Would fiberglass batt insulation add any significant reduction in wall penetration?

[PaulD]

Say you had a typical interior wall in a stick built house. Assume it's typical 2x4 construction with a layer of sheet rock (assume the thicker stuff) on either side and skim coat plaster. Would insulating the wall with fiberglass batts help in any way with preventing penetration of a typical home defense round? For the sake of discussion, assume .45 ACP hollow points.

Also, is there any other reasonable technique that would help reduce penetration? By reasonable, I mean something that won't raise per square foot building costs by $50 per ft^2. So, no, I'm not putting steel plates between the studs.

 

[joeendris]

00 buck shot. tends to stop real quick dumping all kinetic energy into intended target. Otherwise, construction materials to slow down trajectories on a "miss", can lead to self-defeating costs.

 

[PaulD]

00 buck shot. tends to stop real quick dumping all kinetic energy into intended target. Otherwise, construction materials to slow down trajectories on a "miss", can lead to self-defeating costs.

Please stick with the given parameters.

 

[Jasper]

Please stick with the given parameters.

given parameters.

deebo is XX" thick. use something that won't go through deebo.

 

[el duderino]

No, I dont even think plywood would make a huge difference.

 

[Prepper]

You said reasonable, so carbon nanotubes are out.

 

[MisterHappy]

Bullets are designed to put holes in stuff.

Sort of filling the walls with pea gravel, I'd say don't miss, so that the energy is expended in the target.

 

[jasons]

Fill the walls with jello. That stuff will stop anything.

 

[drgrant]

Fiberglass insulation won't do a damned thing. I know this because an old acquaintance of mine had an ND in his house once, and he launched a .40 through the side of his house. Thankfully it went on a downward angle and just landed in the dirt outside. It cruised right through a layer of wallboard, a layer of fiberglass insulation, a piece of plywood, and aluminum siding.

The problem is that anything that isn't kevlar or steel generally isn't going to do a respectable job vs any caliber that's worth shooting at a bad guy.

This is going to sound dumb but you'd be better off filling up some of the walls with old phone books, although even then a typical handgun projo will make it through a couple of those easy before it stops in the third.

Really thick, hard wood might stop a handgun bullet, but I'd be running some tests to confirm it ahead of time.

Poke around on the box of truth a bit... that site will give you an idea of what you are up against....

EG:
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot12.htm

-Mike

 

[Twigg]

Check the Box O Truth website for penetration testing. In the link they test .45acp ball & JHP rounds and they went straight through 12 sheets of 5/8 drywall. I don't think adding fibergalss batts would slow 'em down all that much - if at all. You might want to poke around that site it very informative.

 

[ChevyGuy91]

Just get a bunch of large potted plants. Maybe cactus's?

 

[joeendris]

Please stick with the given parameters.

initial comment, agreed.

Second comment about cost prohibitive materials was within parameters. I don't know of many commercially available materials that'll stop a .45 from going thru a wall. You can invest in a few sheets of Lexan (0.750" thick sheets for starters) and place them in strategic spots that "may" receive fire (doors, walkways, main entranceways/exitways to the house) but even that's pretty expensive stuff.

 

[PaulD]

Fiberglass insulation won't do a damned thing. I know this because an old acquaintance of mine had an ND in his house once, and he launched a .40 through the side of his house. Thankfully it went on a downward angle and just landed in the dirt outside. It cruised right through a layer of wallboard, a layer of fiberglass insulation, a piece of plywood, and aluminum siding.

The problem is that anything that isn't kevlar or steel generally isn't going to do a respectable job vs any caliber that's worth shooting at a bad guy.

This is going to sound dumb but you'd be better off filling up some of the walls with old phone books, although even then a typical handgun projo will make it through a couple of those easy before it stops in the third.

Really thick, hard wood might stop a handgun bullet, but I'd be running some tests to confirm it ahead of time.

Poke around on the box of truth a bit... that site will give you an idea of what you are up against....

EG:
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot12.htm

-Mike

Thanks. I may have the opportunity to move and build a house (*may* being the operative word here). If it's being built and I can get in there and do something to the walls to prevent penetration, I'd consider doing it. I'm mostly trying to figure out what could be done.

I'll poke around in there.

(and thanks MrTwigg also)

 

[drgrant]

00 buck shot. tends to stop real quick dumping all kinetic energy into intended target. Otherwise, construction materials to slow down trajectories on a "miss", can lead to self-defeating costs.

No offense, but fail.... Even 00 Buck will slice through a lot of common building materials, TBOT blasted right through a steel-clad door with it.

