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Ballistic Clipboard Holds Papers, Stops Bullets
Zothecula writes "Although police officers in most countries are issued bulletproof vests, they don't necessarily wear them at all times — would you want to heave one of those things around for an entire shift? What they do often carry, however, are clipboards. Taking the "every little bit helps" approach, Ohio's IMPACT Armor Technologies has put two and two together, and come up with something that should actually offer some protection — a Ballistic Clipboard."
And it stops bullets, which means it can probably stop rock too.
But what about scissors?
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/supplies/e769/?srp=1
Even if Thinkgeek wasn't already selling a similar product, how is this news?
Wonder if Captain America ever used his shield as clipboard (i think he actually did in the movie), if so we have prior art if they try to patent this.
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I knew you could! This one isn't even interesting.
Bringing the census to rough neighborhoods just got a little safer.
been done before, using recycle body armour plates. Can't be exported to other geek filled countries, IIRC.
There was an unknown error in the submission.
Its been done before... http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/dads/e769/
I spent five minutes stealing cool sigs and all I got was this.
This is the second article I've seen recently about a product that has been on Thinkgeek.com for a while. First the caffeinated jerky and now this. The one on Thinkgeek seems to be different but the concept is the same, holds papers and stops bullets. It seems the Thinkgeek one doesn't stop .357 and .44 mag though.
What's your point? Tiny piece of metal travelling through body shredding internal organs vs. large surface area of clipboard leaving some bruising. I know which one I'd prefer.
Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and stupid comments are intentional.
Momentum is, indeed, a problem(yes, you will get some exciting bruises and/or broken bones); but blunt trauma over a fairly large area is more of a "oh Fuck is that going to hurt in the morning" problem, while a bullet hit somewhere specific is a trifle more serious...
1) Law enforcement sees product, laughs at the idea.
2) Manufacturer lobbies Congress to pass bill with massive federal grant for their new toy
3) Law enforcement brass around the country buy these with federal funds
4) Law enforcement rank-and-file take them home and give them to their kids
5) Repeat
Unless Zothecula=Ben Coxworth (which one never knows nowadays) this looks very much like a copyright violation. It is a 1:1 copy of the first paragraph of the referenced article from Ben. And Ben at least took some effort to reformulate when he took it from http://www.ohgizmo.com/2011/11/08/this-clipboard-could-save-your-life/.
But then, does crowdvertisement care about copyright?
You might not want to use popular media such as television, movies or video games, for accurate representation of physics.
Getting shot with a handgun bullet won't cause you to flip head-over-heels, nor your head to explode.
Mass plays an important role here.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
Once more proof that there is a real solution to every imaginary problem.
As we have watched violent crime rates plummet, it makes perfect sense to be thinking about how to protect the ever increasing number of police on the streets, from all of the violent crime that would have endangered them 25 years ago when violent crime was a really serious issue, and the crack wars had bullets flying in the cities.
Yes, yet another brilliant solution to a totally nonexistent problem. Now that we have a police force that primarily goes around directing traffic on details, pulling people over for the most minor infractions of the letter of the driving rules, and spending copious amounts of time sitting by the side of the road gabbing on their cell phones, or texting (the most common activities that I see cops working diligently at), its clear that we need such devices to protect them from the nearly infinite numbers of bullets which are not flying towards them.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
...where this would have come in handy. Some of my coworkers are, um, grumpy.
Ok, so how likely is this thing to be used?
What previous data do we have? How many police clipboards are hit by bullets in any given year? How many non-police clipboards?
What is the likelihood that someone will be able to position his clipboard to the proper position when someone is shooting at him? Test it by having one of the developers hold one up while someone else randomly shoots at him, and see how many of the bullets he can stop.
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
If someone takes a shot at you, how likely is it that you'll be able to hold on to that clipboard in a position where it actually protects something? Better than just dropping the clipboard and running/diving for the nearest cover, exit or whatnot. The only way I can see you manage to keep this in a reasonable position is if you're standing still, in which case you'll look like Adam with the fig leaf because it's hardly a riot shield. What's next, a bullet proof donut box?
