4 ms·

would be interesting to develop a gluing agent to convert local gravel into a concrete like material that could be formed like Hescos but in thinner, taller L s

would be interesting to develop a gluing agent to convert local gravel into a concrete like material that could be formed like Hescos but in thinner, taller L shapes for the purpose of erecting barriers as in the article. drying would be the main issue, probably.

dogma1138 10y ago
Cement plus sand, this is what most walls in the middle east are made of they are very soft tho, you can crumble them with your fingers if you get past the outer layer of plaster. The upside is that they don't ricochet as much if at all, the downside is that bullets leave pretty large impact craters and if the wall isn't thick enough simply pass through like it wasn't there. But the problem remains if it's hard bullets will ricochet and it will splinter into shrapnel, if it's soft it's not an effective barrier and the wear on it is very high. Hescos or any other similar fortification are simple and effective, there is a reason why we still use sandbags and planks of wood with sand in between them, sand is a great bullet trap and you can shoot at hescos and sandbags all day long and you won't really do much damage. there needs to be a pretty big hole for the sand to sip out since it's kept in place by the pressure and compression.
- sandworm101 10y ago
  Hescos also have a lower surface area to weight ratio. They are therefore much less likely to be moved by nearby explosions. And their softer insides make total failure, shattering, almost impossible.
digi_owl 10y ago
On that note, i recall reading about a British project to produce quick rise shelters. They were basically a inflatable tent with cement impregnated outer canvas. Roll out, inflate, soak in water, and wait for it to harden before releasing the pressure. And such a gluing agent would be cement. Concrete is really nothing more than cement mixed with sand or gravel. The farm i grew up on had a barn where the foundation was nothing more than cement and small rocks from the land. It was built up like a layer cake. One spread of cement, then a layer of rock, repeated until desired height.
- rurounijones 10y ago
  > On that note, i recall reading about a British project to produce quick rise shelters. http://www.concretecanvas.com/ http://www.concretecanvas.com/ Their price (that I could find) quotes on old news sites were insanely high unfortunately (GBP15-20k). It looks like the shelter use has been relegated to a secondary product vs the main use: rolls of the stuff for construction uses.
  - vacri 10y ago
    http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/20/concrete-canvas-goes-beyond-fast-deploying-shelters/ http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/20/concrete-can... > A Concrete Canvas shelter would cost 15,000 to 20,000 pounds, in the U.K., for a one-off ($23,000 to $30,000), but the price steps down if you are buying volumes. My guess is that they're not interested in dealing with small-volume customers, and so for large volumes the prices descend to a much saner price. "Look at how much your government/military/refuge 'saves' when you buy 1000 of these!"...
- marcosdumay 10y ago
  Cement + sand is very different from cement + gravel + sand, and even then, the result varies widely depending on what kinds of gravel and sand you mix with the cement.

dogma1138 10y ago

Cement plus sand, this is what most walls in the middle east are made of they are very soft tho, you can crumble them with your fingers if you get past the outer layer of plaster. The upside is that they don't ricochet as much if at all, the downside is that bullets leave pretty large impact craters and if the wall isn't thick enough simply pass through like it wasn't there. But the problem remains if it's hard bullets will ricochet and it will splinter into shrapnel, if it's soft it's not an effective barrier and the wear on it is very high. Hescos or any other similar fortification are simple and effective, there is a reason why we still use sandbags and planks of wood with sand in between them, sand is a great bullet trap and you can shoot at hescos and sandbags all day long and you won't really do much damage. there needs to be a pretty big hole for the sand to sip out since it's kept in place by the pressure and compression.

sandworm101 10y ago
Hescos also have a lower surface area to weight ratio. They are therefore much less likely to be moved by nearby explosions. And their softer insides make total failure, shattering, almost impossible.

digi_owl 10y ago

On that note, i recall reading about a British project to produce quick rise shelters. They were basically a inflatable tent with cement impregnated outer canvas. Roll out, inflate, soak in water, and wait for it to harden before releasing the pressure. And such a gluing agent would be cement. Concrete is really nothing more than cement mixed with sand or gravel. The farm i grew up on had a barn where the foundation was nothing more than cement and small rocks from the land. It was built up like a layer cake. One spread of cement, then a layer of rock, repeated until desired height.

rurounijones 10y ago
> On that note, i recall reading about a British project to produce quick rise shelters. http://www.concretecanvas.com/ http://www.concretecanvas.com/ Their price (that I could find) quotes on old news sites were insanely high unfortunately (GBP15-20k). It looks like the shelter use has been relegated to a secondary product vs the main use: rolls of the stuff for construction uses.
- vacri 10y ago
  http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/20/concrete-canvas-goes-beyond-fast-deploying-shelters/ http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/20/concrete-can... > A Concrete Canvas shelter would cost 15,000 to 20,000 pounds, in the U.K., for a one-off ($23,000 to $30,000), but the price steps down if you are buying volumes. My guess is that they're not interested in dealing with small-volume customers, and so for large volumes the prices descend to a much saner price. "Look at how much your government/military/refuge 'saves' when you buy 1000 of these!"...
marcosdumay 10y ago
Cement + sand is very different from cement + gravel + sand, and even then, the result varies widely depending on what kinds of gravel and sand you mix with the cement.