(1) Interesting you should pick this analogy. Two wars come to mind where the silk was better that the plate or leather armour, especially when it came to arrows. When the arrow hit the plate metal or leather it pierced and poisoned the recipient with bacteria &c.. Where when an arrow struck the silk the silk followed the arrow into the body, protecting the body from bacteria. Which is why Attila The Hun defeated the Romans and... ~ well, everyone. Plus they were better able to manoeuvre without heavy armour inhibiting them, which brings me to my next point: The lights still worked. The lens remained intact, I didn't need to tape it up with amble cellophane. The 3M did it's job. Had I had your system I think the lens still would have broken because it was a fairly big rock. I marvelled that it had not hit the paint job, only the lens. That's a lot of pointed force. I'm not saying that my system is better than your system ~ (2) your system can take more absorbency with the thick rubber ~ but mine is not yellowed.Green1 wrote: To continue your analogy, would you prefer armour made of thin flexible cotton, or thick leather? Struck on it's own, the cotton is more likely to survive as it can bend away better, however when against your skin with nowhere to go, the leather will keep you alive while a stick will go right through the cotton. (1)
You just gave the argument FOR the proper protector and AGAINST the one you are using.
The proper protector is MORE flexible due to it's thickness, this allows it to "give", something the 3M can't do because it has nowhere to go, it's too thin to "give" without bending the light beneath it (and the light DOESN'T bend)(2)
Armour MUST give to do it's job, your coating CAN'T give because it's too thin (on the metal all it needs to do is spread the impact enough to avoid a chip, (3)on the glass it must do more than that to avoid a crack)
(3) I'm a painter, this much I know ~ paint chips easier than glass or plastic, even multi component polyurethanes (plastic like) paints. Touche.
Falco.
P.S.: We are straying a little here but I feel it is still relevant to the topic of this thread. Either way Mr. Flibble, you ought to find something on this side of the pond that should suit your needs.... grins. But don't let me stop you.....
Good Ship