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
not even Cat like reflex's will help you since most handgun murders are within 5 meters. So with a 9mm traveling at 335mps you have about 2msec to get the clipboard into the bullet path and here is a hint, no ones limbs can move that fast. This wont help you against a pro since they will simply pop you in the melon from behind and you will never even know it happened. But hey if it makes you sleep better at night.
Hey KID! Yeah you, get the fuck off my lawn!
"I should warn you, I have a tiny bulletproof shield, the exact size of a bullet, somewhere on my body and if you hit it, I'll be unharmed and your plan will be foiled. You'll be the laughing stock of me." Mayor Adam West, in Family Guy.
A camel is a horse created by a committee
I'll get blasted for this but I hate when people suggest solutions for problems which are procedural.
" I don't like wearing my vest because it's not comfortable"
Knee Jerk Solution: let's make a bullet proof clipboard.
Proper Solution: Get used to it, wear it for those who love you, until we come up with a better one.
I here this same argument with motorcycle protective gear,
"My jacket gets too hot"
Knee Jerk: Lets design elbow and knee pads for motorcyclists.
The bullet?
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me". - stolen from Dan C alt.os.linux.slackware
Only on the first shot. The officer will drop the thing when the first round hits it. If he was holding it in his strong hand, he may not be able to return fire with his bruised/broken fingers.
The US government have made it clear that we have no inalienable rights; any we do not defend vigorously will be taken.
A typical rifle will fire a 0.0042 kg bullet at a speed of 965 m/s. The clipboard weighs 0.907 kg (more if it has paper on it, obviously). Assuming an elastic collision, conservation of momentum means that the clipboard will be travelling at a little under 4.5m/s immediately after impact (in the real world, it will be less). If it's held in your hands and are not completely limp wristed, then by the time it impacts with your face it will have significantly less kinetic energy than if someone took the clipboard and hit you in the face with it. Clipboards are very easy to obtain, yet are rarely used as offensive weapons, so I presume that this wouldn't hurt very much...
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Yes. But you have to edit xorg.conf, and we all know what that means.
However, Moments come into play too. With your wrist as the fulcrum, hitting the middle or far edge of the clipboard is still going to send it some distance back towards you. If it doesn't cause bruising to the impact site, it's probably going to sprain your wrist.
all preferable to a bullet in the gullet.
It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
The first shot would likely break both your wrists. Good luck holding onto it for the other 8 rounds in the clip.
Oh, come on! Using actual physics and common sense is just HARSH, people are trying to have a good bashing over completely non-realistic fears here!
Shame on you, next time leave any common sense back home when you're venturing to ./
You don't have to out move the bullet. You just need to outmove the arm and hand of the gunman. At close range you have a better ability to do this than at long range because of the angles involved. With short range the gunman needs to move his arm in a larger angle to change his target from your body to your head. At long range the gunman only needs to move a few degrees.
If they added a donut holder would it be worth the weight penalty? It would provide incentive towards carrying.
The US government have made it clear that we have no inalienable rights; any we do not defend vigorously will be taken.
They had these 25 years ago.
If they get into the habit of bringing the clipboard up to the car they just pulled over, a natural reflex when confronted with a gun would likely be to shield themselves with whatever's in their hand -- the clipboard. So why not make it bulletproof?
I can see this saving a few lives. Why not, unless there are other avenues where the money could save even more lives?
On the other hand, did they test this against a standard backstop, or in a usage situation? If an officer is holding it at writing length and it's shot, will it just flip back in the officer's hand, letting the bullet continue on to hit him?
It means I'd have to create xorg.conf first. ;)
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
Yes. But you have to edit xorg.conf, and we all know what that means.
That your day is ruined and the next week is going to suck?
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
I agree with you. Each time I think about riding without my full leather pants, I ask myself, "Is today the day I want to get road rash?"
Yes, it's hot during the summer. Yes, it means an extra few minutes removing pants, boots, etc. when I arrive at my destination. On the other hand, I get the feeling that should I ever spill, the extra time will have been well spent.
