Bullet-Proof Hoodies To Hit The Streets

[Macaca sylvanus]

By Sky News - Friday, April 4 07:24 am

A new bullet-proof hoodie to protect against street violence is due to go on sale later this month. The £300 "Defender" hoodie makes the wearer's upper body invincible to 9mm Magnum handgun bullets, according to its maker.It was developed by London-based company Bladerunner, which also manufactures stab-proof tops. Company owner Barry Samms said a mother from Walthamstow, east London, whose son had been mugged three times, was among customers asking for bullet-proof clothing.

"We've had quite a lot of interest from the US and a couple of calls from the UK," he said. "Our current customers range from undercover police to security workers to concerned parents." The top is made from a new fibre called Dyneema, which is thinner than the material used to make traditional bullet-proof vests. Mr Samms denied his firm was targeting teenage gang members with the invention, claiming the hoodie was the best way of disguising its bullet-proof nature.

"It's only a hoodie because you can't really put a zip across the front of something bullet-proof," he said. "Adults wear hoodies too. My mum wears one and you don't see her hanging out on street corners. "We really thought last year when we brought out the stab-proof top that they were going to be for teenagers, yet they are the last people to actually buy one. "Mr Samms said the hoodie was primarily aimed at US customers concerned by the amount of gun violence in their country. "I don't see that there is much of a market in the UK, because luckily we have such strict gun laws," he said. "People don't have to go to such extremes to protect themselves over here."

The hoodie is currently in the prototype stage, but orders can already be placed with Bladerunner, which has offices in Romford, Essex.

[Nephilim]

how´s that supposed to work??
will the hoodie be stiff and helmet like?

i mean, even if it should be bullet proof, the fabric is soft and therefor the bulltet would basically crush ones skull.

correct me if im wrong but that just smells like bs....

[wildheart]

i've seen the future and it is awesome......Delta Chavs.

by the way its Aprils fools DAY not month

[TwoFistedFlava]

how´s that supposed to work??
will the hoodie be stiff and helmet like?

i mean, even if it should be bullet proof, the fabric is soft and therefor the bulltet would basically crush ones skull.

correct me if im wrong but that just smells like bs....

Its probably just a bullet proof vest that looks like a hoodie, but only the torso area is protected. Seems pretty silly to me as well, because when i lived in London it seemed like it was more common for people to get stabbed than shot, and they didn't mention anything in that article about knife protection.

[Nephilim]

agh damn, i missunderstood it :P
i though it just referd to the hood of the hoodie itself..:slap:

sounds silly still...

[kongman]

9mm magnum.............like wtf .........ill have to ask santa for 1 for xmas........

[Evolv5]

Wow, this hoodie makes me INVINCIBLE to 9mil ...
http://www.superman-picture.com/superman-8.jpg

[kongman]

Wow, this hoodie makes me INVINCIBLE to 9mil ...
http://www.superman-picture.com/superman-8.jpg



its 9mm magnum ,it could kill superman easy sheesh...............

[qaborg]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7329892.stm

The company also makes slash-proof hoodies also found this site selling them http://www.stoppa.co.uk/acatalog/Bladerunner_Kevlar_Protection.html

Bullet-proof hoodie to go on sale


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44539000/jpg/_44539434_bulletproofhoodie_170.jpg The hoodies are made from a fibre called Dyneema

A bullet-proof hooded top designed to protect against street violence has been made by an east London firm.
The £300 "Defender" top will stop 9mm Magnum handgun bullets, according to the manufacturer Bladerunner, which also makes slash-proof vests.
Owner Barry Samms denied the hoodie was targeted at teenage gang members and said it was primarily aimed at US customers concerned about gun violence.
Mothers Against Murder and Aggression said it spread "the fear factor".
Lyn Costello, founder of the campaign group also known as Mamaa, said it sent out the wrong message.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif We want to encourage them away from a life of violence not towards it http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif


Lyn Costello, Mamaa


"I don't think it helps. It spreads the fear factor and makes teenagers think they are invincible.
"It disgusts me that companies think about money rather than the safety of our kids.
"We want to encourage them away from a life of violence not towards it."
A total of 11 teenagers have died as a result of violent crime in London since the start of the year.
Thinner material
The top is made from a fibre called Dyneema, which is thinner than the material used to make traditional bullet-proof vests.
Mr Samms, who owns the Romford firm, said he could only manufacture a hoodie because it was not possible to put a zip into bullet-proof material.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif I don't see that there is much of a market in the UK, because luckily we have such strict gun laws http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif


Barry Samms, Bladerunner

He said: "Adults wear hoodies too. My mum wears one and you don't see her hanging out on street corners.
"We really thought last year when we brought out the stab-proof top that they were going to be for teenagers, yet they are the last people to actually buy one."
He said a mother from Walthamstow, east London, whose son had been mugged three times, was among customers asking for bullet-proof clothing.
"We've had quite a lot of interest from the US and a couple of calls from the UK," he said.
"I don't see that there is much of a market in the UK, because luckily we have such strict gun laws.
"People don't have to go to such extremes to protect themselves over here."

[Roaming East]

9mm magnum.............like wtf .........ill have to ask santa for 1 for xmas........
Silly Euros and their metric system. Here in the world, we call that a .38 Super.
didnt realize it was that popular a round outside of the States

[wiking]

Silly Euros and their metric system. Here in the world, we call that a .38 Super.
didnt realize it was that popular a round outside of the States

quite a venerable old round that, the use in Europe goes atleast as far back as commando units and SOE operatives during WW2. And of course, IPSC has made it a bit of a hit, as well as nations with laws like Italy where you can't have the standard 9x19 (though i believe the 9x21 IMI is more popular).

But we call it .38 super as well, you have to remember this came out of England, most of the people who actually knew guns and the related technical terms have either died off or moved to somewhere with nicer laws.


But what is the world coming to (or Britain atleast) when they market something like this :-(

[Alpheus]

Ok, this is strange. A look at the website, http://www.bladerunner.tv/product/details.php?id=Bullet1, reveals that the hoodie
gives you Balistic Security at Level NIJ STD 0101.04 A quick google, since I'm not so knowledgeable about bullet resistant stuff shows that STD 0101.04 is the testing procedure to determine what level of protection the stuff offers. wtf?

P.S. the misspelling in the quote was theirs, not mine. :roll:

[nullterm]

Rappers will start appearing with that logo on them in 5... 4... 3...

[Createdeemcee]

Would probably wish you were dead once you hit by a bullet with that on even though it may not penetrate you. With out a plate ouch.

[StuRat]

Silly Euros and their metric system. Here in the world, we call that a .38 Super.
didnt realize it was that popular a round outside of the States

.38 super is higher power from more powder aren't they?

[asch]

they mean you can put bullets out of body by simple pulling cloth of this awesome hoodie?
nice. p-)

[Jippo]

The whole thing is just a marketing gimmick. Undergarment ballistic vests are far more usable and can easily be upgraded to higher protection level with plates.

This just shows what you can do if you have a stupid client base.