grp armour pieces

[tk8428]

my question is this...is grp (fibreglass) armour any good ? apart from being cheaper.

 

is it robust enough for trooping, i know it weighs slightly more but to be honest we dont wear it for very long periods of time and cant be any worse than my HWT back pack and t21 !!

 

 

what are the other draw backs( maybe chipping around edge)? i'm asking as i can work quite well with grp..

[Tech151[TK]]

i know it weighs slightly more but to be honest we dont wear it for very long periods of time and cant be any worse than my HWT back pack and t21 !!

 

 

Speak for yourself. I think someone told me the longest time anyone ever spent in costume was like 5 days. Slept and everything. The only exception was he was allowed to remove his helmet to sleep. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.) I for one spent easily 8-10 hours in armor at CV and trust me, even the HIPS stuff which is pretty light starts to weigh on you.

[pandatrooper[TK]]

To clarify, are you planning to make your own armor out of fiberglass? How will you create negative molds to lay the glass?

 

I know a few people who have created armor or helmets in fiberglass (many years ago), but personally, I don't think it's worth the work and effort. I used to work with fiberglass and GRP for car body kits, etc.

 

Having fiberglass right next to your face / skin is not a fun experience, even with an under suit on. Yes, you can coat it but now you're adding weight too. Depending on how thick you make it, there may be areas that need to flex (like the cod or any joints) than can crack.

 

There's the weight issue, and durability and cost. Armor kits have gotten a lot more affordable these days, so I'm not sure it's really worthwhile to make one out of GRP / fiberglass when you can just buy a kit.

[FIVE[501st]]

I am wondering the same things Terry is.

 

I considered putting fiberglass inside of my new set of TE2 armor. I had tested it on a hand plate, and it seemed to work well, but when we got it into one of the thighs it really didn't do anything for it. The benefit (strength) was far outweighed by the negative (mess, time, cost, added weight, etc.) Plus it pulled right off the HIPS — thankfully — very easily so wouldn't have lasted long anyway.

 

There might be ways of making it stick... and I know you're talking about armor that's completely made from fiberglass (not "coating" a set of armor), but I just have to think what Terry said is right... there are plenty of good, affordable options out there so, to put it bluntly, what's the point? And I ask that because I want to know... in case we're missing something.