[Icelander]

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

So poly composite is DR 28/in. That puts the DR 11 scales at a little less than 1/2" thick, and the DR 5 scales are thinner than the AR500 armor plate upthread. Lamellar and scale have to have overlap in the scales, so call it 1" and 1/2". This isn't a lot worse than a kevlar vest with a ceramic plate, but it is going to make it difficult to armor the joints.

Well, as did o-yoroi and other samurai armour.

Is the Cost listed for polymer composite in 'Cutting-Edge Armor Design' in line with what it would cost to buy actual resin-bonded Kevlar online today (well, 2015-2017)?

And what are other uses for that material than making body armour, as I assume at least someone in Vargas' organisation needs to worry about cover businesses and preferably not making it too easy for the DEA, ICE/HSI and other alphabet agencies to follow everything he does online by tracking the numerous red flags, and then passing the data on to Mexican authorities.

I mean, sure, he has protection from the Sinaloa cartel now and they pay good money to avoid pesky police attention or raids by the Mexican Marines, but it probably makes the polished diplomats who make the payments quite irate if the compensated parties have to keep covering up clear evidence of not only illegal activities, but actual small-scale industry to equip guerilla soldiers.

So, is it easy to have some legitimate business he extorts order resin-bonded kevlar for some mundane purpose or would it immediately suggest body armour manufacture?

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

I guess you need Machinist to do the drilling, but this is apprentice level stuff: put a stencil over the scale, mark the 7 spots you're going to drill, clamp the scale to the drill press, work the press 7 times. I'd want to do it in an assembly line, with one guy marking the spots and two guys on two different drill presses drilling the holes because one hole is a different width than the other.

So, this actually sounds fairly cheap. Depending on how well they do at importing commercially made tactical gear, they might even want to manufacture this for their soldiers.

Combined with what might be fairly professional-grade kevlar undershirts by now, it sounds like fairly effective Level IIIA body armour that might even increase survivability against rifle rounds somewhat.

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

Sewing to Body Armor (Fabric) seems like it would be at -3, same as Smith or Machinist.

Agreed.

Which is excellent. After a couple of years of sewing kevlar for their use, the Knigt Templars probably have reasonably skilled workers in those who have displayed enough valuable talent to survive all that time.