bullet proof vest question

[jbombelli]

Ill just try to continue to not get shot. That's the safest strategy

You can always give up your guns, and just continue to not shoot people. That's another really safe strategy.

 

[KellyinAvon]

Not getting shot, we'll call that "Plan A".
Plan B: for when Plan A fails.
Plan C: for when Plan B fails
The "Go to hell plan" (props to Hack): for when everything goes to hell.

 

[lrahm]

As I said before, borrow someone's vest. Wear it for at least a week (all the time). See if it fits your needs and wants. Most will say "screw it after the first day. Military people, my hats off to you. I wear a simple vest not some 25 pound monster. Besides, I respect you anyway.

 

[Yup!]

The images from box of truth are a little exaggerated. The vest material is hanging in front of the clay. Throwing a rock at it would leave the same indention. There is nothing holding the material in place. Most vest are velcro'd at the bottom to keep it from moving on impact. I'm not saying there won't be any BFT, but with the material just hanging there freely, it's going to indent with anything that hits it.

Repeat at the test with all 4 corners secured.

 

[jbombelli]

The images from box of truth are a little exaggerated. The vest material is hanging in front of the clay. Throwing a rock at it would leave the same indention. There is nothing holding the material in place. Most vest are velcro'd at the bottom to keep it from moving on impact. I'm not saying there won't be any BFT, but with the material just hanging there freely, it's going to indent with anything that hits it.

Repeat at the test with all 4 corners secured.

Have you ever, actually, worn a vest? I have one. And I can assure you throwing a rock at it will not indent it like you seem to think it will.

 

[Yup!]

Have you ever, actually, worn a vest? I have one. And I can assure you throwing a rock at it will not indent it like you seem to think it will.

no - but the point is, the vest hanging freely in the wind will move around when anything hits it. All I'm saying is the material should be secured on all four sides for the test to be more legitimate.

 

[jbombelli]

no - but the point is, the vest hanging freely in the wind will move around when anything hits it. All I'm saying is the material should be secured on all four sides for the test to be more legitimate.

Your point is incorrect. You would know that if you had ever worn one.

 

[Yup!]

Your point is incorrect. You would know that if you had ever worn one.

did you look at the link I was referencing?

are you saying that the yellow material doesn't move when the bullet hits it, and there is no benefit to it being secured at the bottom?

 

[Disposable Heart]

I gotta kind of laugh when people think that if you have a AR500 steel plate and take a slug, you're going to break a rib. Their concept of physics must lie in Hollywood... Remember, the recoil from your weapon is roughly the push the bad guy might feel (but with penetration). If we looked at muzzle energy numbers and thought the Hollywood logic, .380 would knock a grown man off his feet with a shot into the gut. Doesn't work that way.

As for AR500 weight, big issue in a variety of factors (being a guy who wears a anti-spall coated front and back AR500 steel plate when working at a local range EVERY WEEKEND):
-What you don't spend on the plate, you will spend on the carrier: The cheapy airsoft carriers or low end carriers will rip through or not hold the plate properly. My Linex coated plates began to wear through the material supporting the plate and I had to wrap it in cloth to protect the carrier until I get a new carrier.
- Spall protection: don't just buy the plate and think you're unstoppable. Truck bed liner or a cheapy used surplus vest panel can soak up the spall and keep you from taking a chunk of lead up through the bottom of your chin into your head.
-Weight. Dios mio. I occasionally run with my carrier and plates. Last I weighed it (front and back steel plate, spall liner and carrier, without my SOE Microrig), it was 26 lbs. Learn to move with it.
-Proper adjustment: Make sure the vest is fairly tight to you and not floppy. A plate moving around can wedge itself into your gut or such and cause a lot of pain if rolling around on the ground.

Ceramics are nice, but they are pricey and the multihit is kinda laughable in some cases (one I looked at could only take pretty much two hits in independent testing before becoming worthless). Do your research if going this route.

 

[jbombelli]

did you look at the link I was referencing?

are you saying that the yellow material doesn't move when the bullet hits it, and there is no benefit to it being secured at the bottom?

I don't need to. I have firsthand experience with vests. I know what they weigh, I know how stiff they are, I know how they wear and hang on the body when they're not strapped up. And I know firsthand that they don't flap around when struck by a bullet regardless of whether they are secured with the velcro straps. I'm on my second vest, the first I owned for several years before I upgraded and shot the old one several times.

 

[Yup!]

I don't need to. I have firsthand experience with vests. I know what they weigh, I know how stiff they are, I know how they wear and hang on the body when they're not strapped up. And I know firsthand that they don't flap around when struck by a bullet regardless of whether they are secured with the velcro straps. I'm on my second vest, the first I owned for several years before I upgraded and shot the old one several times.

so we're even....

 

[lrahm]

no - but the point is, the vest hanging freely in the wind will move around when anything hits it. All I'm saying is the material should be secured on all four sides for the test to be more legitimate.

If the vest is secured or flapping in the breeze, the impact of the projectile will make the kevlar fold around itself. Yes you will receive a massive body ache but depending on the round you might survive.