Biscuitsjam
Senior Member
Since I'm bored staying at the house, I thought it might be fun for a more light-hearted thread.
How suitable would a skoolie be for a Mad Max scenario? Think nuclear post-apocalypse with lots of crazies wielding guns, spears, and razor-sharp boomerangs, fighting over every scrap of fuel, water, or food they can get their hands on. In Mad Max, vehicles are protected with turrets, spikes on all sides, crazy grappling hooks, and other such insanity. Rick Grimes also utilized school buses in his various wars against the survivors of the zombie apocalypse.
I'll start the discussion off talking about armor:
Weight:
The main consideration with armor is weight. My 1998 36-foot Amtran RE has a GVWR of 36,000 lbs but only weighs 20,000 lbs with a full tank of gas and a half-finished conversion. That gives me 16,000 lbs for food, ammo, water, armor, and attached wrecking balls. However, I figure that I could exceed that by about 10,000 lbs without mechanical failure. Sure, my crappy performance would be even worse, but I don't think it would leave me stranded by the side of the road. Offroad capability would be nonexistent with heavy armor. Another consideration is the center of gravity - putting steel turrets up top would make it top heavy, and even steel plate would likely make it unstable in uneven terrain.
Sandbags:
A full sandbag weighs approximately 40 lbs and is 8" x 16" x 4". You need 16" of sand to stop 7.62mm machinegun rounds, or a layer two sandbags thick. Heavy machinegun rounds require 32" of sand, or 4 sandbags thick. Clay is less effective at stopping bullets and requires twice the thickness as sand for the same level of protection.
If you wanted to add field expedient IED protection, you would need a double-layer of sandbags on the floor (8" of sand), at a weight of approximately 90 pounds per square foot under the feet of any passengers.
Protecting the entire floor and the entire wall of a 36 foot bus up to four feet high would cost you approximately 24,000 lbs / 608 sandbags for the floor and 57,600 lbs / 1440 sandbags for the wall, an excessive amount. Providing protection to a smaller area is feasible but would likely max out the suspension.
Steel plate:
You can stop 7.62mm with 1/2 inch steel plate, for about 20 lbs per square foot, or 5400lbs for the floor and 7200 lbs for the walls up to 4' high, a more reasonable amount of weight. 360 degree protection would weigh about 24000 lbs, depending on how you configure it. That would be possible, but wouldn't leave any excess weight capacity for food, flame throwers, or water filtration. It would likely make sense to use less or no armor on the roof. If you use hardened steel and line with kevlar, you can achieve .50 BMG (non-armor piercing) protection, equivalent to military vehicles.
Protecting against glass:
Glass is a hazard and should be lined with sandbags or otherwise protected against if not removed. Bulletproof glass is an option, but is both expensive and very heavy. Companies will let you custom order anything you want, but they wont give price quotes or discuss weight without a legitimate inquiry, so I can't do a decent estimate on price or weight, other than "a lot."
Fuel tanks:
They should definitely be protected. Although diesel is not easy to light, gunshots to the fuel system can quickly disable a vehicle. Sandbags are possible on a bus with a wooden frame but not very practical. Steel plate makes more sense.
Tires:
Run-flat tires are available. Auto tire inflation systems are an option on some buses but relatively rare. Either or both would increase the ability to survive a fight. However, it should be possible to escape a kill zone ambush with flat tires. You could add steel plate to the outside of the wheel wells but it would make tire changes much more difficult.
Turrets:
Two turrets at the bus hatches are feasible. A front shield would keep the weight down. Side and back protection increases weight dramatically, and you might need want to consider adding an electric motor. Otherwise, it would be very slow and difficult to rotate when parked on a slope.
Conclusion:
A bus simply can't handle the weight to be a fully armored vehicle, but it would be possible to make careful considerations of tradeoffs to armor vulnerable areas .
