Showing posts with label Bulletproof. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bulletproof. Show all posts

November 14, 2017

Wrapped In Bubble Wrap

So I thought this was an interesting risk management strategy...

One colleague joked with me that:
"Everyone should just wrap themselves in bubble wrap!"

Reminded me of that game where people put on big wearable inflatable bumpers and then smash into each other for fun.

The problem though is that sometimes we put on the bubble wrap, bulletproof vest, or seat belt, but then we get stupidly overconfident. 

We think we are protected, but nothing human in impenetrable. 

So the person with the seat belt and air bag drives too fast and off a cliff and still gets him/herself killed. 

Or the person with the bulletproof vest gets shot with a high caliber armor piercing shell or in the back of the head.

Like on many cars, where the mirror says, "objects in mirror are closer than they appear," we need not over rely on safety, protective, and risk measures and still do stupid things.

One guy told me, he backed up into the wall in the garage, because he thought there was more room and that's not how things looked in the mirror. 

Let's face it, there is no bubble wrap that can fully protect us from life. 

Everyday we face risks out there, and we need to manage them with common sense or else... ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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January 27, 2013

Personal Bulletproof Shields


In light of the horrible school shootings we have witnessed in Sandy Hook Elementary School, Virginia Tech, Columbine High School, and more, people and companies are trying to figure out how to fight back. 

In some cases, ex-Marines have decided to stand guard at their children's schools.

In others, companies are coming up with emergency protective devices as a last line of defense for teachers and school children. 

Hardwire Armor Systems has developed a white board that doubles as a bulletproof shield. 

According to USA Today (22 January 2013), the whiteboards are 18" by 20", a quarter inch thick, and 3.75 lbs. and have three rubberized handles on the back for slipping your arm through.

The shield is large enough to cover the head and torso, is 2 1/2 times as strong as Kevlar, and "can stop a bullet from a handgun shot at point-blank range." 

The whiteboards are made of a similar ultra-strong polyethylene material used in Mine Resistant Ambush Protective (MRAP) vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they are light enough and less dense than water and will actually float. 

While we hope our teachers and children never need these to hold off an attacker until first responders arrive, it is good to know that they are there just in case to stop that deadly oncoming bullet. 

The whiteboard costs $299 and a smaller 10" by 13" bulletproof clipboard costs $109.To outfit a standard high school with whiteboards would cost $15,000 and for all 7 million teachers and administrators in America $1.8 billion. 

From teaching math and science to protecting our children and teachers, these ballistic shields can be part of a multi-layered defense plan for our schools--and I would think for corporate America, religious institutions, and government agencies as well--and is an awesome idea. ;-)

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