No such thing as "Bulletproof"

Juanpeace

Yes, there is a common misconception that the body armor used by law enforcement is indeed bulletproofed. The correct term is "Bullet Resistant". A high-velocity projectile such as a bullet or a shrapnel will make some form of deformation upon impact, it is Physics. Bullet resistant materials such as steel and Titanium are used by the military in armored vehicles to protect the lives of soldiers. Kevlar and Lexan are cloth fibers manufactured by chemical companies and are used in armored vests to protect the chest cavity of a person. Survivors of direct shots experience hematoma or bruising on the skin where the bullet hit on impact. What the kevlar fibers do is spread out the force of the projectile thus preventing penetration, but the force is still similar to power punch enough to leave a bruise. There is a continued research in using carbon fiber materials in order to make a perfect anti-ballistic vest where the user will not be bruised. You may not be the Man of steel but wearing Kevlar vest in a firefight might help you survive to tell the tale.   

TommiGunn31

Thank you very much for posting this.  It's true that this is a common mistake.  I hope they keep working to improve Kevlar and hopefully one day, make a bomb-resistant material. Also, I hope that Kevlar expands to police hats and some kind of face protection for criminals who aren't messing around.

Maelalove

I'm glad this was posted, as well. Many people think if they have it, or the police has it, it makes them safe, but that is definitely not the case. 

@ TommiGunn, they do have face protection, at least with the riot gear. Not sure if that's bullet "proof," though. 

coolyfrost

Exactly, the thing about making the metal plates too strong is that a lot of the impact energy will then transfer into the body which may then cause internal bleeding. Therefore, plates are strong enough to stop a bullet but not strong enough in order for them to shatter and spread the impact further. So, if a plate shatters, it must be replaced immediately because it will probably not handle another impact.

Maelalove

Honestly, internal bleeding is way better than the bullet, though, so there's at least that. But yes, it needs replaced immediately, and that's why taking multiple shots with a "bulletproof" vest is still highly dangerous. 

LC_77

I strongly disagree, with a bullet the impact can cause severe damage and trauma, but the person impacted knows they've been damaged. Internal bleeding sometimes cannot be stopped and often goes unnoticed by someone who just think they have sustained a bruise. 

harpazo22

Interesting bit of information! Thanks for sharing.

Maelalove

That's true, it can go unnoticed and can be quite dangerous. Most of the time, in situations like this, it's used by a professional that will afterwards be inspected by a medical team when they get to the site. It's usually noticed. 

remnant

Thats an informative piece no doubt. But there is a small problem here. What would happen if more and more people decide to use such vests to protect themselves from bullets? I envisage a situation where these bulletproof vests will fall into the hands of criminals and more damage will be inflicted. Then again, some people might try to go round this by using higher impact calibre weapons. Its a game of Russian roulette.

guy

The vest will prevent most hand gun bullets, but they don't protect against the bigger more deadly bullets that don't give a damn about how thick those vest are, they still go threw. I used to wonder why if the police know that then why wear the vest anyway, but most people don't carry around weapons that are capable of shooting threw Kevlar.

GunNutsNovel1

Wow this is a great post! Thank you for sharing. We completely agree with @remnant. 

What happens if this get's into the wrong hands? Do we all just start wearing them to be safe?