Marine vet out to make world's strongest body armor

LTC Marc King I agree, especially with the "good luck with the government" part. Getting anything past the bureaucracy is a doctoral degree in itself...lol

A1C Roberts ... could not agree more. Over a period of 12 years I supplied about 80% of the current body armor owned by DoD. The author of the original article is right and wrong at the same time. There were many things about the SAPI and ESAPI that those who wore it did not like. But the stats don't lie... Consider that in the VN war we lost 52,000 Killed in action is about a 10 year time frame... fast forward to Afghanistan and Iraq and the total number of KIA's for what is now approaching 14 years has been just over 6,000. Its not just the body armor alone... advances in medical treatment of the severally injured, medical evacuation -- recognition of the critical nature of the "Golden Hour" all play a part. But make no mistake that as long as the upper torso is not penetrated the chances of survival are significantly enhanced. That is the phenomenon that we have been seeing with the technology. Work goes on to make it lighter, and more bullet resistant... because there is nothing more important than bringing our warriors home... alive.

SFC Smith... Do you mean Dragon Skin? If so please allow me to set the record straight on the concept. 1. It used ceramic disc's not poly-carbonate... 2. It did not pass environmental testing when subjected to high temp (125F). At the required level of protection (APM2 Armor Piercing/ Level IV) it did not stop two shots -- in fact it failed to stop even one shot in many cases. It failed ballistic testing. At handgun (Level III) it performed well but then again as a combat soldier would you be happy with a hand gun level of protection? Believe me I know these thing because I manufactured the ceramic discs for the product and at one time routed for its success. You are welcomed to check me out on RP and validate my background and interest in this issue.