Layout tools for making chainmaille. The tool has a substrate with grooves, cuts, or slots formed through a top surface thereof. Each pair of cuts forms a generally v-shaped pattern along a length of the top surface. Each of the pairs of the cuts are spaced apart, have a length, and form an angle that provides a straight line path that intersects at least four of the cuts configured to receive rings to form a chainmaille. Another tool also has a substrate with grooves, cuts, or slots formed through a top surface thereof. Each cut passes through a common point. Each cut has a length corresponding to a diameter of a ring, and each of the cuts has a depth that is a function of at least the number of rings and a wire diameter of the rings.

Lightweight, flexible, anti-ballistic, inexpensive shielding material for body armor is described. It is created from anti-ballistic woven fabric material cut into multiple sheets of a desired shape, each having the grain of the woven material offset by 45 degrees from the adjacent sheets. The sheets are dipped into an epoxy employing carbon nanotubes. The nanotubes link to each other to result in diamond-like durability. The resulting sheets have exceptional tensile strength. A non-Newtonian shock absorbing material is adhered to the sheets, which has both liquid and solid properties. Upon impact, the local portions of the sheets are pushed into a depression and apply shear forces to the surrounding sheet and shock absorbing material, dissipating the energy over a larger area, allowing the shielding material to protect against a large ballistic impact.

A composite material for absorbing forces applied to a face of the material includes a first plurality of shaped solids and a second plurality of shaped solids arranged proximate to one another. A third plurality of shaped solids may be arranged proximate to both the first and second plurality of shaped solids, and be least partially located in a plurality of spaces formed by the arrangement of the first and second shaped solids proximate one another. One of the first, second and third pluralities of solids may be connected to a material layer, which may be a fiber or filament reinforced layer. Interstices existing between the first, second and third pluralities of shaped solids may have a resilient material therein.

An armor component that includes a ballistic tile made of, for example, boron carbide or silicon carbide, a plurality of wraps made of ballistic fibers such as carbon fiber, and a metal plate, for example, a steel plate, the metal plate being positioned behind the reverse side of the tile and the wraps being wrapped around the tile and the metal plate.

Energy distribution structures provide architectural flexibility in various configurations, materials, and scalability, which enables a vast number of applications. An energy distribution structure or array thereof may include a three-dimensional outer component and a three-dimensional inner component within the outer component. The outer component absorbs and redirects initial energy from an applied energy event, and the inner component absorbs and redirects residual energy from the applied energy event. Such an applied energy event may be caused by a ballistic or non-ballistic impact, an instantaneous or prolonged impact such as atmospheric pressure or decompression, explosive overpressure (shockwave), low-velocity contact, and blunt force trauma. Energy distribution structures can increase the strength, resilience or survivability of such events, and reduce the injury or damage to target objects such as people, vehicles, structures, vessels and surfaces by shielding same from such events.

Embodiments of systems, methods, and devices for protecting service personnel by deploying a physical barrier are described. Further embodiments describe additional security features such as lights, sirens, cameras, electronic locks, timers, and/or notifying security personnel or local law enforcement when the system is activated.

Armor plate having a thickness of at least 3 mm and an edge length of at least 20 mm, wherein the armor plate (10) consists of a material made largely of a component selected from the group hard metal, cermet and/or combinations thereof. An armor plate composite comprising at least two layers of armor plates and an armor are provided as well.

Energy distribution structures provide architectural flexibility in various configurations, materials, and scalability, which enables a vast number of applications. An energy distribution structure or array thereof may include a three-dimensional outer component and a three-dimensional inner component within the outer component. The outer component absorbs and redirects initial energy from an applied energy event, and the inner component absorbs and redirects residual energy from the applied energy event. Such an applied energy event may be caused by a ballistic or non-ballistic impact, an instantaneous or prolonged impact such as atmospheric pressure or decompression, explosive overpressure (shockwave), low-velocity contact, and blunt force trauma. Energy distribution structures can increase the strength, resilience or survivability of such events, and reduce the injury or damage to target objects such as people, vehicles, structures, vessels and surfaces by shielding same from such events.

The invented device forms a flexible planar or nonplanar blast surface that is oriented to receive and dissipate energy and restrict penetrations received from objects, projectiles and/or blast waves received from and along a vector path. A flexible assembly forms a blast surface having a multitude of pinned or semi-pinned elongate entangled staples, wherein a multiplicity of the staples extend at least partially along a vector path, wherein the vector path is oriented perpendicularly relative to the blast surface. A flexible particulate assembly comprising a multitude of adjoining pinned, semi-pinned and/or semi-static particles assembled together to present interstitial areas no larger than the diameter of a selected projectile; and a flexible binding medium integrated with the multitude of adjoining particles and adapted to maintain the multitude of adjoining particles in a flexible semi-pinned semi-static array.

Embodiments disclosed herein are directed to selectively stiffenable assemblies, protective garments and systems that include such selectively stiffenable assemblies for protecting one or more body portions of an individual wearing the protective garment, and methods of protecting a subject from an impact with a protective garment worn by the subject. A protective may include a plurality of first shield segments forming a first arrangement, a plurality of second shield segments laterally offset from the plurality of first shield segments and forming a second arrangement, and a compression mechanism operably coupled to the plurality of first shield segments and to the plurality of second shield segments and configured to compress together at least one of the plurality of first shield segments and at least one of the plurality of second shield segments.