[Pyramid 3/85] Cutting-Edge Armor Design: Designing the Bat-Suit (1989)?

[Phantasm]

I'm putting together a few elements for an upcoming supers game set in the late '80s and early '90s. One of the NPCs is basically going to be an "evil Batman", and I wanted to give him some body armor. I also want to make something similar available to PCs (this game is meant to be rather Iron/Dark/Dork Age at times, so a lot of bullets will be flying).

The Tim Burton/Michael Keaton bat-suit from the 1989 movie is what I was thinking of. Obviously the suit is sufficient to take .45ACP or even .44Magnum bullets at basically point-blank range leaving only slight bruising (going by what I guess the guns the thugs used).

But what material would be suitable to make it?

[Sam Baughn]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

Obviously the suit is sufficient to take .45ACP or even .44Magnum bullets at basically point-blank range leaving only slight bruising (going by what I guess the guns the thugs used).

No need to guess; there's a site called the Internet Movie Firearms Database which can be used to look up exactly what guns appear in many films.

Seems like the heaviest thing the batsuit faced in that film was .357 magnum. That means it's DR could be as low as 10, although being able to take point blank shots kind of implies something a bit tougher. Based on the look of the suit, I'd say it is no more than a quarter of an inch thick, probably less. That implies that the fabric is Improved Ballistic Polymer, which seems about right.

[Refplace]

And the upper torso piece could be thicker, say half an inch without a problem.
The retcon of the bat emblem as a "Shoot me here!" target was tied with it being more heavily armored in that location.

[mlangsdorf]

A DR 5 Improved Ballistic Polymer bodysuit made from optimized fabric would be 3.4 lbs, $1680 and give DR 2 against damage other than cutting or piercing.

Adding another DR 5 over the torso would add another 1.1 lbs and $560.

A DR 15 titanium composite strikeplate over the vitals would be 2.4 lbs and $3000.

So for 6.9 lbs and $5240, you've got a bodysuit that provides some protection against shrapnel, protects against pistol bullets to the torso, and can stop a 7.62mm rifle round to the vitals.


Having done the math, I'd expect a Batman type to go with a DR 15 IBP bodysuit (DR 6 against most attacks) to protect himself against knife wounds, punches, and low level supernatural attacks. It's only 10 lbs, after all. I'd probably still use the DR 15 titanium composite over the vitals.

It might also be worthwhile to add a DR 5 Titanium Composite liner to the skull armor (1.1 lbs), to give some solid protection to the skull. The facemask is usually portrayed as a rubber-like substance, but I think I'd want a thin layer of rubber over metal over some padding on the side touching my face: encourage the bad guys to punch me and break their fingers. Another DR 5 over half the face is maybe 0.4 lbs.

Though at some point the accumulation of minor weight becomes pretty heavy, and you've still got the multi-function utility belt to consider. Maybe stick with the DR 5 base suit after all.