Context: Paper armor originated in China as early as the 6th century, first improvised from books and later deliberately manufactured from folded or layered paper. It was widely used by regular armies, militias, bandits, and rebels due to its low cost and ease of production. Despite being lightweight, layered paper was sometimes combined with silk or soaked in water. It offered meaningful protection against blades and even some early firearms. Its effectiveness declined with the advent of modern breech-loading rifles, but it persisted into the 19th century in some regions.
I forget which movie it was from, but I learned that you can armor a car on a budget by placing old phone books behind the door panels and under the dash. Doesn’t help with the glass, but it’s basically bulletproof behind the door.
They tested it on mythbusters, they popped the door frames and put phonebooks inside the doors.
They were very effective.
I’d like to caveat that I am in no way saying mythbusters methodologies are scientific in any way
I have no idea where I’d get my hands on a bunch of phone books nowadays.
Yeah.
Big Mobile out here making us less safe
They stopped arriving at the house one day and never showed up again and that sort of makes me very melancholic.
It’s good on a budget until you’re filling up on gas in half the miles because your car weighs an extra 30 phonebooks
I first saw this trick used in an episode of Burn Notice, which was (in my opinion) during the peak of the USA channel’s golden era
Great show.