DVD Saves Hoser from Bullet

[Deputy Joe]

WALTERBORO, S.C. - A South Carolina man is thankful for a DVD that ended up taking a bullet for him. Colleton County Fire and Rescue Director Barry McRoy says he was leaving a Waffle House restaurant in Walterboro on Saturday morning when two men ran in fighting over a gun. Police say a bullet hit one of the struggling men, shattered a window and then hit McRoy.

The bullet hit a DVD McRoy was carrying in his pocket. He suffered a bruise but didn't realize he had been shot. As he told a police officer what happened he noticed a bullet hole in his jacket, the shattered DVD case and a piece of the bullet.

"I was saved by a DVD," McRoy says. "How lucky can you get?"

One man was arrested on assault and battery and gun charges.

The DVD was nicked. It was a gift from an employee who had recorded a TV show about fire extinguishers.

[BigDawg]

I would say that if the bullit only nicked the DVD, it wouldnt have done much to him. I dont think it saved him, except maybe from a scratch.

[Hannah87]

wow.. guess we should all have dvd's in our pockets.

[TheeBadOne]

You guys are missing it. What was on the DVD.........

[CTR man]

Good one, you deserve rep for that, TheeBadOne

[Terminator]

It was a gift from an employee who had recorded a TV show about fire extinguishers.

Who says fire extinguishers don't save lies? Seriously, why is it always Awful House? Awful Houses are hell holes, no matter the location.

[Jenna]

What would be even cooler would be if a news story about this were put on a DVD, and then someone else put that DVD in his pocket and it then deflected another bullet!

[Ender]

must have been a 9 millimeter :devil:

[10-42Adam]

Rep sent to TheeBadOne for that one....hilarious!!

[TXCharlie]

As I remember, DVD's and CD's are made from the same polycarbonate material as shooting glasses, some of which can take a small bullet, like a .22, or shotgun pellet. Thicker polycarbonate is an element of bulletproof glass.

That said, we used to use CD's for target practice - A 9mm puts a nice hole in them, and sometimes shatters the whole disk. I think the polycarbonate must be more brittle and thinner than shooting glasses, or else the flat shape gives it no strength - Most shooting glasses are dome-shaped, keeping them from flexing as much.

It's possible putting it up against the body magnifies its strength - Again, by keeping it from flexing, since flesh (or even water} becomes as hard as concrete for a few microseconds at 1200 f/s (tremendous compression strength), but both water and flesh split and puncture, which produces turbulance that quickly breaks them into liquidfication in the presence of turbulent forces.

Perhaps a strong layer like polycarbonate backed with a flesh, which is almost as incompressable as liquid at first, can complement the incompressibility of flesh with polycarbonate's high tensile strength to keep the flesh from splitting and puncturing - But then the polycarbonate crushes and shatters if it's overloaded. The crushing takes away energy (ceramic ballastic plates crush to some extent as they absorb energy too), and that could be why the fireman wasn't killed.

I wouldn't recommend replacing a Kevlar vest with DVD's, though - They're not nearly as strong as Kevlar, and more brittle.