luni, noiembrie 16, 2009

The cost of being Batman


After bringing up in this thread the fact that the tech Batman uses is not in the realm of science fiction anymore I started thinking: just how expensive would all these toys be?

The calculation below is a result of this train of thought. It covers only the Batsuit and the usual gadgets not the Batmobile, Batwing or the Batcave.

Update: A few people have asked so I'll make this clear. All these are things you can buy right now or develop rather simply given a little financial backing. Most are off the shelf but some of them can't be bought by civilians without authorization.
The second thing I'd like to clear up is that I made these calculations myself. I'm not an economist I'm an engineer. I did it by searching through google for sources.



$




*Suit*




Kevlar Nomex Body armor 3000



K-N gloves
150



K-N kneepads
150



K-N elbowpads
150



head armor
500



K-N pants
1000



K-N extra pads
550



Carbon fibre reinforcements 1500










Total armor
7000










Miniature multiband radio comunicator 2000



Retinal projection system 10000



Shape memory polymer cape 40000



Carbon fibre helmet
300



Other blades and misc
3000



Gas mask (advanced)
1000










Total suit
63300











*Gadgets*









# pcs Total
Atlas rope ascender
15000
1 15000
TPLS Grappling hook launcher (special forces silenced) 50000
1 50000 (exagerated price because batman needs a small version)
Portable spectrometer
30000
1 30000
GPS Tracking device
100
3 300
Ultrasonic bat attractor 200
1 200
Batarang (normal)
1
20 20
Batarang (exploding)
10
3 30
Batarang (electronic)
5
5 25
Batarang (remote control) 25
2 50
Smoke/Flash bomb
2
10 20
Knockout gas
5
5 25
Tear gas
5
5 25
USB memory stick
300
1 300 (you didn't think in this day and age batman doesn't have a hardware encrypted memory stick do you?)
Fingerprint scanner kit
200
1 200
Blacklight kit
200
1 200
Long range microphone 300
1 300
Laser microphone
200
1 200
Lockpick (automatic)
500
1 500
Hearbeat detector
5000
1 5000
Motion detector
30
3 90
Periscope
40
1 40
Nightvision camera
1000
1 1000 (not included in suit because of the big size this way he can use it to without risking his head and have it on his HUD)
Thermal camera
15000
1 15000 (same as above - high price includes an IR tele lens)







Total gadgets
118123

118525














Total Batman equipment


181825 USD



I'm sure I missed something so I can round it to 200000USD. Before you go to empty your bank account and become a superhero keep in mind that some of this stuff gets used every time he goes out. Armor probably needs to be replaced every week. That's 7000USD/week operating cost from the start. Batarangs, trackers, gas... all those are disposable and cost money. I estimate the operating costs must be around 10000USD/week not counting any Batmobile. Shredded that memory polymer cape? New one costs 40k!

On top of that some of this equipment must be bought by the thousand (like Alfred says in Batman Begins). Some of this equipment is restricted to military and law enforcement. If Waynetech wasn't a military contractor Batman wouldn't have access to some of this stuff.

In other words it's possible but even a milionare would have trouble supporting these costs on a regular basis. Strictly the realm of multi-bilionares.

2 comentarii:

  1. "If Waynetech wasn't a military contractor Batman wouldn't have access to some of this stuff."

    Oh, you poor naive fool!

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  2. Yes yes Batman is always prepared. I know that but Wayne couldn't be Batman without those things :P

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