Total Security Solutions vice president Jim Richards travels extensively, and everywhere he goes he sees terrible bulletproof glass installations. These range from awkward angles and ugly finishes to downright dangerous lapses in design. “I see all kinds of stuff all the time,” he sighs, but most bad bulletproof glass installations …
Both renovation jobs and new commercial construction are increasingly incorporating bullet-resistant barriers. This isn’t just in true in high-crime areas, where fast-food restaurants and 24-hour liquor stores have long relied on bandit barriers to deter armed robberies. Many university and government projects now benefit from Homeland Security grants, which can …
Jim Richards, vice president of Total Security Solutions, has been around long enough to have seen his fair share of bad ideas for bulletproof systems. Jim was recently reminded of one project he was asked to bid on: A national-chain big box store on the fringe of a suburban community …
Shockingly few commercial landlords are really familiar with bulletproof barriers, even though there’s increasing demand for bulletproof windows among tenants common to suburban mixed-use retail centers. Family-owned pharmacies, precious metal buyers, and store-front financial service business that handle check-cashing, short-term loans, and money transfers all want bulletproof security. But just …
There are five components to any bullet-resistant barrier system: Transparency (aka the “bulletproof glass”) Bullet resistant fiberglass panels Voice systems and passers Bullet resistant doors Ballistic framing The transparency is the part you think of first, the so-called “bulletproof glass.” (FYI, this isn’t really glass. “Bulletproof glass” is actually one …
Bullet resistant panels and glass are nearly unique, in that the product is so familiar–we’ve all seen it, touched it, and know what it does–but, in contrast to a car, flat-panel TV, or college education, few of us have seen the price tag. Total Security Solutions vice president Jim Richards …
Since the Mexican government began its crackdown in 2006, drug-cartel related gun violence has killed nearly 60,000 people–mostly Mexican citizens, and far too many of them bystanders, journalists, or innocent family members totally uninvolved in the drug trade. Bullet resistant panels are becoming an increasingly hot commodity on both sides …
Carbon nanotubes are the strongest and stiffest materials yet discovered, and show promise for everything from safer space-station modules to ballistic underwear and bullet resistant fiberglass panels thinner than a playing card. AN INTRODUCTION TO CARBON NANOTUBES A single carbon nanotube is a hollow fiber just a nanometer wide (i.e., …
In order to improve workplace safety, more companies are choosing to install a higher level of ballistic barriers. This is a major shift. In years past, it would have been uncommon for a corporate workplace to invest in a bullet-resistant barrier rated higher than UL Level 3 (that’s a system …