Every year I get a new gun. Sacramento times every bushel of new legislation to take effect on the new year and every time, the only thing I can do in response is buy another gun. But how many guns does a man really need? Either you win your first gun battle and loot your enemy’s gun, or you lose your first gun battle and the bad guys will appreciate your stockpile over your dead body.
So this time around, I decided to buy into some gun defense. Bulletproof vests are legal in California, which surprised me (I suppose “vestmen” never commit crimes), but were expensive and had a shelf life of five years or so. Also, I don’t have the storage space for anything that could be described as a “system”.
But then I discovered bulletproof shields.
Currently starting at $300.
The basic Alpha model gives Class IIIA protection, which means it’ll stop any handgun round up to .44 Mag and you might get lucky against a rifle, but that’s sufficient for indoors. Zero maintenance, no shelf life, easy to store and don in the dark, better optics than a paramilitary vest and best of all, it’s also useful in civil unrest situations against thrown rocks and bottles of Antifa piss. This and my hard hat should be an effective SHTF defense without breaking the bank. Especially since I’m a pistolero anyway.
I even found some impressive youTube videos like this one.
Downside is, it’s a lot of weight for most people to wield. I’ve got the size to not feel it but potential buyers should wave a 20lb dumbbell around to get the feel. Pairing it with a hat that can take a headlamp is a good idea, or you can get one of those flashlights that doubles as a taser to carry in your free hand instead of a firearm. The shield doesn’t make a good gun rest, it’s too thin and the handle doesn’t allow a natural supporting-arm position, so either practice one-handed at the range or get the Bravo version, which is designed for tactical use over home defense (at 4x the cost but rated for rifles). The Alpha’s handle makes shield edge strikes easy for the martial artist but of course, it’s not protecting you that way.
I got the Alpha Plus size and it does a good job of covering my critical bits… me being 6’3″.
Next Christmas: titanium shin guards?
The wound channel is great.
Where I work we have a different mindset .. we protect a fixed position. With a lot of folks & positions .. and fall-back positions .. & tons of barriers to shoot from behind. All to heavy to carry.
My mind-set is different now than when I was younger. I’ll hunker down in a safe room & wait for them to leave. I fortified the room & door & walls to projectiles. Nothing to carry.
Is a shield a good choice .. absolutely .. for most folks & issues they will encounter .. you’bet’cha.
Though I use 55 gal drums full of sand or water with fake trash-can lids full of sand as cover for movement in a fight at the house / shop.
And for the record .. body armor is great for shrapnel type issues moreso a direct or glansing shot from a bullet .. hard plates are not in my inventory. I use soft concealable (aka under normal clothes) armor. As necessary.
Good post. You’re using your ole noggin on this problem .. I like it.
That’ll work perfect with my gladius. I was looking for something like that for home invasion defense. I just need to get close enough without getting shot.
A piece of mild steel, a handle and spraypaint might do just as well. I bet that’s all it is.
“A piece of mild steel, a handle and spraypaint might do just as well. I bet that.s all it is.”
Yep. Anybody with a metal shop could make his own shield that would work as well as the Alpha but I don’t have access to one.
Can you measure the thickness with calipers for me? I also need the distance from the top to the center of the handle holes. TIA.
And the spacing between hole centers.
I’m going to call the local metal shop and have them cut me one, or at least price it. It might be cheaper just to buy it, especially with the discount code.
I’ll check but be advised, one thing I can’t tell you is what kind of steel they used. I’d guess low-carbon so the shield can deform with bullet impacts but the metal shop will want a number.
Might be worth purchasing the Alpha just for the manufacturer’s guarantee.
I don’t think mild steel will work, but ballistic steel is sold by the sheet. Yeah, I might just buy the big boy.
I’m happy I did…
AR500 target steel is very dense .. i.e. .. very heavy and impractical.
Also rifles at close range are tough to stop. So to me .. this is moving cover with exceptions.
One thing to consider .. if they know you are using armor .. they will correct their firing solution to hit softer areas. I do. So will other well trained individuals.
To me these things shine in a stack formation (or hallways for the solo home owner) .. but they, usually, use more shield in those situations.