The high GVWR could let you increase survival against mutant zombie bikers, the walking dead, or other nefarious desperadoes.
How suitable would a skoolie be for a Mad Max scenario? Think nuclear post-apocalypse with lots of crazies wielding guns, spears, and razor-sharp boomerangs, fighting over every scrap of fuel, water, or food they can get their hands on. In Mad Max, vehicles are protected with turrets, spikes on all sides, crazy grappling hooks, and other such insanity. Rick Grimes also utilized school buses in his various wars against the survivors of the zombie apocalypse.
I'll start the discussion off talking about armor:
Weight:
The main consideration with armor is weight. My 1998 36-foot Amtran RE has a GVWR of 36,000 lbs but only weighs 20,000 lbs with a full tank of gas and a half-finished conversion. That gives me 16,000 lbs for food, ammo, water, armor, and attached wrecking balls. However, I figure that I could exceed that by about 10,000 lbs without mechanical failure. Sure, my crappy performance would be even worse, but I don't think it would leave me stranded by the side of the road. Offroad capability would be nonexistent with heavy armor. Another consideration is the center of gravity - putting steel turrets up top would make it top heavy, and even steel plate would likely make it unstable in uneven terrain.
Sandbags:
A full sandbag weighs approximately 40 lbs and is 8" x 16" x 4". You need 16" of sand to stop 7.62mm machinegun rounds, or a layer two sandbags thick. Heavy machinegun rounds require 32" of sand, or 4 sandbags thick. Clay is less effective at stopping bullets and requires twice the thickness as sand for the same level of protection.
If you wanted to add field expedient IED protection, you would need a double-layer of sandbags on the floor (8" of sand), at a weight of approximately 90 pounds per square foot under the feet of any passengers.
Protecting the entire floor and the entire wall of a 36 foot bus up to four feet high would cost you approximately 24,000 lbs / 608 sandbags for the floor and 57,600 lbs / 1440 sandbags for the wall, an excessive amount. Providing protection to a smaller area is feasible but would likely max out the suspension.
Steel plate:
You can stop 7.62mm with 1/2 inch steel plate, for about 20 lbs per square foot, or 5400lbs for the floor and 7200 lbs for the walls up to 4' high, a more reasonable amount of weight. 360 degree protection would weigh about 24000 lbs, depending on how you configure it. That would be possible, but wouldn't leave any excess weight capacity for food, flame throwers, or water filtration. It would likely make sense to use less or no armor on the roof. If you use hardened steel and line with kevlar, you can achieve .50 BMG (non-armor piercing) protection, equivalent to military vehicles.
Protecting against glass:
Glass is a hazard and should be lined with sandbags or otherwise protected against if not removed. Bulletproof glass is an option, but is both expensive and very heavy. Companies will let you custom order anything you want, but they wont give price quotes or discuss weight without a legitimate inquiry, so I can't do a decent estimate on price or weight, other than "a lot."
Fuel tanks:
They should definitely be protected. Although diesel is not easy to light, gunshots to the fuel system can quickly disable a vehicle. Sandbags are possible on a bus with a wooden frame but not very practical. Steel plate makes more sense.
Tires:
Run-flat tires are available. Auto tire inflation systems are an option on some buses but relatively rare. Either or both would increase the ability to survive a fight. However, it should be possible to escape a kill zone ambush with flat tires. You could add steel plate to the outside of the wheel wells but it would make tire changes much more difficult.
Turrets:
Two turrets at the bus hatches are feasible. A front shield would keep the weight down. Side and back protection increases weight dramatically, and you might need want to consider adding an electric motor. Otherwise, it would be very slow and difficult to rotate when parked on a slope.
Conclusion:
A bus simply can't handle the weight to be a fully armored vehicle, but it would be possible to make careful considerations of tradeoffs to armor vulnerable areas .
The high GVWR could let you increase survival against mutant zombie bikers, the walking dead, or other nefarious desperadoes.
