The NovaSteel Buckler - ballistic shield - ADEPT USA

Ideal backpack armor. With a 12.2″ diameter, it's larger than most IIIA-rated sets of backpack armor, and simultaneously much more functional.

Specifications:

• Diameter: 12.2″
• Weight: 3 pounds
• Color: Black
• Threat Level: IIIA / VPAM-3
• Standard features:

Level IIIA protection
Advanced alloy construction
Ambidextrous
Rugged and durable handle

Revival of the Ancient Form

The buckler is not a new concept. It is so old that its origins are lost to history. Bucklers are plainly visible in carvings from Sumeria, Ur, and Babylon. Greek Peltasts were named after their shields, peltae, which in many cases resembled bucklers. Roman gladiators called Hoplomachi were equipped with bucklers, which they often used as offensive weapons. And bucklers have seen extensive use from the fall of Rome through the early modern era, a thorough review of which is freely available online.

As the age of gunpowder and duelists developed, some would say devolved, into an age of industrialized warfare, bucklers gradually fell out of favour and eventually disappeared entirely. Modern ballistic shields owe nothing of their form or function to it. This is an oversight that must be corrected, for the form of the buckler makes it a uniquely useful and versatile implement today - especially when it is made of an advanced ballistic steel alloy.

Uniquely Versatile

Though relatively small at 12.2″ in diameter, the buckler is designed to be held away from the body, and as such it can protect a significantly larger area than its size conveys. Held properly, at arm's length, it offers a much larger area of protection than most armor plates or vests, and can protect areas that are typically unarmored, like the neck and face.

The NovaSteel Buckler is light enough to benefit from its user's autonomic startle-flinch response - and, with some training, can reliably be properly positioned to protect its wearer from harm.

And as the bucklers of olden times were designed to be used alongside the sword, so the NovaSteel Buckler is designed to be used alongside a handgun. Supported on the buckler's flat shoulder, handguns are stabilized, and the user's most vulnerable parts are covered and protected.

Furthermore, the NovaSteel Buckler can be used as an offensive weapon in its own right, and particularly excels as a non-lethal compliance weapon. It was designed with this use in mind.

The NovaSteel Buckler is an effective, durable, versatile, and inexpensive ballistic shield.