Again, anything worth shooting at a bad guy has the un-fun side affect of cruising through common walls. Unless your house (including the interior walls) are made out of cinderblocks or something, of course.

-Mike

 

[bpm990d]

You said reasonable, so carbon nanotubes are out.

B

 

[edhead35]

1/4 lexan in a 4 x 8 sheet is about $236. 3/4 lexan is astronomically higher

 

[PaulD]

initial comment, agreed.

Second comment about cost prohibitive materials was within parameters. I don't know of many commercially available materials that'll stop a .45 from going thru a wall. You can invest in a few sheets of Lexan (0.750" thick sheets for starters) and place them in strategic spots that "may" receive fire (doors, walkways, main entranceways/exitways to the house) but even that's pretty expensive stuff.

I was thinking it might make sense to add something to the bedroom walls if I couldn't afford to do something to the whole house. I was thinking some sort of matted material may help slow things down.

If I do this, I'd probably use Icynene insulation for the exterior walls. Maybe having them do the walls around the bedrooms would help. I would think 3.5" of that stuff plus the sheetrock would at least slow things down. As I said though, I'm open to cost effective ideas.

thanks.

 

[PaulD]

Just get a bunch of large potted plants. Maybe cactus's?

Am I supposed to throw those at the intruder or something?

Also, don't take this idea to mean that I'm trying to substitute for shot placement and being aware of what's behind the target. I'm taking a belt and suspenders approach here.

 

[Prepper]

Maybe isolate the parts of your house that need to be fitted with shielding. For example, if your plans are to crouch in a particular corner and shoot at bad guys through the window, then shield a few feet around that area, just near the floor.

 

[drgrant]

Thanks. I may have the opportunity to move and build a house (*may* being the operative word here). If it's being built and I can get in there and do something to the walls to prevent penetration, I'd consider doing it. I'm mostly trying to figure out what could be done.

I'll poke around in there.

(and thanks MrTwigg also)

Well, if you're building from the ground up another way of looking at it is, "what way are the bad guys probably coming from" and make sure all the people you care about are most likely going to be not in the way of those areas. Then there's all the obvious stuff like motion lights, maybe cameras, etc. I'd also look into reinforced doors and maybe shatter-proof window film for at least accessible ground level windows. Anything to slow the bastards down.

-Mike

 

[Prepper]

And some automated point defense lasers around the perimeter make a nice security enhancement too.

Oh right....

 

[Busa]

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/sitemap.htm
This guy tests all sorts of stuff.

 

[Squished]

Fill the walls with jello. That stuff will stop anything.

This. Or you could fill the walls with the Great Stuff expanding foam.

 

[PaulD]

And some automated point defense lasers around the perimeter make a nice security enhancement too.

Oh right....

Would my LTC-A cover that?

 

[PaulD]

This. Or you could fill the walls with the Great Stuff expanding foam.

That's a real possibility.

http://www.icynene.com/

 

[Prepper]

Or you could fill the walls with the Great Stuff expanding foam.

Although I half wonder if that might actually work.

 

[Squished]

Would my LTC-A cover that?

Before you get that far, check with your homeowner's insurance. You might need an additional rider.

 

[MACGYVR]

Are you building a crack house?

I think you are overly paranoid here.

Are you going to lag bolt the front door frame too to prevent the door from being rammed open by the cops?

What do you do when swat comes swinging in through the windows?

You literally are throwing money into a hole in the wall for something that statistically happens less than winning the lotto.

If you are hell bent on doing it, don't mickey mouse the job with home depot materials.

Buy the kevlar panels sold for this purpose. They are used in police stations, govt offices, etc where the probability of a nut job to start spraying bullets is high.

But I say take the money, buy some more guns and learn how to hit your target with them. Penetration through a wall won't be an issue.

 

[Bill Katt]

Don't know if this is something you might be interested in or not. Just found it, I know nothing about it.

http://www.armorcore.com/products-home-article2.html

 

[calsdad]

Say you had a typical interior wall in a stick built house. Assume it's typical 2x4 construction with a layer of sheet rock (assume the thicker stuff) on either side and skim coat plaster. Would insulating the wall with fiberglass batts help in any way with preventing penetration of a typical home defense round? For the sake of discussion, assume .45 ACP hollow points.

Also, is there any other reasonable technique that would help reduce penetration? By reasonable, I mean something that won't raise per square foot building costs by $50 per ft^2. So, no, I'm not putting steel plates between the studs.

Insulation for walls in homes is basically an air entrapment device. Anything that offers any penetration resistance to a projectile - is going to be on the opposite spectrum of mechanical properties from insulation.

Short answer:

No.