6 ms·

CEO Shoots Self to Test Bulletproof Jacket

51 points by duck 8y ago

hayksaakian 8y ago
Definitely qualifies as a publicity stunt and seems to have worked.
- xeromal 8y ago
  Agreed. Takes some huevos to shoot oneself so I'm a believer haha.
vorpalhex 8y ago
I guess that's one way to stand behind your products? I question the size of the market for this kind of thing. You might wear one if you're paranoid or an undercover cop, but otherwise who, exactly, would wear this? If you're on a range, an actual vest isn't out of place, likewise for actual security or guard duty. If you feel the need to wear armor every day and can't openly wear a ballistic vest, you might want to consider moving.
- Alex3917 8y ago
  > but otherwise who, exactly, would wear this? I dunno, I could see it making sense for the people who went to that Bitcoin conference in Mexico. Or people traveling in unstable regions generally who want to blend in, but also don't want some basic protection against getting kidnapped or killed.
  - mikepurvis 8y ago
    But a bulletproof vest doesn't really help you in most kidnapping scenarios, does it?
    - vorpalhex 8y ago
      But I could see it being useful if you aren't the kidnapping target but others around you are - getting hit by a stray round seems like an unfortunate way to die.
      - Alex3917 8y ago
        Or having your car shot at. (With the caveat that my knowledge of kidnapping mostly comes from the Taken movies.)
- dilatedmind 8y ago
  If the clothing is functional, stylish, and priced right then why not? You can think of them as being just another clothing company. If you had the option for your normal clothes to be bulletproof with no downsides, who would opt out.
  - happytoexplain 8y ago
    I don't understand this logic. Of course if I could magically make the clothes I would already wear bulletproof with no downsides, I would. The downsides are that, compared to what I might have worn normally, this costs hundreds of dollar; limits me to only their products, aesthetically; has different breathability, size, and weight properties; and has different care requirements (or perhaps some subset of these things). Edit: It might be a fine product with practical value to some people, I'm just addressing your post.
    - SamReidHughes 8y ago
      It's like, why do people wear a dive watch, or a high accuracy quartz watch. The clothes visually do fit a certain EDC aesthetic.
- dingaling 8y ago
  Couriers, close-protection staff, diplomats in high-risk areas.
- muqid 8y ago
  > but otherwise who, exactly, would wear this? Hunting or hiking in areas where hunters could be present. Obviously you'd want to wear it under some orange outerwear as your first precaution, but still.
- ummonk 8y ago
  > I guess that's one way to stand behind your products? I wonder if that is where the idiom "stand behind" comes from...
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  >I question the size of the market for this kind of thing. Once you get below a certain price point every low-level employee who has to handle a large amount of cash enters your target market. They can branch out into "traditional" PPE if they really need to. Work clothing with reinforcement over key areas would be a big hit in some industries (at the right price of course). >If you feel the need to wear armor every day and can't openly wear a ballistic vest, you might want to consider moving. Your house doesn't almost catch fire every day yet you probably have smoke alarms. I can see a handgun proof polo shirt being quite popular among politicians on the campaign trail.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - GFischer 8y ago
    Heck, president-elect Bolsonaro got stabbed campaigning in Brazil. I'm not sure if current presidents use bulletproof clothing.
- cwkoss 8y ago
  I think this market will expand to encompass much of the luxury outerwear market - if you're spending $500+ on a jacket anyways, why not spend another $100 to make it bulletproof? Seems like, as they have skus ~$300, that cost of effective bulletproofing has decreased drastically in the past decade or two.
- sbradford26 8y ago
  The inventor who created the saw stop tested it on himself. The saw stop automatically stops a saw blade when you finger comes in contact with it. That guy definitely stood behind his product. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SawStop#Invented,_1999 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SawStop#Invented,_1999
- AngryData 8y ago
  If someone was going to the city to buy drugs I could see it. If you show up at a dealer with a normal bullet proof vest on they aren't going to be very accepting of you.
justboxing 8y ago
This is a very old gimmick, as old as the first light weight fiber based bodyvest invented in the 60s. Richard Davis in 1975 was one of the first ones to do this stunt on a body vest. Check out the video here => https://youtu.be/IwBLL7Z3OvU?t=91 https://youtu.be/IwBLL7Z3OvU?t=91 I do vaguely remember seeing someone put the Kevlar vest (invented in the 1960s) also to test in a similar manner i.e. by wearing it and getting shot, but I can't seem to find that video (maybe I had it wrong). > Stephanie Kwolek, who died Wednesday at 90, was a DuPont Co. chemist who in 1965 invented Kevlar, the lightweight, stronger-than-steel fiber used in bulletproof vests and other body armor around the world. > A pioneer as a woman in heavily male field, Kwolek made the breakthrough while working on specialty fibers at a DuPont laboratory in Wilmington. She developed a liquid crystalline solution that could be spun into exceptionally tough fibers, several times stronger by weight than steel. Source: https://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/06/stephanie_kwolek_dupont_chemis.html https://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/06/stephanie_kw...
