Bulletproof Vest or body armor is termed as a protective covering or simply a piece of cloth which covers the torso of a person i.e. back, abdomen, and chest. These protective coverings provide safety to the wearer and also protect him or her from the deadly revolver bullets and certain pistol and also from the fragments of disastrous explosives and certain devices such as hand grenades. Usually, these vests are worn by security guards, soldiers, police officers, and by those who have a risk of getting shot like politicians of country or any leading personality.
These bullet proof vests work in a very normal way as a shield does. They are made in layers of fabric which is tightly woven just like Kevlar or any other strong, hard material such as titanium or ceramic which have the tendency to stop the revolver or metal pistol bullets or other fragments of a metal shell from penetrating into the body of a person. Augmentation of textile vests with metal such as titanium or steel, polythene plates or ceramic provides extra and undulating protection to the vital areas of our body. These hard and strong armor plates in a bullet proof vest have been effective against most of the handgun bullets. The tightly woven or laminated layers of strong and hard fibre catch and deform the bullet and spread its thrust over a larger area of the fibre of vest. In this process the bulletproof vest absorbs all the energy from the bullet and brings it to stop before it penetrates into the vest. In some cases bullet may penetrate some of the layers but as it deforms, its energy is absorbed by the larger area of fibre. Specifications of a bullet proof vest includes both, that is, requirement of penetration resistance and control on the amount of impact thrust or energy being delivered to the wearer’s body.
Bullet proof vests are very much protective for a certain limit or impact which is bearable but can be visa versa too. A person wearing a bulletproof vest can get serious injuries from the impact or thrust of a metal bullet on the vest worn. A person can even get killed if a shell fragment or a bullet hits that part of the body which is not protected by the vest or if they are shot by a pressure gun, machine gun or powerful rifle bullet.
In present time, different types of body armor or vests are available which vary in composition and their functionality. Those bullet proof vests which are worn by a security guard or police official are usually made of different layers of fabrics which are tightly woven just like Kevlar. Whereas, the vests worn by soldiers are stronger and heavier than those worn by the security guards and police officers because a soldier needs protection from machine gun and rifle bullets. Soldier’s bullet proof vests often have a strong metal such as titanium or flat pieces of ceramic materials. These types of materials have tendency to stop the bullets from machine guns or rifles.