I am designing a forearm bracer for my left arm. It is intended to be protective as well as housing for certain gear. It is made of leather with a spectra liner, and in addition has thin metal rods stiched to the outer arm area to further protect against slash knife attack. It covers all the way back to the elbow, and may even curve around somewhat. It also covers the back of the hand and incorporates hard knuckle pieces to facilitate a blunt offensive fist, if need be. Will it come with a watch? Probably. Maybe even a compass. Perhaps even a pepper spray canister triggered by the thumb on the side of the fore-finger. It might have a small compartment somewhere for small objects like a lighter. I also am designing it so it can function as an armgaurd for archery.
Well, I am wondering if anybody else was inspired by "Predator" to make something like this. I would like ideas from anybody brave enough to share them. Outlandish, on the edge of sci-fi, practical, even the downright absurd are all welcome for perusal. But I am most interested in a slim design with plenty of useful features and functions.

Whatever the final product would be, make sure that all the parts are easily taken apart. All the components can be easily serviced and the whole thing can be easily removed/put back on.

Sounds like a cool project though!

I had an idea a while back for sewing Kevlar and thin wire (or maybe like a chain mail) into a leather jacket to offer protection from knives and other sharp implements.

Something like that always made sense to me, since the natural reaction when someone comes after you with a knife is to hold up your arms over your face in defense. With the bulk of the jacket protecting your torso and the sleeves protecting your arms (and therefore face) you're pretty much covered from the waste up. It wouldn't help with needles, or anything like that, but it would help with slashes and sharp edges; say, from a box cutter or flying shrapnel.

heehee neat idea. If you make them you will never be able to use them.

You can also pickup chainmail gloves and wear them inside leather ones. Nothing wigs-out someone who pulls a knife on you than when you grab the blade directly and they can't get your hand off of it (the chainmail digs into the blade and almost locks it on with little pressure).

-NIM

sorry, I should clarify. You'll never be able to use them as you will never be attacked by a knife. Fate is like that. The prepared usually aren't the marks.

I love the medieval post.

-NIM

You can buy cut and puncture resistant gloves. They're quite thin and mainly targeted at the law enforcement community.

I can't remember who makes them but I've seen them on the web while looking for other gear.

Here's an idea on gloves:

http://www.galls.com/style.html?assort=general_catalog&style=GL177&cat=3189

I had a similar idea of sci-fi tubular bracer a while ago, but I was inspired by Lila from Futurama I even molded it of clay in order to understand the optimum volume and geometry necessary to integrate some of my electronics and allow it to open/close/rotate/stay in place easily. That's a lot of space if you don't mind your forearm looking like 1"1/8 thicker than normal I was able to integrate my PDA, mobile phone, GPS, Keyboard, and 20 AA cells easily along with wires, in- and out- connectors, lids, locks, handles and even a couple of ventilation fans in each half of it It was still like 1/4 of volume available for more ideas. An that's not like just a storage for all that stuff, but rather a single integrated device. The only problem was that it's too individual in shape. So, something like cold liquid plastic sheeting will be required to mold the shape of the inner surface right in place. And yes, it will be quite heavy.

Are we talking about Zombies? I would suggest head protection since they like BRAINS. Shotguns are a good defense for them.

Seriously... it sounds like a good idea. Anything that you need for defense and survival is good to carry on you, great location also. I get your point to fend off attacks.

"...incorporates hard knuckle pieces to facilitate a blunt offensive fist..."

That part of your gizmo sounds a lot like metal knuckles, a felony, under CA law...

You might consider:

A stiff fore-arm guard which would be similar in function
to a soccer shin-guard. It would be made much stronger however.
Kevlar matte and 2-chemical polyester resin, like they use for
Canoes. Preparing the matte, you could separate the weave to
allow for small air holes.
A vacuum bag which I have only read about, could keep the resin
to a minimum, and the whole thing would be lighter, as a result.

A light fore-arm guard allows for quick response, and speed
is critical. So keep the "tools" somewhere else, like on your
belt.

A few (thin) patches of open cell foam could provide a
stand-off and padding from the arm. This may keep you from
getting a fungal rash on your arm.

For the wrist and hand, how much flexibility do you want.
It is a problem. Yeah, they sell various gloves for meat
cutters and police. I am guessing that the gloves would
stop or minimize a Slash attack, but not a Stabbing attack.

Have you had any training in open hand Martial Arts or
weapons MA or weapons sports? (rhetorical question).
Without recent workouts, your reactions may be way too slow,
even with a superb fore-arm protector.

"It would be made much stronger however."

I'm not sure about storing much in it but for forearms you don't really need it to be much tougher than a set of good quality soccer shinguard. I know this from a local bouncer who started wearing fiber-reinforced shin guards on his forearms after a fight where he tried to block a bad stool and had his arm broken.

Now he says he has a lot confidence in these simple glass reinforced nylon units. As an experiment a friend swung a baseball bat and he easily blocked it without so much as a bruise.

These units are thick translucent nylon with a glass reinforced stripe down the middle. He says he used a jigsaw to modify the shin guards to fit on his forearms. He wears them under a long-sleeve shirt. He also wears matching shinguard. When a drunken free-for-alls break out the guys typically like to swing the furniture and the ladies like to abuse the shins. He also wears lifters gloves.

I'm not sure I qualify as a person who really needs such gear. I tend to avoid crowds. But if your plans or habits put you in situations where fisticuffs or pounding through a crowd is likely I think a sturdy version of the athletic guards on shins and forearms, otherwise known as greaves and vambraces, sound like a good idea.

You might find the lighter plastic version lighter, more comfortable and plenty strong enough. You might look into the armor commonly worn by guards for prisoner extraction. Fully armored up they look like imperial storm troopers.

I've known people use the shin guards (crickets often use forearm protection for their leading arm) and wire mesh (light gauge chicken wire - wrap several layers around the forearm for slash protection).

1 thing to remember, is that a lot of places will look on anything you load up with like this as a 'weapon' - it may be defensive in intent, but carrying anything to use as a tool in an altercation runs this risk.

Hmm, I am thinking of the old leather cuff guards Duke Wayne used to wear. A good piece of soft split suede under a piece of thin laquered rawhide, with a piece of 3 oz calf or goat skin over the outside, laced up on the inside, about 4 inches wide. The lacing allows for an almost infinite custom fit. Tough, yet flexible. May not hold up to a smashing knife strike or a hard thrust, but ought to deflect the usual slash strokes. I suppose you could put some cartridge loops around the outside or some such for mounting acourterments.

You could also braid some rawhide and piano wire into a bracer of sorts, that would be much more impervious, but a bit more bulky.

I'm even thinking you could braid some 550 cord into a sort of bracer with all sorts of things wove into it.

Hmm, the more I think about it, the more I like the braiding idea...