Batman does 'sword to plowshares'

[FaxModem1]

There's been quite a few debates on various boards about Batman's spending of his fortune. So, let's talk about this in a hypothetical and intelligent way. Let's say that Batman decides to invest his swords into plowshares. What could the civilian applications of all the Bat-tech that he has developed be? What could he tie it into? Would this be better than a lone man stalking the night beating up muggers?

For example, what could be done with the device shown in Batman: Year One, that is a summoning call for any bats in the area.(It was also used as 'backup' in the Batman Begins film).

I could see this as a natural alternative to pesticides, myself. Crops having a bug problem? Activate this device and bring in a hundred or more bug eating bats to deal with the issue.

That's just off the cuff, but what do you think?

What about his batmobile, the grapple gun, his crime scene equipment, etc?

[Zixinus]

Isn't most of his stuff actually just stuff he could buy and he modified for his own ends? In the movie this was the case, all of his equipment were abandoned prototypes, discontinued products and such that Waynetech once made.

[Elheru Aran]

Isn't most of his stuff actually just stuff he could buy and he modified for his own ends? In the movie this was the case, all of his equipment were abandoned prototypes, discontinued products and such that Waynetech once made.

Strongly depends on which incarnation we're talking about. The Nolan movies had Batman using an industrial approach to his material-- carefully ordering individual parts from various suppliers in bulk and assembling them himself. Other versions are a little more DIY.

I always had the impression that for the most part Batman's technology isn't all that revolutionary... the real thing is miniaturization and application.

And of course, whatever he has that lets him fit something like ~50 cars, a few planes, boats, and a couple of rockets into the Batcave...

[Batman]

The biggest number of Batmobiles we ever see in the cave simultaneously is 17 far as I know and we don't really know how big the cave is.
And given I've apparently managed to fit about a lightsecond's worth of rope into the utility belt before the damned Thing even had pockets...

[FaxModem1]

So, imagine what could be accomplished in the public sector with that kind of utility belt technology. I imagine construction crews could use it for high rises.

[Elheru Aran]

So, imagine what could be accomplished in the public sector with that kind of utility belt technology. I imagine construction crews could use it for high rises.

The problem is that the degree of miniaturization involved means that a.) it's going to be unfeasibly expensive for most people and b.) we are getting about as small as we can with many things. Batman scale miniaturization is a bit *too* small for most purposes; it's designed very specifically for Batman, not for general purpose users.

For example, I believe he's got a blowtorch in there (somewhere). Cool. Except high-rise workers tend to have welding equipment available. You can't fit a rivet gun on there, not and keep it big enough to have sufficient torque. Saws to cut 12" girders, that kind of thing. They already have tool belts and safety harnesses; they don't require much more.

Military applications on the other hand would be much more likely.

A possible application is in EMS and firefighter work as well. If a decent size first-aid kit could be stocked into a simple utility belt like that, that would be convenient.

There was actually a conversation on the Replica Prop Forum Facebook page not too long ago about a 'real world' version of the Batman suit; the conversation was mostly about how much it would cost, but the discussion seemed to indicate (to me) that most of it is already possible with real-world technology. Kevlar, Nomex, and so forth. The real problem is cost. Batman can afford it, and he's only one person. Making his technology available on a general scale, perhaps not so much. Again, looking at military applications; lightweight armour and helmet-mounted HUD technology... not cheap.

[biostem]

Other than the obvious issue of cost, there's also the problem of training. For instance, Batman has been portrayed as having a handheld cutting laser which is powerful enough to cut through heavy-gauge steel. In the wrong hands, you could do a lot of damage. Similarly, the grappling gun might be great for mountain climbers or rescue workers, but again without the proper training, you could end up either hitting a person with the dart/hook, or anchor to something that isn't suitable to hold your weight...

The portable scuba mask/filter could be very useful for firefighters or other rescue workers, though - but if it doesn't have enough of an air supply to allow a person to fully extinguish a fire or evacuate the building, then it may not be worthwhile.

[Me2005]

There's a 'superhero' around here called Pheonix Jones who has some kind of super-suit and looks something like a real-world batman. His suit combines some kind of bullet proof vest and stab-plating, and he several less-leathal weapons (stun baton, pepper spray) and hand cuffs. He also always has video, but I'm not sure if that's on his person or just the people who he has follow him around to record everything.

The trouble with making all that for mass-production is several fold: First, Pheonix Jones (and Batman) are both trained and experienced fighters who would probably win any given street fight without any of the gear.

Second, they are both hunting down and fighting criminals - not enemy combatants armed for war, not doing beat police work that doesn't require all the armor, and not just walking around minding their own business as civilians. It's kind of a fine point, but what that means is that neither one has armor that would be useful except for what they do or maybe for types of police work in similar situations (riot control, prison guards, SWAT), though police working in similar situations generally already have more cost-effective armor that appears to perform adequately. Riot cops don't need to run around as much as a Batman/Pheonix character would so heavier, cheaper armor works for them.

Third, their non-armor kit is specialized to what they do - which is to fight lightly armed criminals to submission so they can be handed off to police (With Batman occasionally also fighting well-armed criminals to submission). Very little of it has any use besides doing that, and the parts that do are very situational and/or replaced by non-specialist kit that does that single task better (usually at the expense of increased size) for everyday situations.