Being Batman has never been easier, thanks to some ingenius—and surprisingly inexpensive—work from Jackson Gordon, the industrial designer behind this fully-functional suit of body armor modeled after the Dark Knight’s iconic costume. The suit, created by Gordon’s Armatus Designs prop fabrication studio, is designed to offer protection from punches, kicks, clubs, and even knife attacks.
To prove the suit’s effectiveness, Gordon put his money where his mouth is in a video (complete with requisite theme music) showing how much punishment he, wearing his bat-armor, could take:
[youtube ratio=”0.5625″ position=”standard” caption=”Real Life Batsuit: Combat Armor via youtube user Armatus Designs”]
If getting kicked, punched, and stabbed weren’t enough to convince you that the Batsuit was more than capable of handling the wear and tear necessary to clean up the streets of Gotham (or at least do handstands on the rooftops above it) Gordon follows up his first video with a second demonstration, in which he smiles disconcertingly while being walloped in the chest with an iron pipe.
[youtube ratio=”0.5625″ position=”standard” caption=”Combat batsuit vs. bat via youtube user Armatus Designs”]
As the Armatus Designs website explains: “The Batsuit project was an effort to create an armored combat suit which would provide significant protection without sacrificing mobility.” It weighs around 25 lbs. and was created using “impact absorbing foam, Kevlar, and 1/4″ Kydex plating” (Kevlar being a key component in bulletproof vests, and Kydex, an ultra-strong industrial plastic commonly used in gun holsters and knife sheaths). All told, the suit took Gordon five months of combined prototyping and fabrication, and cost $2,000 to make, most of it crowdfunded. That may sound like a lot of cash, but keep in mind that more liberal estimates peg the cost of being Batman at closer to $700 million; A two-grand Batsuit that can take a beating like Gordon demonstrates is practically a steal.
Gordon’s foray into bat-themed body armor is simply the latest in what’s become a long line of hero-emulation and real-world costumed crime-fighting. However, as this Batsuit proves, heroic armor is becoming cheaper to own, and more effective to use. Unfortunately, with that comes the risk of instilling in people an overconfidence which could, in the long run, be dangerous to the wearer. Remember: No matter how effective (and cool looking) a suit of body armor may be, it’s best to just avoid putting yourself in situations where you could be punched, stabbed, or beaten with a pipe, in the first place.
That said, if you’re simply looking for something fun and functional to wear around the house, Gordon sells custom-built Bat-cowls on his website. It won’t make you a real-world Dark Knight, but you’ll be well on your way to winning that costume contest next Halloween.
[via cnet]