I understand that putting on an uncomfortable, heavy, and hot vest day after day is probably terribly inconvenient. On the other hand, so is getting shot. Or maybe someone could design a better ventilated and more comfortable vest, rather than a clipboard. But unless your patrol route is behind a desk, it probably makes sense to wear the vest you're issued.
"Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
Wouldn't that be an "anti-ballistic" clipboard?
A ballistic clipboard would be a weapon.
A pox on web designers who feel that window.innerWidth == screen.availWidth
...do you mean the Post Office?
You can make the comparison even simpler. Stopping a bullet with the clipboard takes just as much energy as resisting the recoil from the gun you fired with, so with a steady grip on the clipboard you can take the bullet with no problem.
Possible next-gen products depending on the success of the clipboard in the market:
1. Stickers for the clipboard: the word SHOOT on a green background, DON'T SHOOT on red, or the alternative white diagonal slash on top of the word SHOOT, each to be stuck on the appropriate clipboards, of course.
2. Bullet shaped pens
3. Angry bulletproof clipboards
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
Bulletproof clipboards have been around since the 70s.
Most law enforcement agencies gave up on them as being of limited value.
I'm pretty sure the Engineer units from Civilization II carried these. Can't think of any other way they could repel mechanized infantry units so effectively...
=Smidge=
Except that the majority of rifle bullets will pass right through the clipboard. You may have a chance against a handgun bullet.
This is a ridiculous idea anyway. Folks killed wearing body armor are often struck at an angle where the armor does not offer protection - along the sides and/or the armpit area. Do you really anticipate a cop that decides not to wear body armor that day will walk around with a few clipboards positioned appropriately around their body to offer protection?
Clever marketing gimmick? Yes. Real protection when someone decides to shoot at you? No.
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The first shot from a 44 magnum knocks it out of your hand, then whatcha gunna do, Punk?
Is this really worth it? It covers about 25% of the front torso (and 0% of the back) assuming it's held perfectly vertical and not tipped over horizontally for reading. So there's still a 75% chance of getting shot in the torso (or a 89% chance if you include the possibility of being shot in the back).
In comparison, a bullet proof vest gives nearly 100% coverage of the torso and back.
If a cop is worried enough about being shot that he wants to carry this shield, why doesn't he just wear a vest and get much better protection (yes, I know a vest is heavy and uncomfortable, but getting shot is uncomfortable too)? Or carry a much bigger shield (with a notepad mount on the back) to give better protection?
Sounds like it's just a way to get police departments to spend $150 on a clipboard instead of $4. I'm all for spending money to enhance safety, but this sounds like it's just going to provide a false sense of security and perhaps make it less likely that a cop will wear his vest since he has this clipboad.
Appropriate for census workers. They have tons of paperwork, and often have to deal with unpleasant, suspicious, insane people.
These guys use a fabric composite; that's probably more effective than the Safariland Ballistic Clipboard made of 3/8" Lexan back in the 70's. I had one. It was big and a bit awkward -- about the size of this one. And the Lexan wasn't expected to be effective against supersonic bullets like 9mm, .357 Magnum or .44 Magnum. This Kevlar sandwich should be more effective and may be a bit lighter, but it still requires another hand. How does it integrate with a flashlight? A good cop will keep his/her weapon hand free -- just in case. At night the other hand will be holding a light. If they want to make a real winner they will incorporate a good LED light with the control(s) where the left hand is holding the clipboard. The hard part will be to make the light control simple and intuitive without accidental on (or off) events.
Did they do any research on the name? Did they even offer a deal for the name to Ballistic Clipboard, LLC?
Getting shot while wearing a bullet proof vest HURTS A LOT!!!
All the vest does is stop the bullet from penetrating, it does not absorb much of the energy. Getting shot by a pistol while wearing a bullet proof vest will knock you on your ass and you will be in pain. Getting shot in your clipboard, painless.
This would be the bullet proof vests that a standard cop would wear, not the hard plate ones like the military uses.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
So the clipboard absorbs all the energy? Hint: not unless you are holding it very firmly completely perpendicular to the path of the bullet. The clipboard and/or bullet will go somewhere.
