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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."

13 of 161 comments (clear)

  1. Ok, so it holds paper ... by Surt · · Score: 5, Funny

    And it stops bullets, which means it can probably stop rock too.

    But what about scissors?

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    "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    1. Re:Ok, so it holds paper ... by networkBoy · · Score: 4, Funny

      TFA says it's effective against knives, scissors are a pair of knives together, so yes. No mention of lizards or Spock though...

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    2. Re:Ok, so it holds paper ... by Surt · · Score: 3, Funny

      I got the impression that was stabby knives. Scissors are slicy knives, and it might make a crucial difference.

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      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    3. Re:Ok, so it holds paper ... by Dewin · · Score: 4, Funny

      Knowing people's fanatical devotion to their model M keyboards, I think they'd rather take the bullet than let the keyboard do it :-p

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      Of course nobody reads the FAQ! If people read the FAQ, the Questions wouldn't be so Frequently Asked.
    4. Re:Ok, so it holds paper ... by nschubach · · Score: 3, Funny

      The real question is: If a bullet hits a Model M, would it make more noise than someone typing on it?

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      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
  2. Re:Momentum by LighterShadeOfBlack · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

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    Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and stupid comments are intentional.
  3. Re:Can you say... by Pope · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's worse, IMO: a blog copied from a blog copied from a blog copied from a press release. The web is turning into nothing but content farms.

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    It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
  4. Proof Again by TheCarp · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

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    "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
  5. I've worked in offices... by John+Bresnahan · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...where this would have come in handy. Some of my coworkers are, um, grumpy.

  6. Re:Simpsons did it. by Amouth · · Score: 3, Informative

    it's also 2/3 the weight with a higher rating. i'ts also 3 times the price..

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    '...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
  7. So.... by Kjella · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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?

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    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  8. Re:Momentum by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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...

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    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  9. Re:Momentum by Co0Ps · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.