innovations. Also, not much to take pictures of unfortunately. There weren’t many vendors at all.

By: Suncec

Suncec — Wed, 21 May 2008 09:13:59 +0000

Any idea who produces this suit, how much is full weight and how much for one suit? Or any information sources?

By: G

Wed, 21 May 2008 04:36:21 +0000

I’m worried about mobility. I bet those arms and legs don’t bend as easily.

By: Roy Smith

Roy Smith — Wed, 21 May 2008 03:29:15 +0000

slntax, It's nice to know that there are still dumb ass senior NCOs who only seem to care more about how your sleeping bag is "canoe rolled" than common sense protection of the troops.Unless the "senior NCO" felt that the "flame retardant" capabilities of the ACU top(they are flame retardant,aren't they?) would protect the soldier in case a fire broke out in the tank(versus,if the T-Shirt is made of polyester,the T-Shirt melting into his skin & making any burn worse),then it does seem damn stupid to worry about "military appearance" in a war zone. I still say though that that full body armor suit should only be worn in a urban situation of clearing rooms or poking into tunnels to find the enemy.THAT'S common sense.

By: Roy Smith

Roy Smith — Wed, 21 May 2008 03:19:23 +0000

That full suit should ONLY be worn for MOUT operations in urban environments.After all,you can only move from room to room as fast as a closed & locked door will let you.Hell yes,this is impractical for wide open areas like the Afghanistan mountainsides,but it would have been nice for clearing buildings(& mosques) in Fallujah.I’m sure,with an appropriate close quarter weapon,nobody would mind the extra weight,in closed quarters(like maybe “tunnel rats”),if it was the only thing protecting them.

By: slntax

slntax — Wed, 21 May 2008 02:04:35 +0000

GREAT i cant wait to wear this in the 120 degree of iraq and then fallout from a heat injury. if you think commanders will use good judgment and make mission specific choices. you are dead wrong. most will say “just put it all on” everytime from the fear of someone getting hurt by making of choice of not putting on all the armor. and then getting pounded on by the chain of command for not wearing full battle rattle that could have avoided the injury in the first place. a friend of mine got yelled at by a sargent major for wearing his tee shirt and his body armor over it in a tank. in iraq sitting inside the drivers hole in a tank for 9 plus hours it gets plenty hot. why did he get a article 15? he was out of uniform by not wearing his acu top. common sense not something found in the army.

By: atacms

atacms — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:55:48 +0000

could you post some pics of some things you saw at the conference? PLEASE??
I’d have loved to have gone, but those conferences are WAY too pricey?!!