The "knock you on your ass" phenomena is a TV/movie taught thing that has actually come to pass in many cases because people learned that is what is supposed to happen. It will not feel good, but it will not knock you down. As far as the pain/knockdown goes, it is probably more with body armor than without. A full metal jacket bullet will pass through soft tissue unless it hits bone -- it is not uncommon for someone to not know they have been shot and the wound often bleeds little or not at all. The body armor will stop the bullet and transfer the energy to the wearer's body similar to being hit with the end of a baton -- it will be hard to miss, but it won't knock you down like you see in the movies.
The difference between soft body armor and the armor with plates is that the plates are designed to stop higher velocity (rifle) rounds. They both have limits, and neither of them is "bullet proof".
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Thinkgeek already carries one of these. This is no new technology. Thinkgeek's is just made of kevlar and doesn't have a handle. http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/dads/e769/
We've had "bullet proof" clipboards on patrol for quite some time now. This is certainly nothing new.
It spreads the impact and does actually absorb quite a lot of the energy. Think of it as a cone radiating from the impact point and you'll get an idea as to why they are so thick. Since they are not a continuous single material a shock wave can't go in a direct path either so what hits you on the far side of the vest is very different to getting hit directly with a bullet.
The miltary ones appear to be similar to civilian bulletproof material only with extra metal plates on the outside and extra polycarbonate on the inside. If you shoot a guy wearing nothing but thin steel plates the shock wave gets transmitted far more than only thin sheets of polycarbonite plastic because the plastic is better at absorbing energy. The metal is to stop sharp objects that don't spread and would cut through the plastic (eg. metal fragments or bayonets). If it was all solid metal you'd need something as thick as a BBQ plate to stop the bullet and absorb enough energy to handle being shot at by 19th century pistols at range. Something with more powerful bullets is likely to put a big dent in the metal that goes out the other side, transmits a barely reduced shock wave to your body and turns your flesh to mush at the point of impact. The armour will be barely damaged but the wearer would be a mess. That's why the military stuff is metal AND plastic fibres with lots of layers to break up the path of a shock wave. A lot of energy from an impact is expended just moving plastic fibres around instead of turning the wearers flesh to mush.
Although police officers in most countries are issued bulletproof vests, they don't necessarily wear them at all times — would you want to heave one of those things around for an entire shift?
Unless you are retarded, yes you wear a bulletproof vest anytime it's mandated. There's a reason for it, and no you won't have a warning to put it on before it's ~*~REALLY~*~ needed. Anyone who isn't wearing it while required is putting themselves at risk and also the people who will put themselves in harms way to save them when they get hit.
I say this as a former Marine, and I can't think of a single time that I saw my squad members or even platoon members not wearing protective gear when required. If I had though, I would have chewed them out until they put it on and even after so they didn't do it again. The same is true for local police and actually anyone in any profession that requires protective gear. If you can't be bothered to put on basic equipment, you shouldn't be there.
"Well kids, you tried your best, and you failed. The lesson is, never try." -Homer Simpson
Mayor West: I should warn you, I have a tiny bullet proof shield the exact size of a bullet somewhere on my body, and if you hit it, I'll be unharmed, and your plan will be foiled. You'll be the laughing stock of me! ...
I just had to rewatch the episode (4ACX28, Season 4 Episode 25) to find that quote!
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
This kind of thing has been around a long time in the diplomatic community. I'm familiar with one company in California that provides these in various styles to governments world-wide. The briefcases carried by most high profile State Dept. employees are armored and they are taught to cover their torso with them if a shooting incident unfolds. Clipboards are a great idea. Maybe we should give them also to teachers, convenience store clerks, etc. I'll wage that some OWS protestors in Oakland and elsewhere could have used the armor too! I say armor power-ups for everyone.
There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what you're talking about. -- John von Neumann
Put the armor on the back of an iPad. Also works as an area light if turned around.
There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what you're talking about. -- John von Neumann