- mjewkes 8y ago
  It's much older than that. The first bulletproof vest dates to the 1890s, and the inventor photographed tests on himself for publicity. https://culture.pl/en/article/the-monk-who-stopped-bullets-with-silk-inventing-the-bulletproof-vest https://culture.pl/en/article/the-monk-who-stopped-bullets-w...
- _asummers 8y ago
  The practice is even older than that. Otis when demoing his elevator cut the only rope holding up the elevator platform, as far back as the mid-1800s.
  - bradknowles 8y ago
    The practice goes back to the 1600s, at least. Google for “proof mark” relative to breast plate armor.
fugazithehaxoar 8y ago
Suddenly I have come to the realization that my CEO's job is easy.
13415 8y ago
That's very common practice. I've seen in a documentary that everyone who works at Miguel Caballero's bullet proof clothing company in Colombia has to be shot at least once while wearing one of his shirts or jackets. I tried to find the original docu but couldn't find it, but you can look up his company and check out the I was shot section on the company website.[1] [1] https://miguelcaballero.com/en/i-was-shot/ https://miguelcaballero.com/en/i-was-shot/
Bedon292 8y ago
Edit: Apparently I should have looked for more videos on youtube. The ones others have provided make me believe. Still think they should have rented a real high speed camera though. ----- Mad props if he actually did this, but a bit skeptical here. I see no evidence there was an actual live round in there. It could well have been a blank. On the other video further down the page they remove the magazine and show the round, and there is visible damage to the clothes they shoot. I see no visible damage, and he didn't bother to recover the round as in other video either. If I were pulling this stunt I would certainly have a high speed camera to show it in action. Other thing I noticed is there is a muzzle flash on the full speed and then when they slow it down there is not? Could be an odd artifact, but could also be added?
- krupan 8y ago
  Slower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkpWJuSvd7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkpWJuSvd7A A hole does appear in the outer jacket
- 21 8y ago
  > Mad props if he actually did this, but a bit skeptical here Skeptical of what? Bulletproof vests do stop bullets, there is no crazy claim here. There are many special forces training videos on YouTube where they do get shot in the bullet proof vest with live ammo. See 0:45: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj2dOioMoBE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj2dOioMoBE
  - Bedon292 8y ago
    At the time I was skeptical that he actually shot himself. Not that bulletproof vests stop bullets in general. That is obviously true. The additional videos others provided have shown more evidence which was not visible in the video in the article.
- krupan 8y ago
  From the youtube comments: Two different cameras at two different frame rates, both at 180* shutter angle. The main camera was at 24fps and the "high speed" was only 120fps. You've got a very long exposure with the slower camera, less chance to miss the muzzle flash and it's bled over one big frame. The muzzle flash was simply between frames on the high speed. You can find the same thing happening on videos all over, including our other testing videos on ballistic clay and gelatin Raw straight out of the camera in 4K with no cuts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bShWhdzEZ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bShWhdzEZ8 The damage: https://youtu.be/f_Y8rXMb1qs https://youtu.be/f_Y8rXMb1qs Brighter and slower slow-mo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkpWJuSvd7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkpWJuSvd7A Show less
buzzdenver 8y ago
I've never tried to shoot anyone, but aren't most people aiming for the head? So the jacket is only a marginal improvement, which is still nice considering the stakes.
- btian 8y ago
  No because you will never hit a target that small. You always aim for the body.
- Bedon292 8y ago
  Not particularly. You aim for the chest, as its a bigger target and easier to hit. And only aim for the head if that fails to stop them. At least that is what the Marine Corps teaches. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique_Drill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique_Drill
- firebird84 8y ago
  They are not. The head is a small target. Most shooters are trained to aim for center mass, i.e. the torso.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- romanovcode 8y ago
  I don't think so. Unless the target is very close it's not that easy to hit the head.
