Why isn't better limb armor available at TL8?

Michael Thayne · 03-23-2016, 11:10 PM

I've been playing around with the cutting-edge armor design rules from Pyramid #3/85, and the results are a bit surprising. A full suit of kevlar, thick enough to provide DR 12 and made without any weak points, should weigh 26 lbs. Heavy–but not outrageous compared to historical low-tech armor. And this is for armor made from one of the less-advanced ballistic materials available. Using "improved kevlar" reduces the weight by 20%, "ballistic polymer" by 40%, and "improved ballistic polymer" by 60%, down to 10 lbs., only slightly more than TL9 reflex armor.

I raised the question of whether this was realistic a few days ago, and the consensus seemed to be yes, though maybe "improved ballistic polymer" is speculation about what might be possible in the near-future. I've spent some time reading online about limb armor that the US government tried issuing to vehicle crews a few years ago. Supposedly it was made out of what Pyramid calls "ballistic polymer", added about 10 lbs. to a soldier's loadout, and was almost as effective as a soft bulletproof vest. From what I can tell, this is 100% consistent with the cutting-edge armor design article.

However, I get the sense that this limb armor wasn't very popular among soldiers–many complained it restricted mobility too much. A few hypotheses about why this might be:

1) Pre-firearms armor restricted mobility just as much, but firearms have changed what people consider an acceptable loss of mobility.
2) Kevlar and similar technologies have a high strength per weight, but less impressive strength per unit of thickness (since they're less dense than steel). Furthermore, their bulkiness is a much bigger problem for limb armor than it is for torso armor.
3) The pictures I've seen of real ballistic limb armor make it seem almost absurdly bulky. This fits with (2), except from what I understand bulletproof vests aren't that thick. Maybe the issue is that the military wants a couple sizes to fit all soldiers, whereas good-quality pre-firearms armor was tailored to the user? So maybe existing ballistic limb armor (along with bomb disposal suits) should be modeled as giving -1 to DX, but in principle custom-fitted armor ballistic limb armor could restrict mobility much less.

Which of these three explanations is correct? Or is it some combination? (3) would suggest interesting possibilities for what should count as realistic for Batman-style superhero armor.

03-23-2016, 11:10 PM	#1
Michael Thayne Join Date: May 2010	Why isn't better limb armor available at TL8? I've been playing around with the cutting-edge armor design rules from Pyramid #3/85, and the results are a bit surprising. A full suit of kevlar, thick enough to provide DR 12 and made without any weak points, should weigh 26 lbs. Heavy–but not outrageous compared to historical low-tech armor. And this is for armor made from one of the less-advanced ballistic materials available. Using "improved kevlar" reduces the weight by 20%, "ballistic polymer" by 40%, and "improved ballistic polymer" by 60%, down to 10 lbs., only slightly more than TL9 reflex armor. I raised the question of whether this was realistic a few days ago, and the consensus seemed to be yes, though maybe "improved ballistic polymer" is speculation about what might be possible in the near-future. I've spent some time reading online about limb armor that the US government tried issuing to vehicle crews a few years ago. Supposedly it was made out of what Pyramid calls "ballistic polymer", added about 10 lbs. to a soldier's loadout, and was almost as effective as a soft bulletproof vest. From what I can tell, this is 100% consistent with the cutting-edge armor design article. However, I get the sense that this limb armor wasn't very popular among soldiers–many complained it restricted mobility too much. A few hypotheses about why this might be: 1) Pre-firearms armor restricted mobility just as much, but firearms have changed what people consider an acceptable loss of mobility. 2) Kevlar and similar technologies have a high strength per weight, but less impressive strength per unit of thickness (since they're less dense than steel). Furthermore, their bulkiness is a much bigger problem for limb armor than it is for torso armor. 3) The pictures I've seen of real ballistic limb armor make it seem almost absurdly bulky. This fits with (2), except from what I understand bulletproof vests aren't that thick. Maybe the issue is that the military wants a couple sizes to fit all soldiers, whereas good-quality pre-firearms armor was tailored to the user? So maybe existing ballistic limb armor (along with bomb disposal suits) should be modeled as giving -1 to DX, but in principle custom-fitted armor ballistic limb armor could restrict mobility much less. Which of these three explanations is correct? Or is it some combination? (3) would suggest interesting possibilities for what should count as realistic for Batman-style superhero armor.