When the latest body armor flap broke ten days ago, several commenters here talked up the Dragon Skin protective system as a better alternative. Now, Soldiers for the Truth -- the group which ignited the current armor debate -- is passing on reports from two deploying GIs that "their commander told them if they were wearing Pinnacle Dragon Skin and were killed their beneficiaries might not receive the death benefits from their $400,000 SGLI life insurance policies."
According to Defense Review -- which has been tracking Pinnacle's gear for a while -- the Skin is basically your standard body armor, laced with silver-dollar sized ceramic discs. These are configured over the vest like scales (hence the "Dragon" sobriquet).
Some folks say the Skin is at least as tough as standard-issue armor, and it's flexible, too -- which should make it more comfortable. But, if I'm reading right, the basic Dragon Skin vest weighs about 8 lbs. more than the Interceptor OTV armor that soldiers generally wear now. That extra weight, I'm guessing, is the reason why one commander tried to spook his men out of their Skin. And I have a feeling this is just one commander's words -- not some Pentagon-wide directive, as SFTT implies. We'll see.
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