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  Standard initial training in most places are that train shooters is “shoot center of mass”; more advanced training is usually “shoot center of mass first, then...”. Shooting other than center of mass drops likelihood of hitting a lot, and even most well-trained shooters aren't accurate enough to reliably hit anything else under conditions where you actually are going to be shooting in earnest.
- czechdeveloper 8y ago
  No, you mostly aim at center of mass. Hitting someone with a gun is not easy even at short distances (stress, movement), so generally (and what is taught in shooting schools) is aiming at center of mass.
pcurve 8y ago
better avoid shooting them ribs...
danielvf 8y ago
Most competitive handgun shooters in the US load their own ammunition. Besides being cheaper and higher quality, it allows them to customize exactly the amount of gunpowder and weight of the bullet. In general, lighter loads are preferred because it creates less recoil, which lets you shoot faster in a competition. Because of this, each handgun shooting sports has a specified lower limit on how little power you can make your shot have, and competitors usually stay just a few percentage points above this. So it's entirely possible to do this demo with considerably less force that would come from factory ammo.
- daeken 8y ago
  Well, he said 124 grain. That's about 1200 ft/s, which is - in technical terminology - a goddamn fast bullet.
  - hkchad 8y ago
    That's the weight of the bullet, not how much or what kind of powder, which both can make a world of difference.
    - daeken 8y ago
      You're 100% right -- I got mixed up. Thanks for the correction.
- curryst 8y ago
  He specifically said it was a 124 grain +P round. +P rounds have well established pressure requirements, it's on page 9 here: https://saami.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Z299-3_ANSI-SAAMI_CFPandR.pdf https://saami.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Z299-3_ANSI-SAA... It's actually a higher velocity than a standard 9mm round, assuming he's actually telling the truth.
alberteinstein 8y ago
Whether it's a gimmick or not, the fact that there is a need/demand for such products is a scary one. People want to wear bullet proof fashionable clothing since they are not sure when they'll be shot at? It didn't matter how ugly bullet proof vests are since those who wore them didn't care how they looked, they just wanted to stay alive. This is really scary.
anonlastname 8y ago
This obviously worked as a fundraising stunt, but the technology is not new. I recall seeing other people doing this on TV and a few weeks ago some rapper did it on an Instagram live stream.
methodover 8y ago
Wearable bulletproof jackets make much more sense to me than a handgun for practical defense. I have lived in Oakland for the last 5 years, in nice areas. During that time: - Brian Bore, a 30 year old data scientist was walking home from a bar just down the street from where I lived at the time, and was shot dead. They never caught the murderer. [1] - A couple blocks away from my office in downtown Oakland, a woman was shot by a stay bullet during the day, [2] and teen's funeral was attacked and a 16-year old girl was killed. [3] There have been other incidents as well, for which I do not have news sources: My S/O at the time was held up at gunpoint and his wallet and phone stolen. My morning coffee place had a mugging at gunpoint at 10 AM on Saturday morning (I arrived a half hour after it happened). Our city is plagued by gun violence. It disturbs me greatly. However, I don't think getting a gun myself makes sense. I have no problem with a gun for protection, but the kind of gun violence we face in this city is not the kind that is easily solved with a pistol. When someone has a gun trained on you and is trying to mug you, a gun of your own is not likely to help with that situation. If you're hit by a stray bullet, that's another situation that a gun of your own doesn't help with. And for just drive-by shootings, or whatever happened to Brian Bore, a gun of your own doesn't help at all. A lightweight bulletproof jacket makes a LOT more sense. Consider me an interested buyer. I wonder how light it is -- the jacket in the video looks pretty hefty. 1. https://abc7news.com/news/former-nasa-scientist-fatally-shot-in-oakland/1288472/ https://abc7news.com/news/former-nasa-scientist-fatally-shot... 2. https://abc7news.com/news/innocent-bystander-hurt-in-oakland-shooting/1147672/ https://abc7news.com/news/innocent-bystander-hurt-in-oakland... 3. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Downtown-Oakland-rush-hour-shooting-sends-8157911.php https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Downtown-Oakland-rush...
- foxyv 8y ago
  I definitely agree. A gun on your person isn't going to stop the bullets you don't see. The robber or psycho will always have the drop on you. If you watch the Youtube channel "Active Self Protection", he goes over tons of scenarios caught on camera and a lot of them DO NOT end well even if the victim is armed. And THEN if the victim does manage to defend themselves they can end up dealing with legal issues afterwards even if they never fire their weapon. Even pulling a pistol is technically assault with a deadly weapon in most cities and if you don't follow the rules you can go to jail for a long time.

