Methods
‘Wet
Paper’ test methodology
All testing relating to medium named 'wet paper' is carried out using phonebooks soaked in water.
This medium in my experience approximates how a bullet behaves in general in game and I am not aware of any better medium when considering economic feasibility, simplicity and availability. It does appear to be harder to penetrate than game and I find that unless large bone is struck a bullet will generally penetrate significantly more in game.
The phonebooks are soaked to achieve ‘visible saturation’, that is, saturation of the paper to a point where no dry paper is visible right to the centre of each book, in a manner such that this state is only just achieved without further (unmeasurable) saturation that may result in significant changes to the paper’s physical characteristics. This seems to me to be the only way to achieve some reasonable level of consistency as soaking rates might vary according to differences in book size, book thickness or the location of each book within the water column; therefore simply relying on soaking time as a measurement for consistency is not valid within manageable timeframes. Saturation is done by placing the books in a plastic garbage bin with enough weight on the lid to keep them all submerged (they are very buoyant when dry). Enough room must be available for the phonebooks to expand (they expand to around 160%-180% of their original thickness), while leaving a minimum of excess room (which may allow some books to saturate at a significantly faster rate than others). At 90 minutes the books are opened and checked to ensure that all are saturated to the centre (usually they are not). If not, they are allowed to continue soaking and then checked in another 15 minutes and so on until full saturation is achieved (usually 120 minutes is enough).
I suppose another method to try and achieve consistency would be to soak them for an extended period of time thus reducing the differences in saturation (ie all books would become 100% saturated), however not only would they be very difficult to handle at such an extreme level of saturation but this would also result in less opportunities in our already busy lives to conduct testing.
While it is acknowledged that the location of the spine of a phonebook may cause some differences to the resistance of the medium, it is easier to ‘read’ the fate of the projectiles if all books face the same way so I have chosen to conveniently ignore this variable (although I do try to ensure that bullets are placed at least 50mm/2inches from the spine).
It is acknowledged that it is very difficult to ensure consistency of the medium and it is not stated nor implied that the medium is always consistent.
All testing relating to medium named 'wet paper' is carried out using phonebooks soaked in water.
This medium in my experience approximates how a bullet behaves in general in game and I am not aware of any better medium when considering economic feasibility, simplicity and availability. It does appear to be harder to penetrate than game and I find that unless large bone is struck a bullet will generally penetrate significantly more in game.
The phonebooks are soaked to achieve ‘visible saturation’, that is, saturation of the paper to a point where no dry paper is visible right to the centre of each book, in a manner such that this state is only just achieved without further (unmeasurable) saturation that may result in significant changes to the paper’s physical characteristics. This seems to me to be the only way to achieve some reasonable level of consistency as soaking rates might vary according to differences in book size, book thickness or the location of each book within the water column; therefore simply relying on soaking time as a measurement for consistency is not valid within manageable timeframes. Saturation is done by placing the books in a plastic garbage bin with enough weight on the lid to keep them all submerged (they are very buoyant when dry). Enough room must be available for the phonebooks to expand (they expand to around 160%-180% of their original thickness), while leaving a minimum of excess room (which may allow some books to saturate at a significantly faster rate than others). At 90 minutes the books are opened and checked to ensure that all are saturated to the centre (usually they are not). If not, they are allowed to continue soaking and then checked in another 15 minutes and so on until full saturation is achieved (usually 120 minutes is enough).
I suppose another method to try and achieve consistency would be to soak them for an extended period of time thus reducing the differences in saturation (ie all books would become 100% saturated), however not only would they be very difficult to handle at such an extreme level of saturation but this would also result in less opportunities in our already busy lives to conduct testing.
While it is acknowledged that the location of the spine of a phonebook may cause some differences to the resistance of the medium, it is easier to ‘read’ the fate of the projectiles if all books face the same way so I have chosen to conveniently ignore this variable (although I do try to ensure that bullets are placed at least 50mm/2inches from the spine).
It is acknowledged that it is very difficult to ensure consistency of the medium and it is not stated nor implied that the medium is always consistent.