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Does anybody have any experience with any of these? Or any other ideas to help kids stay safe from shootings at school? Last night woke me up a bit?
 
Posts: 1206 | Registered: July 14, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Still finding my way
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More likely to be hit by lightning while holding a winning lottery ticket.
Save your money.
 
Posts: 10851 | Registered: January 04, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Shall Not Be Infringed
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No experience testing them, but I did purchase one for my HS age son back in 2020 when the Antifa BLM riots/insurrection got going! I purchased a Level IIIA panel from Premier Body Armor, who happens to have quite a few sizes/shapes (57 total) in their product line. They have a number of universal sizes, as well as sizes for many Vertx & 5.11 backpacks. I researched the dimensions of the Vertx Backpacks and found one that had identical dimensions to his non-Vertx Backpack.

https://premierbodyarmor.com/c...=Level%3A+Level+IIIA

I was able to purchase one that fit his backpack exactly and it gave me peace of mind as his HS had over 3500 students and was located on a 170 acre open campus with 16 academic buildings.

I instructed him to wear the backpack on the front of his chest should there be an incident where they were either sheltering or moving to safety. I also made sure he knew that shelter-in-place in MANY (most?) situations was NOT likely to be 'safer' and that if he could move to safety and away from danger, that was the best option!

I spent $200, and feel it was a worthwhile investment...Be Prepared! Honestly, it's MUCH better to have it and not need it, than to need it and NOT have it! Wink


ETA - Pretty sure you meant to post this in the Lounge...Just Sayin'


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Posts: 9561 | Location: New Hampshire | Registered: October 29, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Freethinker
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The first questions I’d be asking relate to how likely a child is to keep it maintained properly (i.e., have it ready to use), and to use it properly if needed. A 16-year-old, maybe, depending upon everything else they’re taught about such incidents. A 13-YO? Unlikely, I believe.

If I were a parent of a school-aged child, I would be focusing on teaching how to respond to any life-threatening event, and that includes avoiding the freeze response of doing nothing (as I mentioned in another recent thread), or the sheep response of blindly following the ignorant and unthinking actions of others, including teachers or other adults. That’s a very complex subject and any teaching would have to be tailored to the child, but it’s not impossible to improve someone’s chances of surviving a critical incident with just a bit of discussion. The “duck and cover” drills in schools in the 1950s and that are ridiculed by the ignorant today weren’t intended to help anyone survive a nuclear explosion a block away, but they could have helped people survive if they were a mile or two from ground zero.




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Posts: 47840 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Not really from Vienna
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“The “duck and cover” drills in schools in the 1950s and that are ridiculed by the ignorant today weren’t intended to help anyone survive a nuclear explosion a block away, but they could have helped people survive if they were a mile or two from ground zero.”


It appears that “duck and cover” wouldn’t have helped much for people a mile or two away at Nagasaki (even with the less powerful 21 kiloton bomb used there), based on the following article:


“Everything within a mile of ground zero was annihilated. Fourteen thousand homes burst into flames. People close to the blast were vaporized; those unlucky enough to be just outside that radius received horrific burns and, there and further out, radiation poisoning that would eventually kill them. Although estimates vary, perhaps 40,000 people were killed by the initial detonation. By the beginning of 1946, 30,000 more people were dead. And within the next five years, well over 100,000 deaths were directly attributable to the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.”

Source: https://www.nationalww2museum....gasaki-august-9-1945

By 1953 the Soviets had a deliverable 400 kiloton atomic weapon.

Sorry for thread drift.
 
Posts: 27241 | Location: SW of Hovey, Texas | Registered: January 30, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I think that weight might factor in as to whether or not the kid can use the insert. How much weight would a rifle resistant insert add to a kids backpack? Would the kid actually carry it if it was too heavy? When my kid was in school, the amount of weight he was packing around was amazing.


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Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
 
Posts: 16468 | Location: Marquette MI | Registered: July 08, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Freethinker
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quote:
Originally posted by arfmel:
It appears that “duck and cover” wouldn’t have helped much ....

Thanks.
I was wondering if anyone would focus on my specific figure rather than the point I was making. But then I thought, “Nah: Anyone capable of understanding such specifics of my example would surely understand its point.”

No matter how powerful a nuclear weapon was (unless it was the one that some people thought would set the atmosphere on fire), at some distance from the detonation the duck and cover or other measures such as not standing in front of a window to be pureed by the flying glass would help to avoid being injured.

I could have used my The Effects of Nuclear Weapons calculator to cite specifics rather than just using an arbitrary number, but that would have been a waste of time.
As is obviously this.

And to return to the question, yes, panels capable of resisting rifle fire are generally either very heavy or very expensive.




6.4/93.6
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“We are Americans …. Together we have resisted the trap of appeasement, cynicism, and isolation that gives temptation to tyrants.”
— George H. W. Bush
 
Posts: 47840 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
In the yahd, not too
fah from the cah
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I feel like backpacks are heavy enough without a plate being added to them. That and I'm guessing most kids would dump their backpacks when running away to make it easier to run. But I haven't really watched any footage from any of these events to see if that's how it normally goes.




 
Posts: 6425 | Location: Just outside of Boston | Registered: March 28, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Shall Not Be Infringed
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I don't think the OP is asking about Rifle Rated Plates, nor do I think anyone would seriously be suggesting that. Level IIIA is Soft Armor for stopping Handgun loads (up to .357 SIG/.357 Magnum and .44 Magnum), and likely most appropriate, all things considered. A Level IIIA Panel can be inserted in the Laptop Sleeve area of the Backpack, right against the wearer's back and left there indefinitely. It adds minimal weight/bulk, will contour to the wearer and is unobtrusive. Later, when a device was needed at school, I purchased a separate Laptop Sleeve for him to use when transporting his MacBook to and from school.

