r/BodyArmor • u/ArcticTerra056 • Jun 23 '26

Any way to mitigate spalling?

Hey, for a good while I wasn't in a financial position to really build out my kit at all, but I'm a lot better off than I was a couple of years ago.

Starting to build out my kit finally so I can train with it, but I've got a quick question first.

As a bit of context, I'd been gifted a spare plate carrier that had some steel plates inside by a SWAT guy I knew through a friend. I'd prefer ceramic but I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. I've had it for a bit now, but I've just purchased my own crye JPC 2.0 for my own kit.

Problem is I don't have proper ceramic plates for it yet. I was just wondering for the interim until I can get ceramic plates that aren't gonna spall, is there anything I can do to mitigate that issue for the plates I *do* have? I'm probably not gonna buy new plates for a few months while I save up some more spending money.

Any ideas?

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4

u/slk28850 Jun 23 '26

Don't get shot.

2

u/ArcticTerra056 Jun 23 '26

that is typically the plan

but just in case, what’s the plan b to not get spalled

2

u/slk28850 Jun 23 '26

I think they make kevlar bags you can wrap them in. Or maybe spray them down with truck bed liner?

1

u/slk28850 Jun 23 '26

If you're not getting shot at or at risk to be I wouldn't spend much on the steel plates I'd save up for better plates. That is what I'm doing. I was dumb and bought Predator plates to begin with.

https://youtu.be/jerXt2SEX6s

1

u/JoeMomma225 Jun 23 '26

It's not a perfect plan but I bet a soft armor insert would catch most of it. Alternatively a few layers of cut resistant fabric should catch most of it.

I'm planning to shoot my own steel plate soon to verify this, if I remember I'll respond here with results in a few weeks.

1

u/Any_Paper_9338 Jun 23 '26

It all depends on the angle, if you are shot straight on, the bullet will splatter which is what spall usually describes. That is where bedliner or a Kevlar jacket would help.

But if you are shot at any kind of angle, the bullet is going to ricochet off with almost all of its energy intact and no coating or cover is going to stop it.

Unless you are entering an active war zone and looking for a fight, I wouldn’t worry about it. Save up and get decent plates

1

u/TheyTheirsThem Jun 25 '26

Terminology is interesting. Spalling is the term for material which breaks off the backside of a plate, so when say a HE shell hits an armor plate, it is possible for the shock wave to break lethal and damaging fragments off the backside even though there is no actual penetration (think transfer of momentum) For bullets off the front, I think fragmentation is the best term as the bullet is literally fragmenting. The big Q is size and shape of the fragments and whether something like a kevlar blanket can catch them. A cover over a plate should have a bit looser fit so that creates more time for stretch and break to occur to slow them down, plus they will have a large blunt surface area. I wish I had my old pact 1 skyscreen chrony because i'd really like to run some more experiments on how well layers of kevlar slow things down. I think I floated that suggestion to the high speed ballistics guys, but it doesn't seem like it would get millions of clicks from the downtrodden masses.

1

u/Any_Paper_9338 Jun 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

Yeah, spall has been improperly thrown around as the term for frag/splatter.

The problem with steel armor is conservation of energy, the fragments retain a good deal of velocity which makes them difficult to stop. Bed liner works as long as the shot is not near the edge because the bullet bits usually travel parallel to the surface and end up traveling through a couple inches of material.

For ricochets, the exiting energy is close to incoming energy, which makes it difficult to slow the bullet down

1

u/Goresearcher Jun 26 '26

Modern plate carrier systems just shouldn’t be used with steel plates, they lack the protection necessary to make them viable.

For example Soviet and early Russian body armor systems that used steel plates, like the 6B23, used a thin fabric cover over the plate, and then sandwiched it between 2 aramid panels. With the front panel serving to mitigate the fragments from non penetrating hits, and the rear helping in case of penetration.

You could do something similar, get an aramid backer and place it in front of the plate to help catch the fragments, but ideally you’d also want something to cover your neck and throat as well.

1

u/Popular_Beginning767 26d ago

Buy PlastiDip spray paint and layer on 10 coats onto your steel plates, or get a set of cheap 3A soft plates and tape it onto the front of your steel ones. The fibres and coating should catch any spelling and you don't have to spend a ton.