Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about
Important Facts About Body Armour
The reason law enforcement agencies buy body armour is to save lives. To do that, officers need to understand how it actually works and how to take good care of it. Ballistic armour also needs to fit properly or it cannot offer the level of protection it’s designed to provide.
If you want to get the most out of your body armor, this article is a must read. Also, if you plan on buying bullet-resistant armor this information will help you make the right choice.
In the last three decades body armor saved the lives of more than 3,000 police officers. That’s just in the United States, so it’s safe to say tens of thousands of lives have been saved worldwide. The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) has conducted studies on the effectiveness of body armor in saving lives. Results show that by not wearing ballistic armor, police officers have 14 times the risk of dying of an injury.
Once considered a rarity, many in law enforcement are commonly wearing body armor on the job these days. A lot of police officers in the U.S. are making a daily ritual of putting on their body armor. However, there are many facts about ballistic-resistant armor that most officers who habitually wear it are not aware of. To protect “life and limb” all officers should be fully informed about the protective vests they’re counting on to save their lives.
These are the facts you need to know to stay safe:
1 – Body Armor is NOT in Fact, Bulletproof
While body armor offers a great deal of protection, it can’t protect against every possible threat. It’s basically made only of layers of fabric. Agreed, a revolutionary type of fabric is used in making the vest, but a body armor vest is not “bulletproof.” No garment is, but you can count on your protective vest being bullet resistant.
In reality, there is no substance that can claim to be totally bulletproof. In very rare instances, bullets have penetrated vests that, according to their rating, should have stopped them. This could occur from a specialized round being fired that may have more serration than usual, but who knows?
The point is that there is no such thing as a “bulletproof vest.” Wearing body armor does not protect you 100%. So, you must still be vigilant about your own safety by continuing to act responsibly. Risks you take when you don’t have your armor on would still be risky when you do have it on. Don’t be stupid; be careful.
2 – What Type of Fabric Withstands a Bullet?
Soft body armor contains a number of ballistic panels that consist of highly specialized and extraordinarily strong fibers. Woven or non-woven fibers make up the fabric and oftentimes, a combination of both. This particular fabric is very effective at stopping bullets. It slows them down while turning them to the side so the full force is dispersed across the panel.
The specialized fabric more easily disperses the force coming in from mushrooming handgun rounds. Also, a bullet-resistant armor vest is more likely to stop bullets that travel more slowly. However, high-velocity rounds coming in from rifles firing hard-tipped bullets can pierce right through a soft armor protective vest.
3 – All Vests Require an Arduous Round of Testing
Every 5 to 10 years the NIJ updates and further refines the test methods and performance requirements for the ballistic resistance of body armor designed to protect the torso against handgun and rifle ammunition.
It is now commonly accepted that females need body armor made to fit the female form. Therefore, bulletproof vests molded for women should be tested on shaped or formed armor as backing and this is what “Formed Armor Testing” is all about.
The idea is to ensure that the testing protocol for both Flat and Formed Armor Testing ensures better protection for both men and women end-users. Testing used to be the same for body armor designed for each gender. Manufacturers are now required to test each design separately according to gender.
4 – What Type of Fabric Withstands a Bullet?
Soft body armor contains a number of ballistic panels that consist of highly specialized and extraordinarily strong fibers. Woven or non-woven fibers make up the fabric and oftentimes, a combination of both. This particular fabric is very effective at stopping bullets. It slows them down while turning them to the side so the full force is dispersed across the panel.
The specialized fabric more easily disperses the force coming in from mushrooming handgun rounds. Also, a bullet-resistant armor vest is more likely to stop bullets that travel more slowly. However, high-velocity rounds coming in from rifles firing hard-tipped bullets can pierce right through a soft armor protective vest.
5 – Ballistic Fiber Choices Now Go Beyond Kevlar
DuPont came out with the very first bullet-resistant material, which they named Kevlar. This is why you’ve heard the term “Kevlar vests” so many times over the years in this context. Kevlar is still very much in use, but manufacturers have developed dozens of other ballistic fibers in recent years. One protective vest may actually contain several different types of ballistic fibers. DuPont Kevlar, DSM Dyneema and Teijin Twaron are the top three materials currently being used in the industry.
And as always have a chilled day from the Viking
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