51 points by duck 8y ago

hayksaakian 8y ago

Definitely qualifies as a publicity stunt and seems to have worked.

xeromal 8y ago
Agreed. Takes some huevos to shoot oneself so I'm a believer haha.

vorpalhex 8y ago

I guess that's one way to stand behind your products? I question the size of the market for this kind of thing. You might wear one if you're paranoid or an undercover cop, but otherwise who, exactly, would wear this? If you're on a range, an actual vest isn't out of place, likewise for actual security or guard duty. If you feel the need to wear armor every day and can't openly wear a ballistic vest, you might want to consider moving.

Alex3917 8y ago
> but otherwise who, exactly, would wear this? I dunno, I could see it making sense for the people who went to that Bitcoin conference in Mexico. Or people traveling in unstable regions generally who want to blend in, but also don't want some basic protection against getting kidnapped or killed.
- mikepurvis 8y ago
  But a bulletproof vest doesn't really help you in most kidnapping scenarios, does it?
  - vorpalhex 8y ago
    But I could see it being useful if you aren't the kidnapping target but others around you are - getting hit by a stray round seems like an unfortunate way to die.
    - Alex3917 8y ago
      Or having your car shot at. (With the caveat that my knowledge of kidnapping mostly comes from the Taken movies.)
dilatedmind 8y ago
If the clothing is functional, stylish, and priced right then why not? You can think of them as being just another clothing company. If you had the option for your normal clothes to be bulletproof with no downsides, who would opt out.
- happytoexplain 8y ago
  I don't understand this logic. Of course if I could magically make the clothes I would already wear bulletproof with no downsides, I would. The downsides are that, compared to what I might have worn normally, this costs hundreds of dollar; limits me to only their products, aesthetically; has different breathability, size, and weight properties; and has different care requirements (or perhaps some subset of these things). Edit: It might be a fine product with practical value to some people, I'm just addressing your post.
  - SamReidHughes 8y ago
    It's like, why do people wear a dive watch, or a high accuracy quartz watch. The clothes visually do fit a certain EDC aesthetic.
dingaling 8y ago
Couriers, close-protection staff, diplomats in high-risk areas.
muqid 8y ago
> but otherwise who, exactly, would wear this? Hunting or hiking in areas where hunters could be present. Obviously you'd want to wear it under some orange outerwear as your first precaution, but still.
ummonk 8y ago
> I guess that's one way to stand behind your products? I wonder if that is where the idiom "stand behind" comes from...
dsfyu404ed 8y ago
>I question the size of the market for this kind of thing. Once you get below a certain price point every low-level employee who has to handle a large amount of cash enters your target market. They can branch out into "traditional" PPE if they really need to. Work clothing with reinforcement over key areas would be a big hit in some industries (at the right price of course). >If you feel the need to wear armor every day and can't openly wear a ballistic vest, you might want to consider moving. Your house doesn't almost catch fire every day yet you probably have smoke alarms. I can see a handgun proof polo shirt being quite popular among politicians on the campaign trail.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- GFischer 8y ago
  Heck, president-elect Bolsonaro got stabbed campaigning in Brazil. I'm not sure if current presidents use bulletproof clothing.
cwkoss 8y ago
I think this market will expand to encompass much of the luxury outerwear market - if you're spending $500+ on a jacket anyways, why not spend another $100 to make it bulletproof? Seems like, as they have skus ~$300, that cost of effective bulletproofing has decreased drastically in the past decade or two.
sbradford26 8y ago
The inventor who created the saw stop tested it on himself. The saw stop automatically stops a saw blade when you finger comes in contact with it. That guy definitely stood behind his product. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SawStop#Invented,_1999 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SawStop#Invented,_1999
AngryData 8y ago
If someone was going to the city to buy drugs I could see it. If you show up at a dealer with a normal bullet proof vest on they aren't going to be very accepting of you.

