Welcome to D-Rmor Gear. Many of you reading this know me from the several forums I have inhabited over the past 14 years, and my interest, nay, obsession with all things armor. In the past few months, the volume of emails, messages, and other communications was reaching a rather overwhelming level. I am but one man…
And so, with the start of the new year, it was high time to start a blog. Broader vistas, more space, and the ability to reach a wider audience.
I have been building, testing, dissecting, and experimenting with armor for over 12 years. During that time, I have developed an understanding of what works, what doesn’t, and some clues as to making armor better.
This blog is intended to serve several purposes: first and foremost, as a clearinghouse for knowledge and information about armor, and by extension all manner of tactical and lifesaving gear. Much of what will be published here is based upon my experience. Most will be my opinion. It seems in this day and age, having a strong opinion is considered “divisive.” So be it. I make no apologies for my opinions, and if they differ from yours, well, that is how the world works.
I will always endeavor to provide CORRECT, ACCURATE, and RELIABLE information, but I am not perfect, nor am I omniscient. If I am wrong about something, I will endeavor to admit it. I eschew the term expert, which is simply a has-been drip under pressure.
A lot of my posts will be overviews or updates/edits of some of my sticky posts on the aforementioned forums. There will also be some reviews of gear that I think I will like (no guarantee I will), that may save YOU some time and money. And of course tests- of armor, of gear… any excuse to push gear and armor past its limits. For science of course.
The second purpose is, well, to occasionally sell stuff. As the inestimable wit Mark Twain observed, “Possession of a stomach dooms us all to the rat race.” I build stuff. I like to eat. I will sell this stuff, if it meets my standards, to facilitate continued eating.
I am a firm believer in over-engineering. Silly me, I just call it building for the real world. I will be posting details of several new (and IMHO innovative) bits of armor-enhancing gear over the course of this blog. Some of it coming up pretty soon (as in beginning of the month soon).
Lastly, I am here to try to help folks get the right armor/gear for their intended purpose. If you have questions, shoot me an email. I am a fairly busy guy, and I can’t guarantee that I will have all the answers, but I will do my best.
To all my old friends from the various forums, thanks for following me here. To all the newcomers, please feel free to ask questions and make suggestions.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!
D-R
d-rmor gear 
I’ve been following you a bit on the F** Files and I love your spall protection ideas. Recently, I’ve begun to reassess the problems posed by splatter. Spalling may happen 1 in 10 times, splatter occurs almost all the time and I don’t like the idea of a blade-like ejection of super heated lead slicing off my face or other extruding organs. What can be done with splatter?
Thanks for your comment! Actually, my “Plate Fronters” (spall guards) are designed only to address front face spalling (splash). Plate Backers, which are generally quite thick, already exist to protect the wearer against rear face spallation (where impact of a non-penetrating round knocks off chunks or metal at high velocity).
It is because of just what you mentioned, that I began developing them in 2007. Steel plates, even when they succeed in stopping the round as designed, will eject a cloud of high velocity lead and jacket fragments in a conoid. This has the potential to injure and kill. My Fronters/Guards solve this issue with steel plates. I will be posting more about this phenomenon, as well as my “Plate Fronters”, in forthcoming posts.
Thank you for your quick response. I was confused with the various terms folks use for spalling. I had thought spalling occured from the rear of the plate and splatter or splash from the front. I guess in the broad sense spalling is all ejecta from an impact on armor plate. Keep up the good work and I’ll be checking back for updates! Great site by the way.
You are correct, the term “spall” can refer to any ejecta induced by impact or shock. As you noted, rear face spall is pretty rare if the projectile is within the spec of the plate, but front face happens nearly 100% of the time with steel plates, and more than 50% of the time with most ceramics. UHMWPE plates are immune from spall, which is one of their few but notable benefits.
Thanks for the kind words!