SubscribeFor thousands of years ancient tribes used animal skin and other natural materials to protect their bodies.
The inclination to wear body armour is nothing new. For thousands of years ancient tribes used animal skin and other natural materials to protect their bodies. However, the reasons for doing so have changed with time.
Thousand of years ago humans used to wear body armour in order to hunt, and the warriors of ancient Rome and medieval Europe covered their torsos in metal plates before going into battle. In the 15th Century body armour in the western world had become highly advanced. Due to the development of more effective weapons e.g. cannons and guns, in the 16th Century, body armour had to be improved again, as armour was required to protect from projectiles fired at high speed. Using traditional materials became ever more difficult, as body armour at that stage became too heavy for a person to wear.
It wasn't until some years following the Second World War that experts and engineers around the World started to develop reliable bullet-proof body armour that could be worn comfortably. Unlike traditional armour, this soft body armour is produced from advanced woven fibres e.g. Kevlar, Kevlar Protera, Spectra, Twaron, Dyneema or Zylon, all of which can be sewn into vests and other soft clothing. In fact the most recent and most advanced body armour yet are manufactured using artificial spider web fibres.
Soft Body Armour
How can woven fibre stop bullets? The principle at work is actually quite simple. In laymen’s terms, a piece of bullet-proof material is just a very strong net. To see how this works, think of a football goal. The back of the goal is made out of a net. When you kick the football into the goal, the ball has a certain amount of energy. When the ball hits the net, it pushes the net back at a particular point, but the net disperses the energy from the point of impact over a wide area.
In this way, the whole net works to absorb the ball's inertial energy, no matter where the ball hits. A bullet proof vest works in a similar way, energy is absorbed by each successive layer of material, until such time as the bullet has been stopped. Currently, today's modern generation of soft body armour can provide protection in a variety of levels designed to defeat most common low- and medium-energy handgun rounds.
Soft body armour is primarily worn by:
- Private Security Services e.g. Retail Security, Door Supervisors, Manned Guarding, Event Security, Site Security and Alarm Response Units
- Local Government & Public Sector e.g. Trading Standards, Licensing, Housing, Environmental Health, Community Safety and Benefit Fraud Investigation
- NHS Trusts e.g. Hospital Security
Hard Body Armour
Hard body armour is usually made out of thick ceramic or metal plates, and basically functions the same way as a suit of armour worn by a medieval knight. The armour material simply pushes out on the bullet with relatively the same force with which the bullet pushes in, so the armour is not penetrated. Typically, hard body armour offers more protection than soft body armour, but it is much more weighty and bulky.
Because of its weight and bulkiness, it is impractical for routine use by police officers or UK based security operatives and is reserved for use by military personnel in tactical situations where it is worn overtly for short periods of time when confronted with higher level threats. Generally, for everyday use, soft body armour is the preferred option due to it being light weight and much more flexible. It also has the additional advantage of being able to be worn covertly under clothing.
Hard Body Armour is primarily worn by:
- Armed Forces
- Special Police Units e.g. Anti Terror Units, Bomb Disposal Units and Riot Squads in extremely hostile environments
For any further questions please contact us using any of the links on the top right corner of this page. We at ASEO Europe are renowned for our great expertise and comprehensive technical understanding of stab vests and body armour and are happy to help.