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Of course, prudent people are already prepared with full suits of armor in our bunkers, ready to wear. But those of you who are still sipping your lattes and going to book club meetings instead of getting ready for the impending collapse of civilization (hint: robots) should take notes from Ivan Owen. He’ll show you how to improvise armor from everyday objects, from hubcaps to street signs.
Medieval knighthood sounds like a romantic career in fiction. What a life of chivalry was really like doesn’t seem all that great. A team of scientists tried to replicate the work of a knight clad in up to 110 pounds of metal by dressing up volunteer historical re-enactors from the Royal Armories in London, and putting them on treadmills. Even though they were used to wearing armor, you better believe they worked up a sweat!
Sure enough, the researchers found, armor was exhausting. The men used 2.3 times as much energy to walk while wearing the armor than without it, and 1.9 times as much to run. Being outfitted for battle turned out to be even more tiring than hauling around a backpack of the same weight would’ve been. As it turns out, covering your legs with enormous, heavy metal plates makes moving around a lot harder.
Your cat doesn’t have a helmet? Why not? deviantART user Diarment made one for his cat Hugo. It’s reminiscent of Princess Leia’s slave girl costume, if Leia had been a cat.
Link via Super Punch
What’s a fashionista to wear to a neighborhood protest? I mean, if you’ve ever had to find a jacket that matches a Molotov cocktail, then you’d understand the fashion dilemma.
Well, the Man may still be a force to be reckoned with, but fashion faux pas is no longer an issue with this: C.O.P. Suit, a personal protest wear by Elena Gianni, Benoit Espinola, and Ulrik A. Hogrebe, students of the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design:
Life can get messy when you don’t see eye to eye. For the easily disgruntled, the C.O.P. suit aims to be both armor and mode of disruption, offering not only protection but also a means of voicing your discontent. Inspired by the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the “personalized protest wear” is also completely self-powered. It uses kinetic energy from common protesting gestures (fist pumping, chest thumping, baton swinging) to power the built-in megaphone, making rioting “hard on the ears, but easy on the conscience,” according to its inventors.
The scaly-foot gastropod (Crysomallon squamiferum) is one badass deep sea snail. Not only does it live in the foot of black smokers at the Kairei hydrothermal vent field, with temperatures reaching 725 °F, it is also tough as nails (snails, nails, get it?)
Now, scientists have figured out why their exoskeleton is so tough: it’s got iron.
Crysomallon squamiferum was discovered back in 1999, over two miles below the central Indian Ocean, deep within hydrothermal vent fields. Fluids in these vents are high in sulfides and metals, which the snail incorporates into its shell. The gastropod’s shell has three layers: a highly calcified inner layer, a thick organic middle layer, and an outer layer that is fused with granular iron sulfide. It is unlike any other known natural or synthetically engineered armor.
Naturally, the military is interested in how to turn it into armor technology: Link – via collision detection
The traditional stacked sandbag emplacement of armies around the world may be on the way out. This new portable system called McCurdy’s Armor can be assembled by soldiers with no tools and provide solid protection from small arms and bombs:
The armor can be set up in a variety of arrangements (U-shaped, J-shaped, etc.), and in instances where troops are worried about armor piercing rounds a second layer of armor can supplement the structures. But the walls aren’t just a protective cocoon for far-flung outposts; ballistic windows offer protection while giving Marines a line of sight and the ability to fire downrange, meaning McCurdy’s Armor can be deployed as both a defensive stronghold as well as a tactical firing position.
When it’s time to pull up camp, Marines can quickly break down their ersatz stockade, stack it back in their vehicles and move on to fortify the next position without leaving a single thing behind. Just try pulling that off with sandbags.
No, Chanel isn’t marketing to the ComicCon crowd. This is a work by artist Tetsuya Noguchi in homage to the famous French design house. Pink Tentacle assembled a photogallery of the suit.
Pictures of this stylish suit of armor made from beer can tabs have been circulating the Internet today. What gifted artist will step forward and claim credit for this magnificent creation? There are more detailed pictures at the link.
Link via Geekologie
This embossed, etched, and gilded steel close helmet is attributed to German armourer Kolman Helmschmid. It currently resides in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where there is a relevant essay on fashion in 16th century European armor.
Helmets fitted with masklike visors were a popular German and Austrian fashion about 1510 to 1540. With their visors forged and embossed as humorous or grotesque human masks, such helmets were often worn in tournaments held during the exuberant pre-Lenten (Shrovetide) festivals, celebrations somewhat akin to the modern Mardi Gras. Substitute visors of more conventional type were often provided for everyday use.
Interestingly, the postulated 1515 date for this helmet would make it contemporary with the “horned helmet” previously posted at Neatorama.
Link, via Titam et le Sirop d’Erable. Photo credit Metropolitan Museum of Art.
As a kid, I couldn’t hack at my friends with a real sword, so we used cardboard tubes to fence. Who knew that it was an actual sport? The Cardboard Tube Fighting League has competitions all over the world where people come together to play and show off their homemade cardboard armor.
Official Website of the San Francisco Branch
Link via The Presurfer
Dark Roasted Blend has a really neat post about some of the strangest medieval suit of armors ever made. This one is the the Armet of Henry VIII or better known as the Horned Helmet, made by Austrian goldsmith Konrad Seusenhofer as part of armor presented by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I to King of England Henry VIII in 1514 – via Royal Armouries
If you’re wondering why the glasses, it’s because Henry VIII was near-sighted.
IBM has filed for a patent on technology that would heighten reflexes, making it possible to actually dodge bullets. This body armor continuously scans the area for incoming projectviles. When one is detected the system delivers a shock to the body’s muscles, thus creating a reflexive movement away from the incoming bullet.
The present invention relates generally to the protection of an individual against a projectile propelled from a firearm. More particularly, the present invention relates to a body armor system and its method of use that is capable of detecting a projectile propelled from a firearm, computing the trajectory of the projectile, and moving the individual out of the path of the projectile to avoid being hit.
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by Gukbe2000.
