This Is The #2 New Product At ISC West 2014 (Bulletproof Bookshelf)
The #2 rated product at ISC West 2014 by the SIA NPS, and the winner of the Judge's choice is the dFENCE active shooter system.
Please watch their overview video:
Yes, it a bulletproof bookshelf. It retails for $2,695 USD.
Please answer this poll on whether you are interested:
"Unfortunately, in today's day and age, the ACTIVE SHOOTER is a REAL and ever-present DANGER in our society"
- alarmist strawman marketing at it's finest.
Now you know the secret to ISC success!
Hi marty! I know about 'alarmist', someone who cries 'chicken little' at the sky or yells 'wolf' without one, but with when you say 'strawman', even with my friend G. Oogle helping, I'm not 99% sure what you mean. Are you nodding to Oz? Like a fantazy? Or something to say when you reach the end of a rope, to moan: "Thats the last straw man"?
Hi Tedor,
From the wikipedia link for 'Straw Man':
"A straw man, also known in the UK as an Aunt Sally,[1][2] is a common type of argument and is an informal fallacy based on the misrepresentation of the original topic of argument. To be successful, a straw man argument requires that the audience be ignorant or uninformed of the original argument."
also, and more directly to my point above:
"This technique has been used throughout history in polemical debate, particularly in arguments about highly charged emotional issues where a fiery, entertaining "battle" and the defeat of an "enemy" may be more valued than critical thinking or understanding both sides of the issue."
Note: you may want to have a word with your friend G. Oogle... I think he's holding out on you, dude. :)
I think he's holding out on you, dude. :)
Thnxs, I ow you one for the dimedrop dude, he was holding out. Google calls it making me 'safer thru filtering'*, I call it making me 'look like a loaf of inbread shrivel-sh#t!'. Symantec's, I know...
Now my perplextion(sp?) is this:
"Unfortunately, in today's day and age, the ACTIVE SHOOTER is a REAL and ever-present DANGER in our society"
where is exactly the 'strawman', meaning an argument that is stated incorrectly just so it can be knocked down easily in one falling swoop, like a man made of straw? Isn't this actually on opposites? I think it is more like an argument that is overstated just so it cannot be knocked down easily, so maybe you meant to call it 'tin man'?
or am still in the red(wrong) on this one?
*when literally translated to serbian, 'Aunt Sally' means not a relative, not a Sally, its not even a person ;0) (you english have their own phrase for it, hehe) and so filters kick it out...
hahaha... yeah, I am no fan of filters.
"where is exactly the 'strawman', meaning an argument that is stated incorrectly just so it can be knocked down easily in one falling swoop, like a man made of straw?"
The argument that is stated incorrectly (in my opinion) is the fear-mongering lead-in from my original comment. An active shooter is not 'a real and ever-present danger in our society'. Instead, encountering one at your joint is a statistical improbability so small, it is akin to the probability of Rukmini's thermonuclear doomsday scenario below.
Everything that follows that lead-in is supposed to show how awesome this device is... at stopping something that will never happen.
The emperor wears hand-me-downs.
Ok, you win Mister Marty Pants! (you probably get sick everywhere of that one)
The emperor wears hand-me-downs and the pope drives pre-used car...
If resellers sell these units with selected hardcovers and a monthly agreement to rotate them out, this is an RMR play.
This product may be good, this product may great, but no one will ever know because the odds of this product ever being actually fired upon by a hostile gunman are lower than the chances of our nuclear arsenal being tested in an actual theatre of combat.
But if I worked in a school or goverment building, I believe it would be comforting to quickly glance towards the bookshelf cum barricade when hearing a loud and unidentifiable sound ricochet down the hall... Now I understand what "It will make you feel safer..." means.
On the lighter side it would be interesting to see the approach a determined gunman might take to dFeat da dFence and their subsequent disbelief at its stubborn resistance, "What the f is this f'ing bookshelf made of anyway?!!
For the cost of the book shelf you would be better served by purchasing fitted body armor which would give you mobility and the ability to even go on the offensive if you have the mindset for it. That being said I agree with the nuclear arsenal analogy. The chances of being involved in an active shooter situation are statically very low. I'm much more concerned about wearing my seatbelt while driving and being cautious crossing the street in NYC with 270 pedestrian deaths in 2012.
