We've come a long way.

PB

you use to hang them with

the first shot would throw the person backwards with enough force they'd drop the pack--leaving them fully vulnerable to the next.

Better than nothing, I guess... But the size of that pack suggests some real back strain for a young kid...

The target gets precisely as much momentum from a bullet as the shooter does.

it won't, otherwise the shooter would also be thrown back: equal and opposite reaction. Bullets are effective because they focus all of the energy into a very small area allowing penetration. A bullet proof vests forces that energy to be spread across a board area, allowing the body to absorb it with less damage. You can demonstrate this on your own by trying to push a pencil through a piece of paper and then try to push a pop can through one.

It is about the size of backpacks kids use these days; I swear some of them look like they are going on an arctic expedition... The picture is one use but I think it would be better on their backs as they run like hell to safety. In either case, as you say better than nothing

And I am not gun obsessed, but depending on the ammo at play and rating of the plate, that round will still go through if it's powerful enough... (Ballistics are rated). And it is useless against a riffle round, even a .22.

That is the part the gun obsessed won't tell you.

I used to wear III-A as a medic, heavy, sweaty, hard to do chest compressions with.

Go to a fire, get it off...go to a firefight where the gun play involves AR and Ak type weapons...why bother? So it will give parents a false sense and all that.

I actually considered one for ten minutes due to the places we go to at times to cover the news. Ten minutes, the cost, and the riffle play. I can use the money for something else.

Does a gun knock you on your ass every time you fire?

just more insanity...

I don't know if the one used in the massacre fired .223 or .308, but either of them would have punched through that panel armor like paper at the ranges he shot those kids. Hell, a full suit of Dragon Skin body armor wouldn't have helped at that range.

This backpack maker is just profiting from fearful parents. It's disgusting.

stuff for Show and Tell. And they don't hang onto them during the school day. Nor did they know which direction the shots were coming from or may come from.

High schools increasingly have police or armed guards...for bringing guns and such in, at least they will be there for other violence.

The only solution...short a perfect mental health system for all who may need it or think they may need it, and assuming the medications are spot on...not usually the case and not likely to happen in our lifetime...there needs to be at least two armed guards at each school...paid for by taxes and registration and penalties and renewals and transfer taxes on ALL guns.

Then we have a conversation about which ones are WMD category, legal, illegal, only for shooting galleries, collection, inherited, etc.etc. Probably as likely as banning them...we are seriously addicted.

So even if the bags are effective, they won't be very effective locked up in the kid's locker.

some stupid problem (imagined or real) associated with their use. Kids have to carry all their books with them to every class, at least some places, from what I've heard.

Here, the backpacks have to be kept in the lockers (and even our brand new buildings have lockers) because someone might have something horrible in their backpack they might do something horrible with.

If you're the asshole selling that bullshit to protect your investment portfolio. I hate disaster capitalists.

It's security theater, a placebo.

You get you gun information from bad movies. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Remember that? The shooter has to absorb exactly the same momentum as the girl would have to absorb.

There are several posts upthread about this. Read them.

And once she starts to move she'll be flailing her arms for balance.

If she was standing up it would be different but rocked back on the heels like that you have very little ability to recover from even a slight push and the short stature makes the fall happen faster so you have less actual time to recover.

The shooter is both standing up and expecting the moment of the push of the gun when he pulls the trigger, it's not really the same situation although the energy imparted is the same.

I volunteer to do the shooting part if someone else will squat and hold the backpack and we can settle this.

One experiment is worth a thousand opinions.

The momentum of the shooter and the bullet are the same. Momentum = Mass X Velocity This must be equal in both directions.

The energy is vastly different. Energy = Mass X Velocity squared. Since the bullet has a large velocity and that is squared, it gets most of the energy, even though the mass is tiny.

The momentum imparted to the shooter and the momentum imparted to the target are substantially the same minus some inefficiencies and air friction losses.

Yeah, I flubbed the terminology with a brain fart, good catch, the end result is the same, it won't take much push to get the victim off balance and rocking backward at which point her arms go up flailing to maintain her balance and bob's your uncle.

A one knee position would be a lot more stable but leave more flesh exposed to direct fire.

I was a math major and a physics minor so I can sometime get picky of things like that. I don't think the backpack would be of any real survival help, unless she uses it to help escape. Hiding behind it won't help for long.

it weighs between 22 and 35lbs depending on which classes he has. It would be a bit of a job to get it placed quickly.

And back towards actual cover.

The fact we are having this conversation is horrific though.

keep your head down, and run to better cover.

BUSINESS ADVERTISING????

you'd have a better chance running away then sitting crouched. IMHO

A NATO 7.62 and .223 will go through this depending on the exact load a plate would be needed.

http://www.laruetactical.com/backpack-shield

The max is III-A, not rated for a .22 long.

They are protecting the core, same as a vest, or close enough.

The problem is the false sense of security this gives parents. The rounds used at Sandy Hook will not even slightly deform going through that.

If I thought it could increase his chance 1% then I would get one.

As I said however it is a pathetic marker of our culture that we have gotten here.

It will. It is rated for that round, well unless the shooter got the ones designed to defeat it...they exist.

As I said in one of these threads, I considered one for myself for ten minutes given where at times we go to get news...but up armored clothes would be a better choice.

And I agree with you...it is sad we are having this conversation.

because you are SAFER behind your backpack!!! </ sarcasm>

to be here.

I might buy one for my 11 year old step-son. I don't know that it could do any good and like I say it is pathetic that this country has arrived here.

But I tend to want to do ANYTHING that could increase my child's chances in a shooting--even if it is a 1% chance.

If she can't escape the shooter will walk up to her and shoot around it.

Making money off of fear. The only time this might work is when the student has the backpack in their possession. If it is in a locker or closet, it is just a backpack....

That's what it reminds me of, anyway. From what I've seen of "water landings" by commercial aircraft, there isn't a whole lot of point to that segment of the flight attendant's speech.

The backpack? Sure it'd help, for the first bullet or two, if the target were prepared, and after that it's anyone's guess. I suppose there's some value.

or whatever that assault weapon is?

Anyhow, it's sad that's we've reached this point. On the night of the Oregon shooting, I was going through mental drills of what I'd do if I were in a mall when a mad gunman came around. It was extremely stressful to think about, and the only thing I could come up with was hiding and hoping. And 3 days later, the Sandy Hook massacre

So clearly, looking into body armor/etc. isn't just fear mongering. We have flood insurance that will most likely never be used. But these mass shootings are happening daily. That being said, I'm not sure that I'm ready to order a bulletproof backpack just yet.

Fron the website:

"*meets and exceeds N.I.J. level IIIA level bullet resistance performance (see ballistics info tab for more)."

http://backpackshield.com/

I'd be leary of any company that throws around the term "bullet proof".