-------------------- "Kosh, I'd like to introduce you to our Resident schmuck and his side kick Kick Me."-Ritten
"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity". -George Carlin
Registered: Jul 2007
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
quote:Originally posted by MinutiaeMan:
quote:Originally posted by Pensive's Wetness: That's because TOS had to wait like a couple decades before someone made the (insert what movie since Star Tripping Troopers) props that got whored around the world...
of course, by the late 2000-2010's, all the sci-fi shows used H.E.Heinlin Prop helms and P-90's...
Not having seen Starship Troopers, I can't say for sure, but how about the "purple-belly" armor made for Firefly? Surely something that specific must have been new...
Nooo, those are actually from Assfuck Troopers as well. Joss said so in one of the commentaries. (I think it was "Train Job")
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
quote:Originally posted by Sean: All complaining about props aside, it just boggles my mind that starfleet would send their troops in harms way without some form of protection from enemy fire. If the U.S were to send troops into battle without body armour, the Gov't would not hear the end of in. I'm pretty sure someone in the federation cares about the welfare of it's servicemen.
You mean like how Dragon Skin armor is much more effective than regular kevlar armor, almost miraculously so, but because of a bit of a high price tag they won't mass-produce them for the soldiers in Iraq, even though the cost of treating a wounded veteran would end up being much much more?
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
"Given that it is science fiction, just because the actor's costumes are made of polyester and cotton, doesn't mean the character's uniforms are."
"Huh?"
He means that if you want, you're free to imagine that they are wearing high-tech body armor woven into their uniforms. (And that, like real body armor, its utility against a direct hit from a high-power gun/raygun is questionable.)
Registered: Mar 1999
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Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
But not dragon skin! That crap protects against very powerful weapons indeed, despite the fact that under very specific conditions it provides less protection than kevlar against certain types of weapons (or so I've heard is the justification for not mass-producing the stuff yet). I just really was irked massively when I heard about how effective this stuff was and how it wasn't immediately deployed, but people are still dying for want of a shirt the government doesn't want to pay for. C'mon, gent's, to quote a certain fat guy, let's see what a bloated, runaway military budget can do!
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
I remember seeing that Dragon skin on future weapons. That stuff can take a grenade! Although it'd still probably turn your insides to mush through the concussive forces, if you happened to be laying on one.
As for it not protecting as good as kevlar in some situations, why not just stick some kevlar armour under or over the dragon skin and problem solved?
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted
Yeah, that dragon skin is pretty good stuff. From what Ive seen, it can protect against a .308 calliber bullet, and is also designed to protect against shrapnel. It would be smart of starfleet to even use a future eqiuvalent of kevlar, or even their equivalent of a flak vest.
As for dragon skin, ( from wikipedia)
"Dragon Skin has been worn by some civilian contractors in Iraq, some elite special forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, some SWAT teams, nine generals in Afghanistan, bodyguards tasked with protecting generals, and U.S. Secret Service personnel".
And for why they werent deployed en masse, it is some political bullshit about certification paperwork. Something about the ceo of the company saying that his vests would match a level III certification before he got the actuall paper work concerning it.
-------------------- "Kosh, I'd like to introduce you to our Resident schmuck and his side kick Kick Me."-Ritten
"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity". -George Carlin
Registered: Jul 2007
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quote:As for it not protecting as good as kevlar in some situations, why not just stick some kevlar armour under or over the dragon skin and problem solved?
I imagine weight and bulk would be the two main issues there. Armour that slows you down or restricts you movements too much is worse than no armour at all.
posted
What is Kevlar armour anyways? Kevlar fibre and a steel plate? *Goes to check wikipedia*
Ok, so it's Kevlar fibre with metal/ceramic/plastic plates. So some kind of composite of Kevlar and Dragon skin armour, with the Dragon skin scales inside/outside of a bunch of Kevlar layers.
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted
"Not having seen Starship Troopers, I can't say for sure, but how about the "purple-belly" armor made for Firefly? Surely something that specific must have been new..."
If memory serves, the Alliance troopers on the train in "The Great Train Heist" (I know I messed up the episode title) were wearing Starship Troopers gear.
posted
I dont think that would be very effective. TO use a common example, starship kitbashing. You would not stick design A's nacells on design B's hull. Dragon skin was designed to improve on the areas that kevlar lacked, while keeping most of it's best atributes. Combining the two might not be a good Idea. you'd end up with protection, but neither design could work to it's best abilities. Maybe you could augment kevlar with a little bit of dragon skin-esque technology, but it might only give the vests a little bit of an improvement. But I believe Dragon skin was designed because updating the current tech was either too hard, expensive, or has too many down sides.
Wait, i just thought of another possibility. The kevlar body armor that police officers wear is thinner, and offers less ballistic protection than the body armor issued to soldiers, but it is aldo a lot lighter and allows more movement. I suppose that untill Dragon skin has it's kinks worked out, soldiers could be issued one of those lighter vests along with Dragon skin. Maybe that would help in those certain circumstances. Even if a bullte gets through the dragon skin and the thinner kevlar under certain conditions, the round will have been slowed down substantially, and would probably cause less damage.
-------------------- "Kosh, I'd like to introduce you to our Resident schmuck and his side kick Kick Me."-Ritten
"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity". -George Carlin
Registered: Jul 2007
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Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
I'm trying to remember what the conditions I heard about were, where it would let certain bullets through...I *think* (heavy emphasis) that it was something to do with rounds hitting at very oblique angles, which shoved the scales apart and penetrated between them with fair ease, if it was a high-caliber bullet.
Registered: Jul 2005
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