Security Window Film

[mollypup]

I've been looking for some security window film to do all my windows with. I can't decide. All I want is the basic stuff, none of this "iced", "etched" or lacy looking stuff. I want it to slow down intruders as much as possible. I'm not particularly trying to save on my heating/ac bills. Have any of you put film your windows? Did you like it and where did you get it?

thanks!

[Daca102090]

Google "Hurricane Film". This is a polycarbonate film that goes onto both sides of the window. What I have found comes in 5 foot wide rolls and then runs about $20 or $25 per running foot. You can get this in clear and tinted.

[Daca102090]

I am away from my home computer right now, but I will try to remember and put up a link to a place or two I have found tommorrow.

[Daca102090]

Here you go Mollypup this place seems to have good information as well as materials.
DIY 9 Mil Security Window Film by the Linear Foot

[The Stig]

Couple different products in this thread that might help out Molly.

[mollypup]

Thanks guys! That's some great information and really helps me out a lot!

[Sniper-T]

Interesting... Hadn't heard of this stuff before. I'm liking the idea of the tinted stuff for my sunroom windows, at least for the outside, and then a clear on the inside.

Has anyone used it? or currnetly using it? Any reviews other than the company hype on their websites?

I wonder if this stuff would add any kind of R factor to the window?

[Gunfixr]

Since I am currently looking at "up armoring"m windows, and saw this thread, I looked around at some products.
I ended up deciding to stay with my original idea. While the film has merits, I'm not certain that it will suffice.Enough research showed a couple flaws that may be enough to be a bad deal. Primarily, the film is glued to the glass, making it shatterproof, and holding it together. If it is impacted, the glass still breaks, but the film makes it stay intact, much like windshields in automobiles. The problem is in the installation and design of the windows themselves. Usually the film is applied to already assembled and installed windows. What this means is that the film goes right to the edges of the glass where it meets the frame, but with a tiny gap all the way around the edge. The only way to get around this is to remove the window from its frame, apply the film, and reglaze it in place. This leaves an unprotected weak edge all the way around where the glass can shatter and leave the whole window to fall out in one big piece. The other problem is that in most windows, the frame has a ledge that the glass sits against that is only about 1/8" or so wide. Once the glass is hit, and breaks, it becomes more like a big piece of thin plastic, which is somewhat flexible. It would then flex enough to be pushed right through the frame and fall out with a second hit. While these problems are not really a big deal in hurricane protection, where the likelihood of a second hit is small, an intruder trying to gain entry would certainly hit it again, and gain entry.
In fact, 3M acknowledges and addresses this problem with a film system specifically for break in protection. It uses the heavier film, coupled with an adhesive system to glue the filmed glass into the window frame.

My original plan was to use Lexan panels on the windows. The glass cannot effectively be directly replaced with Lexan panels, as due to its flexibility and the small bearing area to the frame, it would simply pop out if hit solidly. This is why so few windows are Lexan, unless the window system was built specifically for it. My plan is to have Lexan panels that are cut to sit against the window frame around the area outside of the glass, where it is rather wide. On a standard double hung window, a piece is screwed to the inside of the bottom, and the outside of the top. This allows the window to open and close as normal. On at least the outside piece, security screws are used to prevent a screwdriver from being used to simply remove the panel. If the top window is hit, it must be hit hard enough to flex all the way to the glass to cause breakage, and even so, the intruder is denied entry. A hit to the bottom immediately breaks the glass, but the Lexan stays intact, again denying entry. The amount of impact required to gain entry is determined by the Lexan sheets' thickness. However, 4 1/16" pieces together will stop a 9mm projectile. A single 1/8" piece securely attached to the frame would take a fullsize crowbar or sledgehammer to break. Such a tool will open most doors, so it becomes a moot point. Remember, you will not keep someone out who is determined, you are only making it hard enough for them to seek easier targets.
I did not find any pricing of window film, so I could not compare cost. To cover all of my first floor windows in 1/8" Lexan, using SS security screws, is going to run me about $800.
Considering that I just lost somewhere between $2000-$2500, it will be cheap by comparison.

ETA: While I don't know about the insulating properties of films, adding a second pane to the windows will make them better insulators, since there will now be a dead air space between the two.

[Sniper-T]

Gunfixr... where did you get your 'stopping power' information from?

I did some experiments a couple years ago with some 1/4" lexan; shooting it with a variety of calibers from 5' to 20 yards.

I'm sure I still have the pics around somewhere, but in a nutshel these are the results:

single pc 1/4" thick - everything from .22 and up went clean through. both from handgun and from rifle. (punched a neat clean hole).

when doubled and tripled - same result!

I then took 2 pces and mounted them 1/4 apart (gap in the middle)
.22 clean through the first, stopped at the second (bulging it slightly). Repeated shots were necessary, but the back piece broke into pieces.
.30-.30 clean through the first, deformed the second in a huge way. second shot destroyed the back piece.
9mm clean through the first, moderately deformed the second. took 3 shots to shatter the second.

3 pcs, mounted with the same gap:
.22 again, clean through the first... repeated shots slowly bulging out the second until it made contact with the third. The third started to deform, but continued to hold, until the first pc was so shot up, that the rounds were going through without touching it, at which time, they went clean through the second and third.

9mm again, clean through the first, deformed the second into contact with the third, the next 4 shots were held, but the sixth shot shattered both the back 2

7.62X39 FMJ, went clean through all three pieces, no deforming, just a clean hole.

Incidentally, I had been hearing a bunch of people on different forums extolling phonebooks as body armour, so I did a pile of experiments with them too. result in a nutshell: NOT suitable for body Armour!

[The Stig]

Incidentally, I had been hearing a bunch of people on different forums extolling phonebooks as body armour, so I did a pile of experiments with them too. result in a nutshell: NOT suitable for body Armour!