When I got the Body Armor Panel for my son, I told him to leave it there and forget about it unless it was needed. I also told him he was not to discuss it with anyone, which is the same policy we have re: discussing any owned firearms outside the home as well.


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If Some is Good, and More is Better.....then Too Much, is Just Enough !!
Trump 2024....Make America Great Again!
"May Almighty God bless the United States of America" - parabellum 7/26/20
Live Free or Die!
 
Posts: 9561 | Location: New Hampshire | Registered: October 29, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Mistake Not...
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I have the same backpack panel that nhracecraft has for his son. I use it in my hazard 4 computer bag, in one of the computer slots I don't use, much the same way (put in and don't discuss or take out). I am often in courthouses where I am disarmed and have to trust others for my defense and where criminals and mentally distressed people congregate and things can get tense. I have something rather than nothing and am happy for it.


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Posts: 2100 | Location: T-town in the 253 | Registered: January 16, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
אַרְיֵה
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I remember a guy who posted here several years ago; he had this stuff all figured out. Up to .338 Lapua.



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Posts: 31599 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Yes, I meant to post in the lounge. Also, I did mean a level 3A soft panel. I saw the weight on one was 19 ounces. Seems very reasonable. I know it won’t stop these nuts with rifles, but at least 3 families are mourning a loved one today. Whether or not it would have helped I can’t say, but I figured it is better than no protection.
 
Posts: 1206 | Registered: July 14, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
For real?
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I stuffed my last iiia soft panels in my son’s backpack for school. Minimal weight. He knows not to talk about any of it. He also doesn’t tell anyone I’m in law enforcement. If asked, I’m a computer programmer.



Not minority enough!
 
Posts: 8213 | Location: Cleveland, OH | Registered: August 09, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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My only thought is; in the unlikely and terrible event that someone comes in and starts shooting, do you think they are going to be aiming at backpacks?

I suspect education is different now but back when I was in high school the dern history/social studies book I had to carry around would stop pretty much every caliber out there below 308.


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Posts: 4441 | Location: Greenville, SC | Registered: January 30, 2017Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Is your kid allowed to carry a backpack in school? Many schools now have "no bag policies" and students must carry books between classes by hand.

I ask as a panel will do no good if it's kept in the locker, however if that is the case you could get by with a heavier panel if you want the most protection when going to/coming from school.

Also, make sure your child knows how to use it correctly. Some are designed for the backpack to be work on the chest (when needed) others are better carried/used as a shield. Just like a fire drill, make sure your kid knows/practices proper use with you at home.




I shall respect you until you open your mouth, from that point on, you must earn it yourself.
 
Posts: 3391 | Location: Southern Maine | Registered: February 10, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His Royal Hiney
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quote:
Originally posted by nhracecraft:
I don't think the OP is asking about Rifle Rated Plates, nor do I think anyone would seriously be suggesting that. Level IIIA is Soft Armor for stopping Handgun loads (up to .357 SIG/.357 Magnum and .44 Magnum), and likely most appropriate, all things considered. A Level IIIA Panel can be inserted in the Laptop Sleeve area of the Backpack, right against the wearer's back and left there indefinitely. It adds minimal weight/bulk, will contour to the wearer and is unobtrusive. Later, when a device was needed at school, I purchased a separate Laptop Sleeve for him to use when transporting his MacBook to and from school.

When I got the Body Armor Panel for my son, I told him to leave it there and forget about it unless it was needed. I also told him he was not to discuss it with anyone, which is the same policy we have re: discussing any owned firearms outside the home as well.


I'm with you; better to have it and not need it (it's not like it's going to break the bank) and need it but not have it. I use a soft panel in my sling bag. When I have my CCW backpack, it will include a soft armor.

On a similar note, since 2008, I had an emergency backpack in my car that was fully outfitted. I had a rudimentary version since the big Bay Area earthquake. But that backpack included a box of nitrile gloves, disinfectant wipes, toilet paper, and n95 masks. Things that I was able to use when Covid hit. What especially made me feel right was when I thought to buy more of the wipes and found out the same ones that I bought for 32 cents a pack was then 32 cents a sheet! Good think I had enough to last me through 2 years and I still have some unopened packs.



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
 
Posts: 20187 | Location: The Free State of Arizona - Ditat Deus | Registered: March 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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They could always duct tape some plates to themselves. Make sure it will stop .338 Lapua.




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Posts: 53346 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by jhe888:

They could always duct tape some plates to themselves. Make sure it will stop .338 Lapua.
https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...030027894#3030027894



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Posts: 31599 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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In Richmond we hear that backpacks will soon be clear plastic after a six year old demented boy shot and injured his teacher. Not sure if plates will fit in a clear bag.


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Trying to simplify my life...
 
Posts: 5244 | Location: Commonwealth of Virginia | Registered: January 15, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I think that weight might factor in as to whether or not the kid can use the insert. How much weight would a rifle resistant insert add to a kids backpack? Would the kid actually carry it if it was too heavy? When my kid was in school, the amount of weight he was packing around was amazing.


About five pounds, minimum, for level 4 plates, and going upwards of 8lbs at lower price points. If you wanted to compromise and guess you're not going to face threats more potent than M855A1, then you could get 3"++" or "special threat" plates in lighter weight - I wanna say I've seen some around a pound and a half, but you're looking at a couple grand. UHMWPE is pretty light, but it's thick and would take up a good chunk of space in a backpack.

An LEO friend of mine who does door kicking for a day job told me about some plates they got that will stop M855 that's about a half inch thick and around a pound, but that stuff is the newest hottest and I don't think that's even on the civilian market.

https://www.apexarmorsolutions...weight-plates?page=2


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Posts: 17805 | Location: Sonoran Desert | Registered: February 10, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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