justboxing 8y ago

This is a very old gimmick, as old as the first light weight fiber based bodyvest invented in the 60s. Richard Davis in 1975 was one of the first ones to do this stunt on a body vest. Check out the video here => https://youtu.be/IwBLL7Z3OvU?t=91 https://youtu.be/IwBLL7Z3OvU?t=91 I do vaguely remember seeing someone put the Kevlar vest (invented in the 1960s) also to test in a similar manner i.e. by wearing it and getting shot, but I can't seem to find that video (maybe I had it wrong). > Stephanie Kwolek, who died Wednesday at 90, was a DuPont Co. chemist who in 1965 invented Kevlar, the lightweight, stronger-than-steel fiber used in bulletproof vests and other body armor around the world. > A pioneer as a woman in heavily male field, Kwolek made the breakthrough while working on specialty fibers at a DuPont laboratory in Wilmington. She developed a liquid crystalline solution that could be spun into exceptionally tough fibers, several times stronger by weight than steel. Source: https://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/06/stephanie_kwolek_dupont_chemis.html https://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/06/stephanie_kw...

mjewkes 8y ago
It's much older than that. The first bulletproof vest dates to the 1890s, and the inventor photographed tests on himself for publicity. https://culture.pl/en/article/the-monk-who-stopped-bullets-with-silk-inventing-the-bulletproof-vest https://culture.pl/en/article/the-monk-who-stopped-bullets-w...
_asummers 8y ago
The practice is even older than that. Otis when demoing his elevator cut the only rope holding up the elevator platform, as far back as the mid-1800s.
- bradknowles 8y ago
  The practice goes back to the 1600s, at least. Google for “proof mark” relative to breast plate armor.

fugazithehaxoar 8y ago

Suddenly I have come to the realization that my CEO's job is easy.

13415 8y ago

That's very common practice. I've seen in a documentary that everyone who works at Miguel Caballero's bullet proof clothing company in Colombia has to be shot at least once while wearing one of his shirts or jackets. I tried to find the original docu but couldn't find it, but you can look up his company and check out the I was shot section on the company website.[1] [1] https://miguelcaballero.com/en/i-was-shot/ https://miguelcaballero.com/en/i-was-shot/

Bedon292 8y ago

Edit: Apparently I should have looked for more videos on youtube. The ones others have provided make me believe. Still think they should have rented a real high speed camera though. ----- Mad props if he actually did this, but a bit skeptical here. I see no evidence there was an actual live round in there. It could well have been a blank. On the other video further down the page they remove the magazine and show the round, and there is visible damage to the clothes they shoot. I see no visible damage, and he didn't bother to recover the round as in other video either. If I were pulling this stunt I would certainly have a high speed camera to show it in action. Other thing I noticed is there is a muzzle flash on the full speed and then when they slow it down there is not? Could be an odd artifact, but could also be added?

krupan 8y ago
Slower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkpWJuSvd7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkpWJuSvd7A A hole does appear in the outer jacket
21 8y ago
> Mad props if he actually did this, but a bit skeptical here Skeptical of what? Bulletproof vests do stop bullets, there is no crazy claim here. There are many special forces training videos on YouTube where they do get shot in the bullet proof vest with live ammo. See 0:45: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj2dOioMoBE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj2dOioMoBE
- Bedon292 8y ago
  At the time I was skeptical that he actually shot himself. Not that bulletproof vests stop bullets in general. That is obviously true. The additional videos others provided have shown more evidence which was not visible in the video in the article.
krupan 8y ago
From the youtube comments: Two different cameras at two different frame rates, both at 180* shutter angle. The main camera was at 24fps and the "high speed" was only 120fps. You've got a very long exposure with the slower camera, less chance to miss the muzzle flash and it's bled over one big frame. The muzzle flash was simply between frames on the high speed. You can find the same thing happening on videos all over, including our other testing videos on ballistic clay and gelatin Raw straight out of the camera in 4K with no cuts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bShWhdzEZ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bShWhdzEZ8 The damage: https://youtu.be/f_Y8rXMb1qs https://youtu.be/f_Y8rXMb1qs Brighter and slower slow-mo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkpWJuSvd7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkpWJuSvd7A Show less

buzzdenver 8y ago

I've never tried to shoot anyone, but aren't most people aiming for the head? So the jacket is only a marginal improvement, which is still nice considering the stakes.

btian 8y ago
No because you will never hit a target that small. You always aim for the body.
Bedon292 8y ago
Not particularly. You aim for the chest, as its a bigger target and easier to hit. And only aim for the head if that fails to stop them. At least that is what the Marine Corps teaches. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique_Drill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique_Drill
firebird84 8y ago
They are not. The head is a small target. Most shooters are trained to aim for center mass, i.e. the torso.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
romanovcode 8y ago
I don't think so. Unless the target is very close it's not that easy to hit the head.
dragonwriter 8y ago
Standard initial training in most places are that train shooters is “shoot center of mass”; more advanced training is usually “shoot center of mass first, then...”. Shooting other than center of mass drops likelihood of hitting a lot, and even most well-trained shooters aren't accurate enough to reliably hit anything else under conditions where you actually are going to be shooting in earnest.
czechdeveloper 8y ago
No, you mostly aim at center of mass. Hitting someone with a gun is not easy even at short distances (stress, movement), so generally (and what is taught in shooting schools) is aiming at center of mass.

