Recreation Is it at all possible for someone to block a bullet with a sword?

Two points before you question my intelligence again :anger2:

1) missed out a word... ~Carbonised~ kevlar

2) Even if i did mean the standard kevlar... i dont see it saying anywhere that the purpose of this question involved you ~attacking~ afterwards

"Is it at all possible for someone to block a bullet with a sword?"

Nope no mention at all

have a nice day

 

essentially, nothing is impossible....but honestly...it would take years and years of practice to fully understand the speed of the bullet, the distance is covering, the time its going to take the bullet to reach you, and exactly how fast could you draw your sword from its scabbard, or if its already out how long it would take to put it in the exact path of the bullet. besides that, human's are unprecise in movements and thinking. so technically, every attempt would be different. so, therefore, each time could be a millasecond *sp* off meaning the difference between life and death. now, taking all these risks, and timing, and training, what conclusions can one draw. well, its either possible or not possible and by human standards, its almost literally impossible. now im sure a machine programed to do this exact thing is possible but again, small differences such as a bullet with slightly more powder can and will be moving slightly faster, again being the difference between failure and sucess.

 

Seraphinx, you're aware of just how fast bullets move, right?

 

A bullet's muzzle velocity ranges from 1500 feet per second (1,022.72 miles per hour) to over 5000 feet per second (3,409.09 mph). Now, assume that the person shooting you is 100 feet away. That gives you between 1/15th of a second, to 1/50th of a second, to move. NO MAN ALIVE can react in that time. Chi, no chi, it doesn't matter. Unless your sword is already in the correct location to block, you CAN NOT move it between the bullet's path and you. It's just not physically possible.

Now, let's take your average bullet. Weight of 100 grains, travelling at 3000 FPS. That gives it an impact force of 1998 ft-lbs. A strong person can generate maybe 200 ft-lbs of force with all of thier strength. Some of the impact, perhaps 75%, will be absorbed by the blade (note: Any normal metal of standard sword thickness will break in the process), which leaves your arm to absorb nearly 500 ft-lbs of force. Your arm will not do so, and will move. Violently. You'd probably stab yourself with whatever is left of the weapon.

As for "carbonised kevlar".. There is no such thing.

In short, if you want to stop a bullet, a sword is just about the worst way imaginable to do so. Try using a wall to hide behind

- Ark

 

take out "Ised" as in a production term & you get that.

 

i posed this question to some of my friends in physics and they came up with an answer:

"anything more than a 45 degree deflection would result in shattering the sword, and even if its less than 45, there would probably be a 50-70% chance it would break anyways"




most of them seemed to be pretty sure, based on the fact that most bullets will bounce at less than 45 degree angles, that deflection was possible.

 

I stand corrected on this matter. Thanks for the link. Seems very difficult to find any real information about the stuff though, so it's difficult to say what it's properties are. Seems to be used mostly in the line of making body panels for vehicles and the like.

- Ark

 

Heh, no problem... & sorry if i appeared cranky about being questioned... lets just say just before reading your reply to the introduction of this concept i had something happen that really buggered up my day. & i really should slow down when writting. :sweat2:

As for the properties... yeah tis a bugger trying to find out more on it, i just know that it's basically "rigid/solid" kevlar that could be shapped into a blade then the coat of bullet proof lucid for both making sure of the (what do you call it >.< ) endurence/strength & also with the sharpness of the blade.
_____

Ive heard about this 45 degree thing before with swords... never really understood it much, id be more concerned on wether the average swordsmans wrist would be able to withstand the impact shock of the bullet... Dont want to get knocked out with your own sword now do you ^.^

 

Problem with that is that Kevlar works by being able to flex and absorb impact. With a vest or whatever, you have securing on all sides to absorb the impact. With a blade, you have only 1 point of absorbtion for the impact, that being your wrist, so the blade would bend and, being semi-rigid, probably break.

- Ark

 

its pretty simple, think about it like this:

if you were to take a baseball and bounce it against a wall straight on, the wall would take in 100% of the impact force. if you were to throw it at an angle, this percentage would drop as to the actual force of the initial velocity was transfered to the wall. meaning more velocity force would stay in the ball. once you get past a 45 degree angle, the force transferred drops drastically. imagine throwing a ball at a wall very hard. it would be less powerful when it bounced back, and wouldnt hurt you as much as if you were to throw a ball along the wall, so it was just to skim it, leaving most of that force in the ball. the same principle would apply to the sword, just on a much greater scale. and in reality, even if he were holding the sword like youd hold your handlebars(one hand on each end), it would still be very painful. but much less fatal than trying to simple stop the bullet.

 

If the ball has the momentum and kinetic energy to simply break through the wall, however, it will not be deflected. Even 40% of a bullet's kinetic energy will shatter most steel (and most people's wrists if they hold on).

- Ark

 

... Guess this is what happens when you take Chemistry rather than Physics during high school.

The way i was thinking... that yes kevlar does bend but i was hoping that the coatings of B.P lucid would kind of reduce this affect.

I was slightly miffed about this 45 degree angle for i only thought it went with the slicing angle of using a katana for twas the only time i heard about it but that little explanation made it make more sense.

adding more values to this idea now... if the blade had a 2nd weilding point (Or u simply hold the blade with your free hand) & had it at a 45 degree angle (Long ways... im not trusting a simple twist of wrist-type-angle)... would put less risk of both the blade bending (If lucid doesnt help intensify the durability) & the swordsman suffering a severe injury (Would still hurt like a bugger though)

Unfortunatly now the further you go on adding particular variables the less likely it seems that you wont be able to do this without good old dumb luck on your side also :/

Is there not a method used in making swords that reduces the shock impact... something to do with the handle(Wrong word i know... not exactly a sword expert here ^^' ) ?

 

depends on what type of bullet, if we are talking about a handgun, say 40 caliber, then i believe the sword would hold, but say maybe from a rifle? then there was no chance to begin with.

 

who nos

yes its possible but you would have to be onisan ( motokos sister ) skilled at te very least