I’ve spent a large amount of time wearing various kinds of armor and was asked to talk about soft armor specifically. These tips are from my personal experiences.
I dont trust any manufacturers at their word, so I have to consider the cost of buying two idendical sets, with one being used for first hand testing/proving.
If you truly can't trust the manufacturer, testing one set of armor will tell you nothing. A key reason I stick with makers and products which hold NIJ certification is that part of what it takes to keep your certs is follow up inspection and testing. The NIJ hires a third party inspector to come to the factory, examine production records and then picks several plates or panels at random to taken and subject to the same ballistic tests as the original ones that won the certification. When you buy something non-certified and especially something on the cheap from overseas or some drop shipper that doesn't make the armor they sell, you have no idea if quality is consistent. You could buy two sets of armor, prop it up and test it against every caliber it's rated for. The fact that one passed with flying colors doesn't mean the one you keep to wear will.
Hello Twitch, I can also see the need for chain mail for average citizen in no gun area. What is on the market for knife attack and can you enlighten us?
Use the same type body armor as Twitch is wearing… most body armor deals with speed of object hitting it. Unless the adversary can thrust a knife 1500fps you should be good to go. Also, Kevlar armor is both lighter, cheaper than chain mail, and much easier to find…!
If you have a legitimate threat from knives, you want to make sure to buy a vest that is specifically rated for stab threats. Many of the stab rated armor in the U.S. is also ballistic rated. It is often listed as IIIA+ multi-threat. In places like the UK, it's also possible to buy vests rated only for stab threats. Regular ballistic vest can offer some protection against slashing attacks, but they are not designed to stop things like spikes or thin blades. Unless you're into re-enacting, I wouldn't bother with chain mail. The stuff is damn heavy. I can say from experience that wearing what is basically a 25-pound t-shirt gets old fast. And to get full protection, you need to wear a gambeson or other padded garment underneath it. Unless you get a good (and expensive) one with riveted and/or heavy links, it won't offer very dependable protection and it still has the vulnerability against stabbing attacks with spike type objects.
Soft armor is too much ignored by the civilian market. Everyone in the "prep" or similar communities has the idea that Level IV ceramic or III+ steel are the only viable options. To put it mildly, that's unrealistic. That comes in at 16-18 pounds, just for the plates, another couple for the carrier and only goes up from there if you add comms and magazines and other gear to the rig. I don't care how in-shape you think you are, that weight is very fatiguing, rapidly and is pretty much guaranteed to cause back injuries over the long term. For all that, hard armor covers remarkably little body area. Just a notebook size area front and back. No side protection unless you add that on, and before you know it you have a 30-pound nightmare slung from your shoulders. Realistically what happens is that after people buy and try on these monstrously heavy rigs, they simply don't wear them ever. A plate setup that can stop all small arms known to man is completely useless if it's sitting in your trunk or at home when the threat arrives.
SHALOM!!! Good to see you again.
May our Father protect you, brother 👊🏽
Let's go
I dont trust any manufacturers at their word, so I have to consider the cost of buying two idendical sets, with one being used for first hand testing/proving.
If you can afford it that’s not a bad idea lol
I can't really afford it, but when my life is at stake, can I afford not to test my equipment at whatever the cost?
If you truly can't trust the manufacturer, testing one set of armor will tell you nothing.
A key reason I stick with makers and products which hold NIJ certification is that part of what it takes to keep your certs is follow up inspection and testing. The NIJ hires a third party inspector to come to the factory, examine production records and then picks several plates or panels at random to taken and subject to the same ballistic tests as the original ones that won the certification.
When you buy something non-certified and especially something on the cheap from overseas or some drop shipper that doesn't make the armor they sell, you have no idea if quality is consistent. You could buy two sets of armor, prop it up and test it against every caliber it's rated for. The fact that one passed with flying colors doesn't mean the one you keep to wear will.
Hello Twitch, I can also see the need for chain mail for average citizen in no gun area. What is on the market for knife attack and can you enlighten us?
Use the same type body armor as Twitch is wearing… most body armor deals with speed of object hitting it. Unless the adversary can thrust a knife 1500fps you should be good to go. Also, Kevlar armor is both lighter, cheaper than chain mail, and much easier to find…!
If you have a legitimate threat from knives, you want to make sure to buy a vest that is specifically rated for stab threats. Many of the stab rated armor in the U.S. is also ballistic rated. It is often listed as IIIA+ multi-threat.
In places like the UK, it's also possible to buy vests rated only for stab threats.
Regular ballistic vest can offer some protection against slashing attacks, but they are not designed to stop things like spikes or thin blades.
Unless you're into re-enacting, I wouldn't bother with chain mail. The stuff is damn heavy. I can say from experience that wearing what is basically a 25-pound t-shirt gets old fast. And to get full protection, you need to wear a gambeson or other padded garment underneath it.
Unless you get a good (and expensive) one with riveted and/or heavy links, it won't offer very dependable protection and it still has the vulnerability against stabbing attacks with spike type objects.
Soft armor is too much ignored by the civilian market. Everyone in the "prep" or similar communities has the idea that Level IV ceramic or III+ steel are the only viable options.
To put it mildly, that's unrealistic. That comes in at 16-18 pounds, just for the plates, another couple for the carrier and only goes up from there if you add comms and magazines and other gear to the rig. I don't care how in-shape you think you are, that weight is very fatiguing, rapidly and is pretty much guaranteed to cause back injuries over the long term. For all that, hard armor covers remarkably little body area. Just a notebook size area front and back. No side protection unless you add that on, and before you know it you have a 30-pound nightmare slung from your shoulders.
Realistically what happens is that after people buy and try on these monstrously heavy rigs, they simply don't wear them ever. A plate setup that can stop all small arms known to man is completely useless if it's sitting in your trunk or at home when the threat arrives.