iPod takes bullet for soldier
By Donald Melanson 
posted Apr 5th 2007 6:36PM
posted Apr 5th 2007 6:36PM
Kevin Garrad of the 3rd Infantry Division looks to have gotten a little assistance from an unexpected source while on a street patrol in Iraq recently, when the iPod in his pocket got in the path of a bullet fired at close range, slowing it down enough that it didn't pierce his body armor. As if that wasn't a rare enough occurrence, as you can see above, the iPod in question was an HP iPod -- imagine the odds! [Via Digg]
Funny, my 40gb HP iPod didn't fare so well...
/me kicks the white brick on his floor
I'm fairly certain the HP ipods are what is sold at the stores they have on base
Doesn't listening to music while on a dangerous patrol sound like a bad idea?
Mitch. Did it ever occur to you that he might have been carrying it in his front pocket without listening to it? Good god people. Think why don't ya.
Why carry it around when not listening to it? It would be easier to leave it at camp than to carry it around, if he wasn't listening to it, it was just extra weight right?
I think it was more like this: The bullet went right through the iPod and then the body armor stopped it, you know, because that is what body armor is designed to do... Just because it hit the iPod on the way doesn't mean it slowed it down enough to stop the bullet from penetrating the armor, an iPod has no chance against a 7.62mm ball round.
But... but... the iPod must've stopped it. It's Apple's heaven-sent product!
You both can make fun all you want, but you can clearly see by the way the bullet exited the back of the ipod that it totally did some slowing down.If they ipod truly had done nothing, the exit on the back would have been far more clean.
And I take it that "Matt" is so smart and has that 6th sense, that he knows exactly what size bullet it was that was shot at this soldier. Right? STFU! Why dont you stop trying to talk down a great thing. HP, and that a Soldier of ours lived to talk about this great day!
iPod save soldier.
iTV review.
Apple doesn't care about hacking iTV.
Today is indeed the coming of the messiah. Applebots rejoice!!!
@js
Don't forget about the 8-Core Mac Pro Monster.
But in all fairness, Microsoft DID announce the Red Zune. So... there you go.
Engadget should get a pool together to buy that fine man a new iPod. I'd put some money in
If someone can get me a reliable mailing address for this soldier, I'll buy him a new iPod myself.
I gree, we need to start a pool to get the money to buy this guy a new iPod. How do we contact this guy to find out where to send it.
I can see it now.........
"iPod + HP= Bullet Proof Armor"
That advertising campaign is gonna REALLY help Sells Skyrocket!! :-/
bullet-stoppin' goodness from HP
Why is he a fine man?
Also, Matt, how do you know it was that pariticular bullet size?
It was specified on the Flickr page that the insurgent fired a AK-47. The AK-47 fires a 7.62x39.
The only thing that saved this guy's life was the body armor (probably with a strike plate), not the iPod.
I think philadelphonic meant "fine" as in attractive.
That's f*cking killer that the iPod totally saved this guy's life. Apple should put this new information on the side of the box, as another good selling point.
As far as i know, the body armor he had wouldn't stop an ak47 by itself, especially at that close of range. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ngLMU_6J0 if you don't believe me.
Well that video is a few years old now for starters, and the body armor being issued is of the "modern" type demonstrated in the video, which consists of not only kevlar+titanium, but also ceramic strike plates.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interceptor_Body_Armor
the bullet was prolly a nato 5.56 round or a small caliber pistol cartridge as a 7.62 round would definitely pierce the ipod and body armor although I bet my FN 57 would pierce that stuff
No one cares.
Yeah but we (the "Good Guys") are shooting the 5.56 and them (the"Bad Guys") are shooting the 7.62, and a 5.7 coming out of the right gun (FN P90) would rip right through an armor plated helmet and CQC ranges.
I bet it was an RIAA agent that pulled the trigger, and the ipod was what he was aiming for in the first place
body armor can only stop a bullet fired from an ak-47 from long range. at close range the ak-47 round will penetrate body armor.
the i-pod most likely deformed the round so that the energy was dispersed. If it wasn't for the i-pod, I imagine the bullet would have penetrated.
Interesting.
