Humans throughout
recorded history have used various types of materials to protect
themselves from injury in combat and other dangerous situations. At
first, protective clothing and shields were made from animal skins. As
civilizations became more advanced, wooden shields and then metal
shields came into use. Eventually, metal was also used as
“clothing,” what we now refer to as the suit of armor associated
with the knights of the Middle Ages. However, with the advent of
firearms (c.1500), most of the traditional protective devices were no
longer effective. In fact, the only real protection available against
firearms were man-made barriers, such as stone or masonry walls, or
natural barriers, such as rocks, trees, and ditches.
One of the
first recorded instances of the use of soft armor was by the medieval
Japanese, who used armor manufactured from silk. Although the first
U.S. law enforcement officer to lose his life in the line of duty,
U.S. Marshall Robert Forsyth, was shot and killed in 1794, it was not
until the late 19th century that the first use of soft armor in the
United States was recorded. At that time, the military explored the
possibility of using soft armor manufactured from silk. The project
even attracted congressional attention after the assassination of
President William McKinley in 1901. But while the garments were shown
to be effective against low-velocity bullets (traveling at 400 feet
per second (ft/s) or less), they did not offer protection against the
new generation of handgun ammunition being introduced at that time
that traveled at velocities of more than 600 feet per second. This,
along with the prohibitive cost of manufacturing the garment ($80
each, which amounts to approximately $1,400 in 1998 dollars) made the
concept unacceptable. Armor of this type was said to have been worn by
Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria when he was killed by a shot to
the head, thereby precipitating World War I.
The U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office lists records dating back to 1919 for various
designs of bullet-resistant garments. One of the first documented
instances where such a vest was demonstrated for use by law
enforcement officers is detailed in the April 2, 1931 edition of the
Washington, D.C., Evening Star, where a vest was demonstrated to
members of the Metropolitan Police Department. However, none of these
designs proved entirely effective or feasible for law enforcement or
corrections use.
The next generation
of ballistic vests was introduced during World War II. The “flak
jacket,” constructed of ballistic nylon, provided protection
primarily from munitions fragments and was ineffective against most
pistol and rifle threats. These vests were also very cumbersome and
bulky, and were restricted primarily to military use. It would not be
until the late 1960s that new fibers were discovered that made
today’s modern generation of concealable body armor possible.
HOW
BODY ARMOR WORKS
When a handgun bullet
strikes body armor, it is caught in a “web” of very strong fibers.
These fibers absorb and disperse the impact energy that is transmitted
to the vest from the bullet, causing the bullet to deform or
“mushroom.” Additional energy is absorbed by each successive layer
of material in the vest, until such time as the bullet has been
stopped.
Because the fibers
work together both in the individual layer and with other layers of
material in the vest, a large area of the garment becomes involved in
preventing the bullet from penetrating. This also helps in dissipating
the forces which can cause nonpenetrating injuries (what is commonly
referred to as “blunt trauma”) to internal organs. Unfortunately,
at this time no material exists that would allow a vest to be
constructed from a single ply of material.
Currently, today’s
modern generation of concealable body armor can provide protection in
a variety of levels designed to defeat most common low- and
medium-energy handgun rounds. Body armor designed to defeat rifle fire
is of either semirigid or rigid construction, typically incorporating
hard materials such as ceramics and metals. Because of its weight and
bulkiness, it is impractical for routine use by uniformed patrol
officers and is reserved for use in tactical situations where it is
worn externally for short periods of time when confronted with higher
level threats.
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