If you’re a Batman fan, this is really going to intrigue you. We’ve seen many fans replicate Batman’s Batsuit, but this one innovative college student, Gordon Jackson from Philadelphia University, has designed and created his own punch and stab-proof Batsuit, which he claims can withstand attacks from baseball bats as well as machetes.
Gordon Jackson’s Batsuit is built out of Kevlar, Kydex padding and impact-resistant foam, which is punch, kick, baseball bat and knife proof. This industrial design student has used his set of skills to build this awesome, real-life version of Batman’s armoured suit, but it won’t stop bullets (bummer). Gordon raised funds for his Batman themed combat suit via a Kickstarter campaign.
Gordon has posted some videos to his Armatus Designs Facebook page demonstrating some basic stress tests for the real-life Batsuit. Apparently, the suit can protect the wearer almost completely from knife slashes, while the chest plate can handle knife thrusts and can also absorb punches such that a trained martial artist, like Gordon himself can respond to.
Gordon says “I’ve always been a Batman fan. Before making the real suit, I did at least 10 prototypes of different parts of the suit to test out material and sewing patterns. Once I was happy with those, I started making the real suit using the patterns I had decided on from the prototypes. I cut out the internal lining fabric, then added the foam padding, then a layer of Kevlar, then the top grey fabric.” The external armoured plates were made from quarter inch thick ABS sheets, cut using a scroll saw. The intense step by step process ended with the chest and ab plating being mounting to the suit.
For the young student, making the helmet was the most challenging task. Having a black belt in Kung Fu, Gordon wanted to create a combat suit that could actually withstand battle. He was asked how practical his Batsuit would be in an actual situation, he replied that “for its intended purpose, it is very practical.”