I was a physician in Iraq and saw at least two 7.62 rounds embedded in the body armor that were fired at less than six feet.
wow, i had no idea so many forensic scientists and military armor experts read engadget!
I was just thinking the same thing.
I want to see someone make a suit entirely out of 20GB HP iPods, and then call it the hi-tech body armour. yay.
Meh, our vests will stop a 7.62x54R (The older rounds fired by WWII era Russian Mosin Nagant rifles) round, which is considerably more powerful than the 7.62x39mm that the AK47 fires. The kicker is it will stop only 1 bullet, and only if it hits the ceramic trauma plate in the middle, which breaks after receiving such a round. The better question that should be asked is where the iPod was located on his body. Now, assuming it's a full metal jacket round (most bullets are), it's possible the impact with the iPod deformed the bullet enough that it didn't pierce the kevlar like it should've. It's also possible it struck the iPod, and was caught by the trauma plate (and thereby, not really making a difference since the trauma plate would've caught it anyways). More information is needed, specifically.
Tomorrow: iPod rescues boy who fell down a well. Lassie retired.
Apple had better replace this on warranty.
Oorah!
If only he had Dragon Body Armor the iPod wouldn't have to risk it's life.
I bet he was wishing that he kept his ipod inside his bulletproof vest instead.
Apple has a new line of body armour coming out called the "IBod"
Unfortunately, its rectangular shape makes it slightly uncomfortable to wear. Jobs was heard to comment, "Anyone who's seen a woman wear foot-blistering shoes because they're 'cute' knows that fashion is more important than function."
Wow, that is an awesome story! My dad also uses his iPod while downrange, it helps to pass the time of course. But, you don't want to be distracted though, I assume the solider just left it on him for later use.
Weird, while I was walking to my car after class last night I daydreamed about a drive by shooting and a bullet being stopped by the ipod in my pocket.
Fist of all, I am not saying that this isn't true... but I think its probably more likely that (given the fact that it is an older HP iPod, and the iPods around that time were WELL known for breaking or the battery dying, etc.) this is probably a bored soldier in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or hell, maybe even here in the US, and figured it would be fun to shoot his broken/nonfunctional iPod. Then most likely as a joke decided to craft up a "my iPod saved my life!" story for the internet just to see how far it would go. I might have done the same thing for giggles.
I know a lot of people in the military... not a single one of them isn't a prankster... I guess when you are forced to live with a bunch of other dudes on a boat or in the desert for 6 months, you have nothing else to do... about 3 people I know immediately popped into my head when I read this and I thought "Oh, any one of these three would have done this, its brilliant."
yup, i think your onta sumthing here,, i know a couple people that served some time,, & much the same,, anything for a laugh
How much did Apple pay them?
Yeah cause there isn't anything at all your $250 could be better spent on to send to a guy in Iraq. Post your email and I will send you a good address you can send an ipod to.
Ass, err... I mean, Josh: Get a job and shut up. I'm a veteran of the first Iraq war and don't appreciate you or your comment.
Josh: I could not agree more.
ok,, so the dude had an ipod, so what, he likes music, but anything in the way of a bullets projection is surely going to help,, even if only a little (including air, its called resistance) but what i am failing to understand, is did the bullet proof armour have a special pouch for the i-pod like many fashion labels? is this a new i-pod / military feature? if it is,, you have to hand it to apple's marketers,, they certainly have their cock in everyones pocket
Glad there are so many chairborne commandos here.
Terminal ballistics is my job, and I can tell you without a doubt that a SAPI plate will quite easily stop a 7.62x39 round, even at muzzle velocity.
This IPOD made only the tiniest difference in the veolcity of the round before impact.
The back of an iPod is essentially stamped sheet metal about 1mm thick, now of course it absorbed a very small amount of energy (enough to deform the casing) but to the bullet it was like punching through a sheet of paper, not nearly enough to slow the bullet enough to somehow keep if from penetrating the vest. The amount of kinetic energy on a medium-caliber rifle round (such as a 7.62x39) is amazingly high, so high that it takes a specialized tempered ceramic plate to effectively stop one. The idea that an iPod had anything to do with his survival is just stupid.
20GB HP iPod?
sounds like the insurgent did him a favor.
Upgrade time!
the sad thing is now you can get a 30GB w/ video for less than those originally cost.