Talus Ridge Ballistic Carrier Support Platform

The ballistic protection of warfighters is vital to insure the greatest opportunity for survival on the battlefield. Today, ballistic plates are utilized to mitigate ballistic strike impacts to the body of the warfighter. Ballistic armor is carried inside ballistic vests (in sizes from S-XXXL) that are held tightly to the body, fit most warfighters poorly, trapp heat and sweat, and cause rubbing and abrasions, as well as open sores, staph and yeast infections, and generally lead to less focused, less effective warfighters. Talus Ridge has identified and developed a previously unknown method to significantly improve the penetration and energy transmission performance of ballistic vests as well as make them fit well and reduce heat and sweat buildup. The design of the Talus Ridge Ballistic Carrier Support (BCS) Platform suspends the ballistic plate on a supported shock absorbing platform. With the BCS Platform, we change how the gear rides on the body. We place 6 to 8 small, uniquely designed shock absorbers on the muscular portion of the body, aligned with the corners or edges of the ballistic plates, providing a platform for the ballistic vest to ride on. Our solution provides a mechanism, through material compliance and velcro adjustment, for a customized fit so that the gear moves with the body instead of against the body. The small air gap that is created between the body and ballistic plates allows air flow and evaporation of sweat. With this air gap the wearer is much cooler and clothing is drier. This better fit, limits the movement of the gear relative to the body and decreases friction and prevents sores. Most significant is the decrease in backface deformation and even prevention of projectile penetration in ballistic testing, particularly at the higher levels of ballistic impact (large caliber, high velocities). With reductions of up to 85% in backface deformation, the BCS platform acts as a secondary body armor solution as it creates additional mechanisms for energy dissipation lowering the energy transmitted into (or through the human body). While the improvement in ballistic performance is dramatic in the current early design, the effect on ballistic performance with variations of the design elements (including optimization of ballistic protection) is not well understood. Prior to finalization of design for manufacturing, we must investigate the possible design variations to optimize ballistic protection, wearer comfort/adjustable fit and cooling for the wide range of potential ballistic projectiles/energies and human range of body sizes (male and female, S-XXXL) With ballistic protection as the primary point of research study, once optimized, human performance and mental fatigue and comfort as a measure of performance can be effectively studied in further research.