A beginners guide to Body Armor.
Different items of body armor are designed to be used at different times, so you should decide if you are going to be using your body armor below or above your clothes.
Covert types of body armor are designed to be worn beneath clothes. For that reason they are often built to be as slim and as light-weight as they can be, and are built to end up being hidden when worn beneath clothes. These types of body armor are frequently made of moisture wicking materials that help to keep the individual wearing it cool, and are usually made in lighter colors than other types of body armor.
Covert body armor is used by people that need the fact they are using body armor to go unnoticed. This can be individuals like close protection officers, undercover operatives and door supervisors, as an overt type of body armor wouldn’t be practical for them.
Overt types of body armor are made to be worn over your clothing, and as a result they tend to be made out of tougher materials than covert types of body armor. The idea of overt body armor is that it is recognizable to other people, and due to this fact typical overt body armor covers tend to be black, however there are many other colours that are available. Sometimes overt pieces of body armor will come with high visibility strips, or be manufactured totally from high visibility materials, meaning that the person wearing them stands out.
Police forces worldwide use overt kinds of body armor, as do security businesses and security staff. An overt piece of body armor can often be a deterrent, as it will help identify somebody of authority very easily within a group.
Body armor has come to be popular during the last twenty five years, for two major reasons. Initially, earlier types of body armor were heavy and also rigid, however improvements in engineering means that the body armor we use these days offers high levels of protection, whilst additionally being light-weight, flexible and comfy when worn for long amounts of time. The 2nd reason for the rise in body armor use is that, sadly, it is actually becoming essential in countless lines of work due to the increased threats we have to deal with in modern day society.
When you have decided if you’ll need a covert or overt type of body armor, it is then vital to select what protection levels you require. When deciding on an item of body armor you must think about what types of threats you will face, as different kinds of body armor will offer you protection against different kinds of threats.
A bullet proof vest is probably the most well recognized piece of body armor available. This sort of body armor is made to stop a bullet by “catching” it within a web of very strong fibers, and prevent it from passing through the vest itself. They are available in a number of levels of protection, that will offer the person wearing them defense against low powered firearms up to high powered Magnums.
Another widely used form of body armor is stab proof vests. Most people think that if a piece of body armor can stop a round then it could also stop a knife, but unfortunately this is not the case. The reason is , a knife penetrates fabric in different ways to a bullet, and as a result a standard bullet resistant vest will not defend its wearer from a knife based attack.
In recent years spike proof vests have also become obtainable on the body armor market place.
These vests offer the person wearing them protection from spiked guns like needles and also syringes, which can easily slip through the weave within the material of a bullet or stab proof item of body armor.
With such a variety of body armor available you need to think about which type is suitable for yourself. If you’re employed in an area with absolutely no gun crime but substantial amounts of knife crime then it’s pointless wearing a piece of body armor that will only defend you against firearms. Likewise a knife resistant item of body armor will be ineffective when you are at risk of getting shot.
However modern forms of body armor can now provide multi-threat protection. Because of this they’ll protect the wearer from various kinds of assaults, for example there is now body armor that’s both bullet and stab resistant, as well as bullet, stab and spike resistant varieties.
The most critical aspect when choosing your body armor is to be sure that it is going to protect you. Make sure that you have the appropriate form of protection for the threats you’re likely to face, since you can’t put a price on your life.