As GQ mentioned the big advantage is the speed of bringing it into the fight. You can’t don body armor this fast .. nor dof it as fast as a shield.
Honeycomb,
I’m going to use this to close the distance to stabbing range. Home invasions tend to happen with 3-6 guys piling in at once through the same door and very quickly, leaving very little time to react. I have a hallway that will require them to come down single-file where I can use this shield and gladius.
I could get a fast-opening safe for my shotgun. You can get shot just as easily fighting with a gun as any other implement. With the shield, it will be difficult to re-load a pistol but not to stab. I am less likely to hit one of my kids whose rooms are closer to the front and garage side-doors. From 0-7 yards, which is what home defense applications are, I prefer to stab. YMMV. Adapt your plan for your comfort level and terrain.
Oh .. I have close quarter fighting experience.
As you said .. they will run a train down your hallway. If you get attacked by 7 trained single-file (aka a train) men .. you and that shield are not up to the task.
The second man uses the firat man as a human shield while the rest push you into the corner before they finish you off.
I pray you don’t really think you will fight off 6 to 7 trained men in a hallway.
That’s some folleywood bs rat there.
Honeycomb,
I’m assuming that a home invasion is more likely than 6 or 7 trained pros coming after me (50-50 probably with the growing tyranny, but for discussion let’s say robbery or a search for drugs is why someone breaks in).
In that case, a shield in a hallway is a help? Do I use it to charge, or to retreat and delay?
I never knew such a thing existed so I appreciate this post. A shield seems like a tool for a woman or young boy to use to give them another 10 to 60 seconds of time against the typical low IQ opportunity-breakin.
Honecomb,
If 6-7 trained men come in, I’m going to die but maybe take 1-2 with me whether I use a gun or not. No one is going to beat a trained entry team, especially if they use a concussion grenade beforehand.
My assumption is that I’ll be invaded by 3-6 criminals who will turn around and run away when the lead man gets stabbed. Most criminals do not want to get hurt in the process of committing crimes because they would have to go to the hospital where they’ll be easy to arrest.
It’s always better to keep them out by re-enforcing door jambs with Door Jam Armor or a similar product. And lock the doors. Having an early-warning system like a dog and/or a camera and DVR system attached to an audible warning is a good idea.
It sounds like I live in a war zone. I do not. Nevertheless, there has been a home invasion on my block and a mass-shooting in the next tract over. Society is becoming more violent despite the crime statistics which I believe are fudged.
No method is a guarantee. FerFAL posted a video of a store owner himself with a gun. The criminal ran off and the store owner pursued for about 5 yards before the criminal took an instinctive shot back at the store owner and hit him in the femoral artery. The store owner died. In another video on Greg Ellfritz’ website, an off-duty cop in Brazil interrupted an armed robbery at a store and drew on one criminal not realizing he was in a classic L ambush and never saw the second criminal who came up behind him and shot him dead through the back.
None of this works like the movies except maybe the violence in “Narcos” and “El Chapo.”
When you say you have close-quarter fighting experience, are you saying you’ve killed people in close quarter combat in the military or defending yourself from crime?
” I have a hallway that will require them to come down single-file where I can use this shield and gladius.”
A good plan, since many people know that knives are as effective as guns at point blank.
” With the shield, it will be difficult to re-load a pistol but not to stab.”
My shield has enough unused screw on the backside that you could juryrig an ammo pouch onto it with little trouble. (Hmm, magnets would probably work, too. It’s steel.) Myself, I plan to use an eight-shot revolver, no reloads, hollowpoints. Worst case, an empty revolver makes a decent club.
…
“I.m assuming that a home invasion is more likely than 6 or 7 trained pros coming after me”
My assumption also. I’ve no interest in prepping for an armed standoff with police. A home invasion by robbers (or hungry earthquake survivors) or a riot going down my street are the situations I expect a shield to help with. Panicked or feral civilians.
“In that case, a shield in a hallway is a help? Do I use it to charge, or to retreat and delay?”
A shield is ideal for barricading/standing your ground, excellent for knife fights and a second chance to live in a CQB gunfight. It faces the wrong direction for running away.
