Uncle Roger's Notebooks of Daily Life

Body Armor Buyers Guide

280 Northbound, heading into San Francisco from the penninsula, Joins up with Highway 1 and then splits again in Daly City.

280 North continues off to the right towards downtown while Highway 1 continues North, eventually following 19th Avenue to Golden Gate Park and towards the Golden Gate Bridge. At the point where Highway 1 turns onto 19th avenue, there are four lanes headed north. The first and second lanes (from the left/West) turn left to jog onto 19th. The third lane can either turn left or continue straight onto Junipero Serra Boulevard.

The fourth lane has the choice of going straight onto Junipero Serra or turning right in a little cut-out, peel-off, right-turn exit-kind-of-thing. Cars making a right turn don't actually go all the way to the limit line at the intersection; they turn off sonner than that. The right turn lane actually cuts off the corner, leaving a little triangle-shaped island of sidewalk at the intersection.

Last night, coming home from dinner, we were in the right hand lane zipping along when a car came up on our left and suddenly cut in front of us to try and make the right turn. I stood on the brakes and did my best not to hit him, but I ended up hitting his right rear quarter-panel.

He kinda fish-tailed, straightened up, got to the intersection, and made the illegal right turn around the island. He would have kept going, except that I was right behind him, honking all the way. We pulled over by the back side of the gas station and got out to survey the damage. He was, not surprisingly, a fairly young kid. When we got out, and for the whole time we spoke, he had a cellphone earbud in his ear. I don't think he was on the phone as we spoke, and I don't know if he was on the phone when he made his ill-fated turn, but if he had any brains whatsoever, he would have taken it out before getting out of the car.

So, he car had a couple of decent dents with a fair bit of black paint from our bumper. Our bumper was out of whack, enough so that I was concerned about the strength and integrity of the mounts. If we're going to put a winch on there, I don't want the bumper falling off the first time we use it. Well, our friend didn't seem to think it was worth dealing with, but when I pressed the issue, he wanted to simply write a check.

Given that I didn't know how much it would cost to fix or even if this guy had any money, I declined. I took down all his info, gave him mine, and we went on our merry ways.

So, today I come in to work, and there sitting on my desk is the freebie magazine from Four Wheel Parts Wholesalers with a article listed on the cover:

Related Links Four Wheel Parts Wholesalers

[ Posted: 11:40 | home | print ]

that sucks about the accident. drivers out here stink! i've never had so many close calls. i know the spot you're talking about even and can see in my head exactly what happened. i have to admit, though... what does body armor have to do with an accident?

Posted by dugh

The advantage of body armor...

...is that it shifts the damage more to their car than yours. With the way people drive these days, an armored vehicle doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Posted by Uncle Roger

hrmmm...

for some reason i was reading it literally as "body" as in "chest armor". after an irritating sunday trapped at work (the exception, at least, and not the rule) my brain isn't running full capacity. would you actually get this "body" armor if money wasn't an issue and it didn't kill your MPG?

Posted by dugh

Body Armor for the car...

not the driver, btw. Here's a couple of links (or URL's, since links don't seem to work): <ul> <li>The article http://www.4wheelpartsadventures.com/currentIssue/040903t-body-armor.html</li> <li>Safari Gard (sells skid plates, diff guards, bumpers for Land Rovers) http://66.155.8.194/catalog/discovery_ii_rear_bumper_2412426.htm</li> <li>Expedition Exchange -- I want their dreadnought sliders https://www.expeditionexchange.com/dreadnought/</li> </ul>

Posted by Uncle Roger

The shopping list...

Next on my list is a rear bumper -- the one this guy has: http://www.pbase.com/jamooche/image/23098377 Followed by the sliders from Expedition Exchange: https://www.expeditionexchange.com/dreadnought/ After that, it's skid plates and diff guards. The actual intent is to protect the vehicle from rocks and other obstacles -- have you seen the potholes on third street lately? 8^)

Posted by Uncle Roger

on third street? i can't say i have, but i've driven my subaru through the construction they have going on mission between about 4th and 10th. for some strange reason the workers aren't sliding the metal plates over the entire hole in a few spots... some of that stuff is far out of my league. for a guy that spent a lot of time in the midwest i have not too much interest in my motorized transportation. that might change if i could ever afford something i *really* wanted, though...

Posted by dugh