pcurve 8y ago

better avoid shooting them ribs...

danielvf 8y ago

Most competitive handgun shooters in the US load their own ammunition. Besides being cheaper and higher quality, it allows them to customize exactly the amount of gunpowder and weight of the bullet. In general, lighter loads are preferred because it creates less recoil, which lets you shoot faster in a competition. Because of this, each handgun shooting sports has a specified lower limit on how little power you can make your shot have, and competitors usually stay just a few percentage points above this. So it's entirely possible to do this demo with considerably less force that would come from factory ammo.

daeken 8y ago
Well, he said 124 grain. That's about 1200 ft/s, which is - in technical terminology - a goddamn fast bullet.
- hkchad 8y ago
  That's the weight of the bullet, not how much or what kind of powder, which both can make a world of difference.
  - daeken 8y ago
    You're 100% right -- I got mixed up. Thanks for the correction.
curryst 8y ago
He specifically said it was a 124 grain +P round. +P rounds have well established pressure requirements, it's on page 9 here: https://saami.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Z299-3_ANSI-SAAMI_CFPandR.pdf https://saami.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Z299-3_ANSI-SAA... It's actually a higher velocity than a standard 9mm round, assuming he's actually telling the truth.

alberteinstein 8y ago

Whether it's a gimmick or not, the fact that there is a need/demand for such products is a scary one. People want to wear bullet proof fashionable clothing since they are not sure when they'll be shot at? It didn't matter how ugly bullet proof vests are since those who wore them didn't care how they looked, they just wanted to stay alive. This is really scary.

anonlastname 8y ago

This obviously worked as a fundraising stunt, but the technology is not new. I recall seeing other people doing this on TV and a few weeks ago some rapper did it on an Instagram live stream.

methodover 8y ago

Wearable bulletproof jackets make much more sense to me than a handgun for practical defense. I have lived in Oakland for the last 5 years, in nice areas. During that time: - Brian Bore, a 30 year old data scientist was walking home from a bar just down the street from where I lived at the time, and was shot dead. They never caught the murderer. [1] - A couple blocks away from my office in downtown Oakland, a woman was shot by a stay bullet during the day, [2] and teen's funeral was attacked and a 16-year old girl was killed. [3] There have been other incidents as well, for which I do not have news sources: My S/O at the time was held up at gunpoint and his wallet and phone stolen. My morning coffee place had a mugging at gunpoint at 10 AM on Saturday morning (I arrived a half hour after it happened). Our city is plagued by gun violence. It disturbs me greatly. However, I don't think getting a gun myself makes sense. I have no problem with a gun for protection, but the kind of gun violence we face in this city is not the kind that is easily solved with a pistol. When someone has a gun trained on you and is trying to mug you, a gun of your own is not likely to help with that situation. If you're hit by a stray bullet, that's another situation that a gun of your own doesn't help with. And for just drive-by shootings, or whatever happened to Brian Bore, a gun of your own doesn't help at all. A lightweight bulletproof jacket makes a LOT more sense. Consider me an interested buyer. I wonder how light it is -- the jacket in the video looks pretty hefty. 1. https://abc7news.com/news/former-nasa-scientist-fatally-shot-in-oakland/1288472/ https://abc7news.com/news/former-nasa-scientist-fatally-shot... 2. https://abc7news.com/news/innocent-bystander-hurt-in-oakland-shooting/1147672/ https://abc7news.com/news/innocent-bystander-hurt-in-oakland... 3. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Downtown-Oakland-rush-hour-shooting-sends-8157911.php https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Downtown-Oakland-rush...

foxyv 8y ago
I definitely agree. A gun on your person isn't going to stop the bullets you don't see. The robber or psycho will always have the drop on you. If you watch the Youtube channel "Active Self Protection", he goes over tons of scenarios caught on camera and a lot of them DO NOT end well even if the victim is armed. And THEN if the victim does manage to defend themselves they can end up dealing with legal issues afterwards even if they never fire their weapon. Even pulling a pistol is technically assault with a deadly weapon in most cities and if you don't follow the rules you can go to jail for a long time.