Military for real experience.
Airline pilot before .. during and after 911.
Force on Force training for Civlant.
My views have changed from I will hunt you down and kill you to now just letting’em know I’m armed and they should leave while the cops are on there way. All from behind a secure door and room.
We could spend days discussing the right way to handle hundreds of encounters.
One thing is for certain .. the bad guys will probably be well trained .. or proficient at their task. And the cops are not your friends or allies.
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I didn’t start the discussion of multiple home invaders. You did.
What I have found is that with multiple home invaders (ie a number greater than 4) the odds of them retreating is much lower than with less than 4.
When I hear people say tbey can handle 4 plus home invaders with a blade (or a gun) .. all I hear is a folleyworld fantasy.
Even if you get the drop on them .. you really don’t have the advantage.
“Hope” [1] is not a (good) plan.
[1] Killing one and the rest run away.
“Military for real experience.
Airline pilot before .. during and after 911.
Force on Force training for Civlant.”
It sounds like you were an officer in the Air Force or Navy if you had multi-engine jet time that carried over to an airline transport rating. You need a lot of hours for an ATP. I hadn’t heard of “CivLant” before. Wikipedia defines CIVLANT – “Civilian Life” as defined by Atlantic Fleet personnel. You trained “force on force” in some civilian program or while retired? Did you get in many close-quarters gunfights in your military days? The army veterans I’ve talked to who’ve engaged in such gunfights have said that civilians should avoid them at all costs, regardless of the training they’ve had. There are a lot of experts out there selling bad advice.
“One thing is for certain .. the bad guys will probably be well trained .. or proficient at their task. And the cops are not your friends or allies.”
What I have found is that with multiple home invaders (ie a number greater than 4) the odds of them retreating is much lower than with less than 4.”
Interesting. Home invaders out here have been Tyree and his rainbow coalition of losers from the East coast or people that can pass themselves off as a sheriff in disguise. Where can I research this further? I’m friends with several cops who are great people.
“My views have changed from I will hunt you down and kill you to now just letting.em know I.m armed and they should leave while the cops are on there way. All from behind a secure door and room.”
This isn’t an option for me. I have kids in 2 rooms.
“When I hear people say tbey can handle 4 plus home invaders with a blade (or a gun) .. all I hear is a folleyworld fantasy.”
I definitely don’t have the advantage. Anything’s better than shirking my duty to defend them, letting them tie me up and separate me from my family or letting them take one of my kids hostage. I’m a big strong guy. I’ll make an impact at the very least while my family tries to escape. Keeping them out is the best option. I think I’d better reinforce the side garage door before anything else.
I highly recommend Sanford Strong’s “Strong on Defense” to those trying to research further. Very few people have a plan or have thought this through.
This is correct intel. Especially the last sentence is spot on.
If you want to know where this is all headed .. check-out what farmers are facing in South Africa and the other Countries that went down the road of land theft. It’s coming to the states .. eventually.
As for my Mil time .. I was Navy .. As a Civilian I have left flying for a living and for the last 10 (plus) years work at a commercial nuclear facility. I recommend the utilities for a quality job these days. Not flying!
Honeycomb,
It’s amazing how many guys with a lot of relevant flight hours won’t fly for the airlines. Yet the airlines say they can’t find pilots! They’re not paying them enough. The military can’t find people who want to fly either. I guess a 10 year flight contract isn’t popular, especially when it means flying drones.
I’ve been following the Suidlanders and the developments in SA. There again, very few farmers seem to have had a plan for their defense. The cases in Rhodesia were also interesting: tons of squatters appeared on the farms then one night the farmer and his family would be attacked. The Mormon farmers down in Mexico came up with a plan to defend themselves from drug cartels. I’ll post on this later.
I am 100% ordering one using a prepaid card (purchased with cash). Make sure you guys order “stealth” if possible and use non-residential address (that is not your home), if possible.
I wish I could get a prepaid card for more than $500, I would buy the Bravo $1,300 one. Totally worth it.
Thanks for tip, Gunner. I appreciate it! ..