In recent months Total Security Solutions has seen an uptick in bullet resistant door orders, especially so-called “transactional doors.” These are ballistically rated doors with integrated transaction windows, a one-piece solution for controlling access to worker areas while easing secure interaction with patrons.
bullet resistant transactional door
BULLET RESISTANT DOOR BUYERS
According to Total Security Solutions vice president Jim Richards, transactional bullet resistant doors are an especially attractive option to “anybody who has limited space, but needs to add an extra pay-point.” In the last few months, these have included night clubs and pharmacies, as well as check cashers, strip-mall gold buyers, and other small businesses. “Those store-fronts are only so big, so they need to maximize as much working space as they can.”
WOOD PANEL BULLET RESISTANT DOORS
In order to make a wood bullet resistant door like the one in the above photo, Total Security Solutions starts with a solid wood core. This is machined to accommodate the transaction window, then backed with bullet resistant fiberglass. The desired panels or other aesthetic elements are then installed, and the door veneered with wood suitable to the customer’s decor. The result is a door that can seamlessly blend into any office or shop without making visitors feel like they’re caught in the crosshairs.
Although somewhat pricier than steel models–both owing to their components and the complexity of their construction–these wooden-veneered bullet resistant doors really appeal to upscale businesses, or anyone who would rather avoid a fortress-like look and feel.
ALL-STEEL BULLET RESISTANT DOORS
Some businesses really need the more imposing industrial look of all-steel doors. These are hollow core door (to minimize weight), with heavy-gauge steel faces on both the threat and protected side. Centered within this hollow core are one–or more–sheets of quarter-inch, three-eights-inch, or half-inch bullet resistant fiberglass, held in place by wooden blocks.
This design leaves two air-gaps of a half-inch or more inside the door, on either side of the fiberglass barrier. This gap is an excellent feature, Jim Jim Richards notes, as it makes it possible for the door to “catch” projectiles: Any decent-caliber bullet will pop through the threat-side steel face, then strike the fiberglass panel. This panel rebuffs the bullet like a baseball backstop deflecting a foul ball. The bullet, deformed by its impacts and sapped of momentum, lacks the energy to pop back through the steel face, and thus rattles harmlessly around within the door. By preventing dangerous ricochets during a catastrophic situation, steel-clad transactional bullet resistant doors offer the highest level of safety and security.