What is a Body Armor?

Body armor clothing encompass everything from stab proof vests, bullet proof vests, and cut resistant clothing, to armor which motorcyclists, pedal cyclists and animal workers wear on a regular basis to protect themselves from harm or injury.

Body armor has recently made a comeback over the past 60 years or so. Although not widely used during the first or second world wars it slowly made a comeback as it was realized that a man could be protected from bullets knifes and bombs, maybe not totally, but to a lifesaving level.

Body Armour was used during the Vietnam war and subsequent wars since. Now you rarely see a soldier from a developed country going to war without some nice body armor.

Many materials have been used in the production of body armor and some of the best possible materials such as titanium are not used due to cost restrictions. Perhaps the Body Armour success story of the last fifty years has been Kevlar. Kevlar, even today is a widely used effective and low cost option when it comes to armor protection.

A thousand years ago body armor was being made using steel which was much heavier than anything we use now. Although heavy it was highly effective and by the thirteenth century had advanced to become something of a work of art.

In a way the development of weapons like the Longbow did start to make armor obsolete and when the gun was invented this also dealt a death blow, no pun intended, to the armor industry.

Modern advances in composite materials and understanding of molecular structures at the smallest level means materials which are lightweight energy absorbing and low cost are becoming real contenders to be the Kevlar of the next decades to come.

This is the new body armor clothing.