The Level III Ballistic Clipboard was developed because of the many requests I had for a board that would stop more than a 9mm. It did not make any sense to me to make a Level II which stops a 357 Magnum when for just a little more weight I could stop "the most powerful handgun in the world"... I know there are more powerful handguns now (CZ 52. firing a 7.62x25 round), but I think no one wants to carry around a 20 pound clipboard to stop handguns which fire a rifle round. (If I'm wrong let me know.) I had a request for a large, 13"x16", Level III board with a handle (just like the Level I). So we developed "Andy the Ogre" named after the customer who wanted one larger. It is Level III (1/2" thick) and weighs 7 pounds. It is formidable because of its size and weight. At any rate, our present Level III board is a popular seller and I think it will work well when getting in and out of a vehicle and approaching the stopped vehicle. All the Level III boards increase the officers' choice of responses to threats. When you hold it you will know what I mean. It does not look like a weapon, but it has mass and can help you in many ways. It can block a punch or a sharp object. It can simply be used to hold someone at  bay without actually touching them. I think over time it will become an integral part of an officer's equipment. The photo is of a board we made, without any primer or paint, to get an idea of its size and weight .

Why Level 1?   In deciding which one of the many levels of protection to use for our Ballistic Clipboard the first question was: what level of threat are most civilians going to face? The second question was: How heavy can the board be?     As the various Armorcore levels protect more, they weigh more. If you have a clipboard heavy enough to protect yourself from a 50 caliber bullet you would not be able to lift it easily.   At the beginning I thought our primary audience would be office personnel, school teachers and students, I thought mostly their threat would be from small handguns. The larger caliber handguns will penetrate my Level 1 clipboard, but I have seen shooters at the range have a problem hitting a target, with the larger calibers, within 21 feet. (7 yards is the first target station at my range) I have seen young men empty entire magazine from larger caliber 357s and 45s and not hit the sheet of paper the target is on, not even once, much less hit the figure on the paper.

The most popular ammunition in use today is the 9mm. It is cheap and available. Gang members love the 9mm guns because they can throw lots of bullets out in a short time. I don’t think they take much time to practice their accuracy. Although I understand some gangs are sending their members for a hitch in the Armed Forces to gain skills in weapons and tactics. Another exception was the nut at Virginia Tech. He must have practiced because the news said (if you can ever believe them?) he hit everyone three times. That may be correct, I don’t know. However, the Level 1 Ballistic Clipboard would have stopped the 9mm he was using.

The 22 caliber bullet is even cheaper than the 9mm. Just remember that Robert Kennedy was killed in 1968 with a 22. The Level 1 Ballistic Clipboard will stop a 22.   The two calibers used in the Virginia Tech shooting would have been stopped by our Level 1 Ballistic Clipboard.

Another round which the Level 1 Ballistic Clipboard will stop is the 38. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_Special Having been around for a century, there are many guns chambered for the 38 round. That means a good chance the nut case will pick it up and carry it to the office to get even with the boss. The 38 is what the Police carried for decades until they began to change to the 9mm. See "Photos of stopped bullets" page or look below for the 38 bullet stopped by the Level I board.

That is the best I can do in regards to the reason for the choice of protection for the civilian model.       To the right is another 38. There are a lot of them out there.   By the way, our Level I Ballistic Clipboard will also stop 25 Caliber, 32 Caliber and 380 Caliber bullets. (The 380 Walther PPK is one of the guns the original James Bond used.)

******* This is a notebook given to me by the company which manufactures the fiberglass laminate we use to make your Ballistic Clipboard. They are great to work with.