Dragon Skin Armor Video

**LorDiego01** · January 26th, 2007, 10:49 PM

http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/...agon_Skin.html

Is this really as good as the video makes it sound to be? Or does the host just use a lot of mambo-jumbo terminology to make it seem so?

**KeithPA** · January 26th, 2007, 11:00 PM

IIRC the armor is made of some type of titanium/ceramic composite material. They are little discs that are layered and thus can move a little dispursing energy better than a solid plate ceramic / steel armor. They are also nifty cause they bend a bit so you can wrap them around your body more like soft armor.

I remember reading about a year ago that the DD did some testing on the vests because they were interested in them, but 9 / 100 failed. Don't know much else, but it failed the DD testing and such won't be used by troops anytime soon.

****It's a nice concept, but the fact it's made outta little circles means they have to be attached somehow. Meaning there's alot of possibly of problems. I think that was the issue the DD had when testing them, but not 100%.****

This stuff is also incredibly expensive.

**PA Rifleman** · January 27th, 2007, 03:35 AM

Reminds me of updated medieval armor. I'd feel safer with one contiguous armored garment (ie, kevlar/TLIII) than an array of plates. That hot bullet spall radiating outward (and up) must be a bitch when it gets under those plates.

**KeithPA** · January 27th, 2007, 12:04 PM

This is the article I remember reading and seeing on tv. I found several other articles, but they were simply copy and paste of Pinnacles reply to the testing, bashing the testers. So I dunno what actually happened. But I'll put my trust in my plates or kevlar. And secretly continue to researching my own IV soft armor.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12876952/from/ET/

Experimental flexible armor fails Army testing

WASHINGTON - The Army’s struggle to find a new, more flexible body armor was dealt a setback Friday when high-tech vests called Dragon Skin failed to pass military testing, a senior defense official said.

After three days of testing this week, the Army determined the body armor does not meet military specifications, said the official, who would not specify which tests the armor failed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the results have not yet been released.

The Army paid about $170,000 to buy 30 sets of the armor for the testing.

Generally, during testing, various types of ammunition are fired at the vests, and the armor also may be subjected to extreme temperatures or environmental conditions. The tests were done by H.P. White, an independent ballistic testing lab in Street, Md.

The Army has expressed great interest in getting more flexible body armor. A principal complaint about the armor used by troops on the battlefield is that it is so heavy and inflexible it might lessen a soldier’s speed and agility. The current armor includes heavy ceramic plates in the front, back and sides.

The Dragon Skin testing was delayed initially by a dispute over testing conditions between the Army and Pinnacle Armor of Fresno, Calif., which makes the protective gear known as Dragon Skin.

Earlier this week, the Army announced it would carry out three days of testing, which signaled the dispute’s resolution. A request for comment from Murray Neal, Pinnacle Armor’s chief executive officer, was not immediately returned.

Neal previously has contended that his armor is high quality, and its “capabilities have been proven to be significant improvements over the current Army issue.”

He said he has nine years of ballistic data, both classified and unclassified, that show the armor taking over 40 rounds of ammunition from an AK-47, then another 150 rounds from a submachine gun, all at close range, without a failure.

6k a vest!?!?!?!?! I was gonna write that in my last reply, but I thought I wasn't remembering right. Considering a pair of Kejo IV ceramic plates run $340, I don't think so!?!?!?

**billamj** · January 29th, 2007, 10:54 AM

The featured it on the FUTUREWEAPONS show that was on Discovery channel last night and the only word that fits this stuff is AWESOME! They actually placed one of these vests on a dummy and laid the dummy on top of a pineapple grenade and set it off. The vest was a mess but was NOT pentrated at all! I was seriously freaked. One of the guys involved in the test was a San Diego County EOD Sgt. who said that after seeing this demo, and he was the one who set it all up, that he was going to recommend Dragon Skin for his EOD unit. Totally stunning.

**TonyF** · January 29th, 2007, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by billamj

The featured it on the FUTUREWEAPONS show that was on Discovery channel last night and the only word that fits this stuff is AWESOME! They actually placed one of these vests on a dummy and laid the dummy on top of a pineapple grenade and set it off. The vest was a mess but was NOT pentrated at all! I was seriously freaked. One of the guys involved in the test was a San Diego County EOD Sgt. who said that after seeing this demo, and he was the one who set it all up, that he was going to recommend Dragon Skin for his EOD unit. Totally stunning.

It's not as effective as conventional armor (steel / ceramic). A 9% failure rate is completely unacceptable (re: 9 out of 100 in testing failed).

It's definitely more comfortable because it flexes but bullets and bullet fragments do strange things upon impact and can make their way underneath *the scales* and penetrate the target. For that reason alone I don't think they are true "multi-hit" capable.

**billamj** · January 29th, 2007, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by TonyF

It's not as effective as conventional armor (steel / ceramic). A 9% failure rate is completely unacceptable (re: 9 out of 100 in testing failed).

It's definitely more comfortable because it flexes but bullets and bullet fragments do strange things upon impact and can make their way underneath *the scales* and penetrate the target. For that reason alone I don't think they are true "multi-hit" capable.

They only used one vest for all testing and what I saw amazed me, but I may be wrong. They started out running double taps from an AR, an AK and an MP5, no rounds penetrated. Then they ran a about ten rounds from each weapon into the same side of the same vest. Same results, no penetration. They used the other side of the vest for the grenade test but still the whole thing was amazing. I can only speak to the one vest that I saw demo'd but what I saw was astounding.

**KeithPA** · January 29th, 2007, 12:11 PM

The problem isn't so much penetration, it's the integrity of the vest. The discs should easily stop the rounds as they are made of the same material as current SAPI plates. The problem is how the discs are secured. I don't know how they are held together. They are made seperately and then linked together, that is what can create the problem.

IIRC some of the vests held up just fine, but on some the discs seperate due to how the bullet hit it. A direct on hit shouldn't cause an issue, but if a bullet hits on upward and hits the bottom of the disc going upwards, it could cause the disc to dislodge.