Darklight Wayfarer environmental suit, Mk.1

[Anyonymoose]

Official Name: Darklight Wayfarer environmental suit Mk.1

Faction/Affiliation: Independant

Weight: 20/35 Kilograms, without and with the jumpjet respectively.

Manufacturer: Darklight Industries



Stock/Custom: Stock



Classification: Multi-purpose
, Environmental protection
Rating: IV

Composition: Cinnagar weave jumpsuit with Duraplast additions, and stylish Synthleather upholstery.



Other: The Darklight Wayfarer is available in a wide variety of forms catering to many different species, and many different environments (Primarily space and underwater locations) hence the multiple helmet configurations. In addition, a complimentary translation module is present in most models, allowing for ease of communication between species.



Description:



The Darklight Wayfarer Mk.1 was designed by Darklight industries to allow one to operate in sub-optimal environmental conditions without the need to wear a full Enviro-suit, which would limit functionality of the operator due to it's size and general puffiness. The Wayfarer comes complete with a hermetically sealed jumpsuit encased within a Cinnagar weave structure. 10mm Duraplast elbow and kneepads backed with Synthleather are used to supplement the mostly-fiber armor, as well as a 14mm Duraplast and Synthleather utility vest, reinforced synthleather mag-boots, insulated gloves, and a small back-mounted pack containing a rebreathing system that allows for five hours of continuous air-supply.



In addition to providing protection the Wayfarer's vest also acts as a harness and support platform for any additional packages obtained for the Wayfarer Mk.1, such as an optional jumpjet package which provides space-bound users limited mobility if separated from their craft, or moving through zero-G environments.



The Wayfarer Mk.1's helmet can be fitted and customized per the user's request, though all systems will be in possession of a wireless PDA device which will be used to assist in monitoring vitals and controls, polarized frontal lenses, and a black-tinted light-reactive coating. All helmets will include external speakers for easy communications, as well as short-range comms to allow for teams to communicate in a hands-free manner while working on sensitive projects.

[Anyonymoose]

Also ready for reviews and whatnot, thanks.

[Fromikeable]

Same as with the ship, here are a few notes to get you started:

Looking at the materials, their subsequent armor rating, and inclusion of a full-fledged jetpack, this armor probably weighs a lot more than 35 kilos. To give you an idea, the US uses armor that'd probably hit a rating of... about II or III here on SWU that weighs 11 kilos. That's barebones compared to this; it's armor and nothing more, made to achieve some equilibrium of protection and mobility. They stop most pistol rounds (depending on where they're shot), a handful of rifle rounds (again, depending on statistics, location, and sometimes sheer luck), and pretty much just try to block shrapnel and provide a slight hindrance to anything bigger. In layman's terms, that's a simple set of grunt gear in a nutshell.

This thing is made out of starship armor (Duraplast is the same stuff they make combat ships out of), has a fully-operational jetpack, a full-fledged environmental suite, and still maintains a rating of VI.

I'm gonna' say it weighs at least triple of what's listed.

Beyond that, strong as it may be, 10mm of heavy, stiff duraplast might stop a heavy round, but there's a difference between "stopping" and "protecting". The Cinnagar is basically a SWU version of kevlar, so that's also not stopping anything bigger than a big pistol slug.

Long story short, this thing's armor rating really stands at something more like a IV. The weight also stands a lot closer to 70 or 80 kilos.

I would recommend choosing something lighter than Duraplast. This armor's going to be inherently heavy so long as the jetpack's about (think of carrying around a 20 kilo backpack filled with propellant). The environmental systems also add another 10 kilos or so (remember, environmental systems essentially mean this thing is part NASA space suit). If you're character's strong, he might be able to rock some Cinnagar and Durasteel plus the jetpack (just so long as he isn't exactly in for a long haul at normal gravity or higher). Otherwise, this should really be a II armor with the environmental systems and the jetpack. If the rating's any higher, than it really needs to scrap some of the bells and whistles in order to make it of a practical weight.

[Anyonymoose]

Jumpjets and jetpacks aren't the same thing, as far as I am aware. A jumpjet would be more along the lines of providing short bursts of movement over , while a jetpack provides sustained lift for extended periods of time. A jetpack would, thusly, require a significantly more substantial supply of fuel than a jumpjet would. Depending on how long the jumpjet is made to last, at least. That being said, I can still increase the weight, but an extra 15 kilos for a box and tank of fuel is pretty heavy. That's 33 pounds. Adding an extra five kilos puts it at 44.09 pounds, which really starts to put a damper on the whole "Lifting an already heavy entity off of the ground for sustained periods of time" thing. starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jump_pack An explanatory link to what I'm talking about as far as the difference between jumpjets/jump packs and a normal jetpack.

That being said, I can still change it if you REALLY want me to.

Now, that bit out of the way, I would think that something regularly used in the construction of shipping crates and full-body armors that are more than likely thicker than a centimeter would be much lighter than you say it is. Starships are made of both duraplast and durasteel, and combat armors are occasionally constructed out of duraplast. See Katarn-class (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Katarn-class_commando_armor) armors. Keep in mind that this suit isn't completely covered in Duraplast either. There's a vest, front and back with the sides covered, elbow pads, shoulder pads, and kneepads. That's it. Everything else is pretty much just an insulated, layered Cinnagar and synthleather jumpsuit.

Now, Cinnagar was chosen specifically for it's resistance to temperature extremes. An Enviro suit is made to withstand such extremes, naturally, so it only makes sense to use an insulated jumpsuit of material made famous for it's resistance to extreme heat and cold. The only issue that I personally have with what you said about that bit, is that Kevlar is an umbrella term. There isn't one generic fiber that universally protects against different things, there are like... seven. Saying something is basically like Kevlar really doesn't help anything when you don't specify exactly what you mean. > www.safeguardarmor.com/articles/body-armor-levels/ < Link describing the accepted NIJ(National Institute of Justice) protection levels offered by both stab-proof and bullet-proof vests.

Using some reality-established NIJ-approved level-four ballistic plates as an example, www.bulletproofme.com/RP-Level-4-Stand-Alone.html , a set of two 14mm thick torso-sized Durasteel plates and two side-covering plates of the same thickness probably isn't going to be a whole lot different than a set of two 19mm thick plates that only weigh in at 4.5-5 kilos at the max.

Other than that, it is stated that it isn't a full HEV suit. It isn't made to give someone extremely long periods of time to work with in a hostile environment like a full-fledged version would, it's made to balance weight, time, and utility to give a person as much time with as many of their faculties as possible. You'd probably only somewhere around nine hours of work in given the size of the rebreather, which is made specifically to recycle the oxygen that isn't absorbed by your lungs on exhale. Other than that bit of the suit, which would really be one of the heaviest parts of it outside of the protective utility vest, not a whole lot would be going on as far as tech goes. Maybe a series of heat sinks and heating elements embedded within the suit, potentially a streamlined and very light atmospheric regulation system so whoever is in the suit doesn't explode or compress into the helmet so to speak, but otherwise not a whole lot going on. Think old-fashioned Diver's suit, only more self-sustaining and lightweight.

Otherwise, I set the protection level at 6 due to the fact that the suit would be incredibly resistant to temperature effects, and would probably be able to take it's fair share of laser bolts with the odd kinetic slug thrown in. It may not cover everything, but there is still a duraplast vest in there. Still though, not a combat suit. I'll change the protection rating, but I am very hesitant to change anything else unless you're absolutely certain of it. You all have the final say of course, I'd just like to potentially clear any confusion up if it exists.