Fitted body armor
I like where you are going. Let's add a 4K camera, build in biometrics, and manage it via the cloud.
Can you say best in show 2015! Who's with?
"Take comfort knowing you'll be safe in your office while a frustrated shooter decides to move on to the employees in cubicles/kids in the classrooms/kids in the cafeteria/kids on the playground."
Lets talk ballistics for a minute. The bookshelf is rated to withstand:
- 9mm Hangun
- 5.56mm Rifle
- Shotgun
Of the three, the 5.56mm Rifle is likely the highest power round. (Well, the shotgun could be, but a birdshot load cannot even penetrate drywall, and we have no idea if the claim is .410, 20 ga, 12 ga, or 10 ga...)
5.56 x 45 is the NATO round used in AR-15 and M4 rifles. The story goes that Secretary Robert McNamara pushed for this caliber to replace .308 (a bigger round) to serve two purposes: give solders the ability to carry more ammo, and to inflict wounds not kill outright. The enemy spends more resources tending to a wounded comrade than a dead one, etc...
With that said, almost any modern 30 caliber rifle round, especially a cheap steel core type bullet, has a good shot a squirting right through this bookcase, just like they do bulletproof vests (TV doesn't show you that.)
Indeed 'terrorists' stereotypically carry 30 caliber rifles, ie: AK-47s, which have been produced in the tens of millions and ammo in the hundreds of millions of rounds. Some of the least expensive rifles available today shoot rounds with more power than the high-end and fickle AR-15.
Summary: Say I buy lots of these bookcases and spend loads of money in the process. They may prove to be insufficiently protective based on how the active shooter is armed.
Indeed 'terrorists' stereotypically carry 30 caliber rifles...
True, but fortunately 'cops' stereotypically wear hidden bulletproof vests thin as paper which can stop multiple rounds from any caliber bullet at any range especially when lunging traversely to shield targeted victims...
With that said, almost any modern 30 caliber rifle round, especially a cheap steel core type bullet, has a good shot a squirting right through this bookcase, just like they do bulletproof vests (TV doesn't show you that.)
I'm sure thats the case from the get-go, but remember these are real bookshelves and so the books themselves are gonna add quite a bit of stopping power. Something like the complete Dr. Suess collection should have a noticiable effect on penetration, whereas Encyclopedia Brittanica /w World Book(s), if tightly bookended, would provide more than enough to stop your 30 cal. cold, if it had passed thru the first deterrent. Here's a video showing how 1 phone book can stop a 30-06 (thats a big bang!) after going thru a little steel plate:
Like 15 years ago, Box o' Truth was my favorite website. Jim, you will like this test: 'The Books 'O Truth':
Now, lets examine life-safety of dFence:
Me: "I want to buy these bullet proof barricades that I can roll in front of the door, for every room. They keep the bad guys out, and the good guys in."
AHJ: "LOL. No really, why'd you call me?"
I seriously doubt that emergency egress plans include the potential of such a device. Furthermore, what's worse than trapping people in a room with a badguy? Unfortunately, there are many situations where dFence would aid evil, not prevent it.
Like Luis or Marty mentioned above: the answer is to keep the bad guys out of your facility to begin with, using good old fashioned, non bullet proof access control and layers of perimeter protection.
My problem with the bulletproof shelving unit as a shelter-in-place solution is that - since you can't predict the direction an assault may come from - you need to have two of these things available for each doorway in your joint (unless one side of the doorway is a closed room with no other doors).
My preference (if I was dumb enough to spend money to try to stop something that will statistically never happen) would be to shelter-in-place some place that isn't as overt. Blockaded areas signify people attempting to hide. While the unit may be bullet 'proof' - the walls surrounding it aren't. :(
Subteranean cutouts, like they use for tornado shelters or hidden spaces above ceiling panels/behind walls would be my choice. If the crazed gunman doesn't know you are there (unlike giant bookcases blocking doorways) they have nothing to shoot at.
Furthermore, what's worse than trapping people in a room with a badguy?
