Flickr Find: iPod armor edition

"Well in 1973 it might have done but it's more likely to be a n AKM (seeing as the last "AK47s" were made in about 1969)."

By the Soviet Union, perhaps, but the AK47 is now made all over the place. It's probably cheaper to manufacture than newer models.

Hey Pete,
I agree that it could've been an AKM, but what the troops are encountering in Iraq tend to be AKs, as they get all their weaponry second hand and on the black market. AK47s are much more common on the black market, especially in the Middle east. In fact, they are sold openly in the streets. My cousin (unfortuanately) flies around Baghdad in a Helo.

One of the flickr commenters was remarking that it looked a little small for a 7.62 though, so you might be right. Regardless, at such close range, the combination of Armor + iPod may very well have saved his life.

cheers,
evaD

Guys, seriously, how can you believe this story? It comes from some dude's flickr page and has all the hallmarks of an urban legend email forward.

You might notice that no reputable news source has picked up this story. That would mean actually doing some original reporting. Shame on TUAW for fatuously spreading this unconfirmed story.

It's more evidence that blogs are not good primary sources of news. They just don't have the same dedication of getting at the truth and finding new information. Bloggers just want to aggregate what they can click to, and then spout off whatever comes into their heads. The spouting isn't always useless, but the pretensions to the level of so-called mainstream media is laughable. And this story underscores that once again.

"The AK doesnt fire a puny .223 shot like the M16, it fires a 7.62 * 39mm round at a muzzle velocity of over 2300 fps. "

Well in 1973 it might have done but it's more likely to be a n AKM (seeing as the last "AK47s" were made in about 1969). Guess what? AKMs use 5.56 type ammunition.

Regarding the penetration of body armor;

According to the story on flickr, he was just going around a corner and encountered this gunman, and they fired on each other. they were pretty close, I'd bet, and the closer you are to the body armor, the more energy your round has to penetrate.

Short story: he was lucky to have brought his iPod on patrol with him! I just wonder if his platoon sergeant was as thrilled...

Yeah,
uhh.

"cute story, but an AK-47 cant penetrate body armor anyway."

Yes it can. It depends on the class of the body armor. The AK doesnt fire a puny .223 shot like the M16, it fires a 7.62 * 39mm round at a muzzle velocity of over 2300 fps.

Unfortuanately, the class three armor spec was designed specifically to protect against the 7.62 round, but its had varying degrees of success. I'm guessing thats what this guy was wearing out in the field. So yes, the commenter who said that he needed all the protection he could get was right. This bullet may well have killed him if not for the iPod AND body armor.

evaD

Wow... now that's cool body armor.. I'd wear that any day.. lets just hope there's no more shootings though ok?

"cute story, but an AK-47 cant penetrate body armor anyway."

Depends on the body armor and the type of rounds used.

Body armor doesn't make people invincible.

Body armor is basically "better than nothing"

Plus, AK-47's are still one of the most lethal assault rifles around

" cute story, but an AK-47 cant penetrate body armor anyway."

Depends on the body armor.

what TUAW doesn't show you however is that the iPod that did/didn't save this soldiers life is what me and my friends have termed the hPod. if you click through the read link and look at the flickr page, you can see that it is not an APPLE iPod but an HP iPod. i say good riddance whether this is a joke or not. As the owner of a 1g nano and a 5.5g video iPod (and future macbook pro owner) i can say that the HP iPod was a horrible idea from the start. the HP logo looks trashy on the back of such a great music player.