# Cheapest protective gear to wear to protect against vicious dog? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879 "2016-05-16T00:39:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![misterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@misterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misterW)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/1 "2016-05-16T00:39:27Z")
What’s the cheapest way I could armor myself against a vicious dog? Plate mail would be great, but way out of my price range. Leather pants and coat? Not sure if it would be protective enough. Ideas? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/2 "2016-05-16T00:55:43Z")
They make protective suits for training police dogs and the like. You can get a full suit, or just a sleeve, depending on your needs. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/3 "2016-05-16T00:57:19Z")
What sort of situation are you in when you encounter this dog? Any reason Animal Control can’t do anything? ---
**Author:** ![misterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@misterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misterW)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/4 "2016-05-16T00:57:44Z")
^ Pretty sure those suits are not cheap though. ---
**Author:** ![misterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@misterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misterW)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/5 "2016-05-16T00:58:48Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > What sort of situation are you in when you encounter this dog? Any reason Animal Control can’t do anything? Haha, I am animal control. ---
**Author:** ![misterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@misterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misterW)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/6 "2016-05-16T01:00:08Z")
This is just a hypothetical though. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/7 "2016-05-16T01:09:32Z")
> [@misterW](#): > > Haha, I am animal control. Your office/agency doesn’t already have such things? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/8 "2016-05-16T01:10:56Z")
If you want cheap, there’s good old prison armor. Get yourself a sweatshirt and sweatpants that are too big for you, a bunch of magazines, and some tape. Wrap the magazines around your arms, legs, and torso (do your arms last actually) and tape them in place. Then pull the sweatsuit on over everything. Add some heavy work gloves and boots and a football helmet. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/9 "2016-05-16T01:14:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If you want cheap, there’s good old prison armor. Get yourself a sweatshirt and sweatpants that are too big for you, a bunch of magazines, and some tape. Wrap the magazines around your arms, legs, and torso (do your arms last actually) and tape them in place. Then pull the sweatsuit on over everything. Add some heavy work gloves and boots and a football helmet. And pepper spray. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/10 "2016-05-16T01:14:30Z")
> [@misterW](#): > > Haha, I am animal control. If you want something more professional, I’d recommend a good set of [elbow-length anti-bite gloves](http://www.livetrap.com/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=177). ---
**Author:** ![misterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@misterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misterW)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/11 "2016-05-16T01:18:46Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Your office/agency doesn’t already have such things? Very small town. Virtually nothing is provided. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/12 "2016-05-16T01:21:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If you want cheap, there’s good old prison armor. Get yourself a sweatshirt and sweatpants that are too big for you, a bunch of magazines, and some tape. Wrap the magazines around your arms, legs, and torso (do your arms last actually) and tape them in place. Then pull the sweatsuit on over everything. Add some heavy work gloves and boots and a football helmet. Sounds like a good outfit for bathing the cat. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/13 "2016-05-16T01:49:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If you want cheap, there’s good old prison armor. Get yourself a sweatshirt and sweatpants that are too big for you, a bunch of magazines, and some tape. Wrap the magazines around your arms, legs, and torso (do your arms last actually) and tape them in place. Then pull the sweatsuit on over everything. Add some heavy work gloves and boots and a football helmet. “I’ve armored everything except my genitals!” ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/14 "2016-05-16T02:14:56Z")
In an episode of Mythbusters\* they found that a denim jacket and pants sprayed with truck bed liner were rather effective against the bite of a trained attack dog. Not sure how well they’d work against something that’s biting to harm rather than grab/hold. ---
**Author:** ![lucid-nonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2acd7d/32.png) [@lucid-nonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucid-nonsense)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/15 "2016-05-16T02:49:08Z")
How about motorcycle gear? ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/16 "2016-05-16T03:05:11Z")
Don’t they give you a dog-noose? Once you grab a dog by the neck and lift it off its front feet it’s pretty much helpless. Anyway, if you want cheapest: go buy some hot dogs. Unless it’s a psychologically disturbed dog or a trained attack dog, sitting near it and tossing bits of hot dogs at it will almost certainly allow you to capture it without harm to yourself or others. Assuming that is your goal. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/17 "2016-05-16T04:58:12Z")
Small town rigs I have seen & dealt with are just pickup trucks with cages. Only one person doing the job. Even with a noose, the officer still has to pick up a critter to put it in a cage and an 60 pound dog, most can’t hold with arms outstretched. Welding gloves Snake boots or protectors Easily donned leather coat with bike armor underneath or inserted in the coat, but pricy. Paper wrap is really hot in the summer if worn all day just in case and slow to install in a hurry-up situation. He needs quick pull on stuff IMO. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/18 "2016-05-16T06:11:02Z")
Wow. [Bite suits aren’t cheap!](http://www.rayallen.com/training-bite-suits) If dealing with an angry dog the best (relatively) cheap solution would be [2 layers of this stuff](http://www.duluthtrading.com/store/product/mens-fire-hose-work-pants-92204.aspx) [or maybe motorcycle gear](http://www.compacc.com/p/fieldsheer-adventure-tour-pants?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid_search&utm_campaign=paid_search_google_pla&gclid=CMOHgfP23cwCFclkhgodURoKgQ) I have to ask though if it’s to the point you are physically attached aren’t you allowed to carry a gun? If a dog is after you to the point you are getting chewed on isn’t it time to shoot it? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/19 "2016-05-16T08:28:25Z")
If you can’t be provided with protective gear, use a shotgun. Why risk yourself? Rabies injections are no joke. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879/20 "2016-05-16T11:44:50Z")
A cop friend of mine does dog training. Even with state of the art bite sleeves/suits he still ends up with some decent bruises. He told me he has gone from training dogs to go for an arm (which leaves the opposite hand free) to training for high-on-the-thigh bites, which are more disabling. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-protective-gear-to-wear-to-protect-against-vicious-dog/754879.md?page=2)