The outfit that Versace
should have made!
Let's see how the AOL disk fares against a range of assorted weaponry:
Days-off-work rating: 1, if nothing vital is damaged.
Not exactly pocket weaponry, I'll admit, but cheap, accurate and dangerous in the wrong hands (mine, for one pair!). Another failure, as the pellet still penetrated three magazines after the CD.
Days-off-work rating: Anything from 5 upwards.
You're in dead trouble. If you haven't got your running shoes on, expect the immediate installation of a new set of body orifices as this disk is not going to help at all.
Days-off-work rating: At least 20 days, unless you're a photographic model, in which case you're heading for the job centre. After hospital, that is.
The club. A length of wood, nails and a brick for weight.
This was definitely the surprise of the whole exercise. The 3.5" floppy took three shots and withstood them all. The impact on the metal shutter has left it severely distorted on the reverse side, which will leave a damaging intrusion against your body, but the other two impacts failed to penetrate or leave permanent distortion. On reflection, this result is not surprising, as modern bullet-proof garments have a similar contruction of layered materials. The plastic casing has cracked and splintered, dissipating the energy, while the strong, flexible, film of the disk itself was able to prevent the pellet penetrating.
Have one of these in your shirt pocket, over your heart, at all times, AND MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT INSTALL IT ON YOUR PC! IT'S POWERS WILL BE DIMINISHED! This is as good as the AOL disk gets.
Author: Martyn Arnold
Last modified: November 1997