RE: [ME]: Ballistic gell or the "no man down" system

[Mike Fortey <forteymj@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Are you referring to Spectra fibres? Those are made
> by a process called
> gel-spinning. 

  Probably not. Spectra is already used in body armour
as a flexible fabric, while toughened sheets of it are
used for hard panels in other applications (Desk and
case liners, auto armour). It offers a moderate
improvement over Kevlar, thus allowing less layers to
be required, hence less bulky armour. Furthermore,
Spectra's capability is NOT reduced by submersion and
so can be even lighter still, as material standards
testing must provide stopping power when wet and dry.
So to reach standards; the kevlar must either have
it's panel's enviroment sealed or must use yet more of
them, making the spectra again the less bulky choice.

Mike

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