Shudder the thought...
Teacher: "Now, we just pull up these yellow handles to engage the 'ATD', there now we're safe."
Student: "B..But, Mr. Dulberry, he's not in our class!?
Rambo: "Trick or Treat!"
Rambo was the good guy. Maybe you need to watch those movies again.
And maybe you need to read the book, for the first time...;)
John Rambo, a Vietnam War veteran, is hitchhiking in Madison, Kentucky and is picked up by Sheriff Teasle and dropped off at the city limits. When Rambo repeatedly returns, Teasle finally arrests him and drives him to the station. He is charged with vagrancy and resisting arrest and is sentenced to 35 days in jail. Being trapped inside the cold, wet, small cells gives Rambo a flashback of his days as a POW in Vietnam, and he fights off the cops as they attempt to cut his hair and shave him without shaving cream, beating one man and slashing another with the straight razor. He flees, steals a motorcycle, and hides in the nearby mountains. He becomes the focus of a manhunt that results in the deaths of many police officers, civilians, and National Guardsmen. Wikipedia - First Blood
I normally get ill reading the "new products" list at trade shows. Which means I find it mildly surprising IPVM.COM would think this problem is news. Also, I just skimmed https://www.iscwest.com/SIANPS/New-Products/ and I must confess that some items in it did not sound spectacularly lame to me (turn up the volume to hear my faint praise...) I do see at least 4 items I suspect are spectacularly insecure (and I do networking, I defer to my respected ipvm.com reader colleagues to advise me on what size round to take out a bookshelf in the average CISO's office.)
What I'm saying is - um, the list might not completely suck, I respectuflly suggest that page might be worth checking out (even with the silly bookshelf.)
Don't pay attention to who won awards, of course.
LOL Rodney! :)
Which products specifically caught your eye?
Keep in mind, we are only discussing the bookshelf because SIA determined it was the #2 best new product. Like you said, 'winning awards' is essentially silly, as evidenced by this award-winning bookcase.
I would not want to be shot with a .223 round but would prefer it over a 12 gauge slug. You can obtain body armor that stops .308 and the AK47 7.62X39mm. Although heavier it is still far less expensive and much more practical than an armored bookcase which is almost laughable. Statistics show that most active shooters prefer to use hand guns. We are not at the point in the US where we are having Mumbai style attacks, at least not yet. If this is the # 2 best product at ISC West than what does it actually say about the show?
If this is the # 2 best product at ISC West than what does it actually say about the show?
It says that other manufacturers need to increase their marketing budgets.
In all seriousness, this award is not a product of marketing spend, only because these guys have clearly not spent significant money marketing this.
I do think judges there are looking for something fundamentally different, even if its pointless or never will get much traction. Confounding the problem, it is not as if there are big tech innovations among the choices.
I would have picked the FLIR new thermal cameras, though they were not even entered, so there's that....
This must be #1 product then, in Serbia we would call it, "?eli?na vrata", no exact translation into the King's American English is available, the closest one can get is something like "Door which is made of Steel". For about $400.
You must be out of them over there, I can get for you, if you order now, I will built-in a free 'ATD' anti-tipping-device too!
Ridiculous for Canada and USA maybe good Afganistan.....or other places like that...
Yvon LeBel
Cost of a IP wireless or Wi-Fi lock: $2500
Cost of a new steel door with install: < $1000
Now you have an access control solution, bullet proof (or nearly) and the ability to do a system wide lockdown or at the very least push a button inside the door to lock it.
Sad part about this is, the guy who created the bookshelf honestly thinks he is onto something useful.
Well, there's an interesting point. Is this thing more bullet resistant, less bullet resistant, or equally bullet resistant as a steel door? Honestly asking here, I don't know. Also, assuming we can think up a business case for a bullet resistant door, is there value in having that door that doesn't look like a door?
I think bullet proof is not really the truth behind the answer, as I would hope that logically, people would stay away from the door during a shooting.
The bigger question would be - can the door maintain its integrity and hold out against someone trying to shoot thier way into the lock/ hinges, etc.
We all know how easy it is to use your blaster on the controls of the door to either open or lock it, like in Star Wars.
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