Body Armour

Project 10: Crash

(Week Project: 3D Design project exploring the possibilities of 'Crash')

'One obstacle colliding violently with another'. For this project I looked into the unique properties of High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS). After testing how well the material absorbs large quantities of energy, I decided to explore the potential of making this into some form of protective armour. Using only scraps of the blue material i had found in the workshop, i constructed a suit, keeping it together using only glue and tape. 
In the crit I gave a quick introduction into the material itself outlining its properties, before inviting volunteers to come up and punch me as hard as they could in the stomach. The force was almost completely absorbed by the suit and all I felt was an overall force that knocked me back a step. Feeling confident I stepped it up a notch, handing out metal sticks to people. This, while terrifying, actually had less impact than the punches. So then I invited out Josh Lake (one of the strongest guys in our year) to have a go with a 7.5lb sledge hammer. Insisting he didn't hit me hard enough, I egded him on to hit me harder. Apart from the fact he managed to hit me on the weakest point of the suit, at the top of my stomach, it knocked the wind out of me. I couldn't breath for a minute or so but after once I had recovered, I drew a knife and insisted someone plunge it into my chest... Thankfully I'm still alive!