Many people are surprised when they handle soft body armor for the first time. In the first place it’s not really all that soft but more importantly it is relatively flexible and lightweight and, as such, seems unlikely to be effective. How can cloth, which is essentially what this stuff is, stop anything, much less a bullet? Even more mystifying to the equation is that soft body armor cannot stop arrows or knives but it does stop the most common types of bullets!
A Brief History
It may be that many people become misled by the notion of armor. The marvelous metal masterpieces worn by knights long ago stretched from head to toe making of the wearer an impenetrable tank. The plate metal was designed to block everything that was thrown at it: arrows, swords, axes, rocks, etc. But these mighty metal suits became obsolete when gunpowder began flinging lead at the wearers. The plate metal was no match for the focused power of a bullet.
For a long time there was really no possible protection against bullets. In a few cases, most notably that of Ned Kelley in Australia, bullet-proof metal armor was built. But it only enjoyed occasional success and it was always so heavy and restrictive of movement that it was impractical. Then in 1881 Dr. George Emery Goodfellow witnessed a gunfight wherein one man was struck in the chest. The bullet was significantly slowed by a silk handkerchief that he had in his pocket. Another incident recorded by Dr. Goodfellow held that a man was saved by a handkerchief bunched around his neck. This discovery led to the manufacture of silk based body armor.
How It Works
Soft body armor works in a completely different way from plate metal armor. Rather than resist the impact of the bullet as hard armor does, soft armor absorbs and spreads out the impact. The goal is not to prevent the bullet’s passage, although this is a happy side-effect. The goal is to absorb the bullet’s energy as harmlessly as possible. This is accomplished by netting the projectile.
To understand how cloth can net a bullet consider a hockey goal. The back of the goal is a net consisting of many lengths of interlaced cords fastened to the goal’s frame. When the puck flies into the back of the goal it contains a considerable amount of forward inertia or energy. The point where the puck strikes the net pushes back the furthest but at the same time the whole net reacts and also moves back as the energy from the puck is quickly dispersed across the entire system of cords. In a very sort period of time the puck’s energy is dispersed and it becomes still.
Soft body armor works in much the same way. Tightly woven fabric forms the basis of the net and many nets are placed, one on top of the other, until a dense system of layers all work together to absorb the bullet’s energy.
Kevlar
So the theory goes but cloth can only go so far. Soft body armor made as described above can provide protection from the slow lead balls that were common in the nineteenth century. But the twentieth century saw cheaper and more widely available guns that easily penetrated the armor. In the mid-1970’s the Dupont Corporation developed Kevlar, a synthetic material with an unusually high weight to strength ratio – five times stronger than the same weight of steel, in fact. Though originally designed for tire treads, the body armor uses of the new material soon became apparent. When woven with fibers that were already in use Kevlar proved to be very effective for body armor applications.
The material doesn’t come without some shortcomings. It looses effectiveness when wet because water provides a lubricant for the bullet allowing it to pass more easily through the fibers. Kevlar also breaks down when exposed to ultraviolet light which sunlight contains. But when shielded with a waterproof and light proof layer Kevlar remains one of the most common and trusted forms of soft body armor.
Bryce Eddings is a freelance writer and has long been opposed to bullet wounds. To learn more about or purchase
body armor and other types of
police equipment visit
ProfessionalSuppliesForLess.com.
