Different pieces of body armor can be used at various times, and so firstly you have to determine if you’re going to be using your body armor under or over your clothing.
Covert forms of body armor are made to be worn underneath clothing. For that reason they are generally designed to be as thin and as light-weight as possible, and are made to be hidden when worn below clothing. These kinds of body armor are generally constructed from moisture wicking fabrics which help to keep the person wearing them cool, and are often designed in lighter shades than other types of body armor.
Covert body armor is worn by people who prefer the fact they are wearing body armor to go unnoticed. This could be people such as close protection officers, undercover operatives and door supervisors, since an overt piece of body armor would not be suitable for them.
Overt varieties of body armor are created to be worn over your clothing, and for that reason they tend to be produced from tougher materials than those used for covert pieces of body armor. The idea of overt body armor is it is obvious to others, and due to this fact normal overt body armor covers will be black, however there are plenty of other colors that are available. Often overt pieces of body armor will have high visibility markings, or be manufactured totally from high visibility materials, making sure that the wearer stands out.
Police forces across the world wear overt types of body armor, as well as security businesses and also security staff. An overt piece of body armor will often be a deterrent, because it can help identify individuals of power easily within a group.
Body armor has become popular over the last twenty-five years, for two major factors. To begin with, early types of body armor were heavy and also stiff, but advances in engineering means that the body armor we wear nowadays has high levels of protection, whilst additionally being light, flexible and comfy even when used for extended periods of time. The 2nd cause for the increase in body armor use is that, unfortunately, it’s actually becoming required in some lines of work due to the increased threats that we deal with in modern society.
Once you have decided if you need a covert or overt piece of body armor, it is then vital to determine what protection levels you require. When choosing a piece of body armor you will need to consider what kinds of threats you will encounter, simply because different varieties of body armor will offer protection for different types of risks.
A bullet proof vest is the most well known item of body armor on the market. This type of body armor is created to stop a bullet by “catching” it within a web of incredibly strong fibres, and stop it from penetrating through the vest itself. They can provide numerous levels of protection, which can offer the person wearing them protection from low powered pistols up to high powered Magnums.
Another very popular form of body armor is stab resistant vests. A lot of people think that if a unit of body armor can stop a bullet it may be able to stop a knife, but unfortunately this is not the case. This is because a blade penetrates fabric in a different way to a bullet, and as a result a conventional bullet proof jacket can’t protect its wearer from a knife based assault.
Recently spike proof vests have also become obtainable on the body armor marketplace. These vests provide the wearer protection from spiked weapons like needles and syringes, which will 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 kind is correct for yourself. If you are employed in a place with absolutely no gun crime but substantial levels of knife crime then it is worthless using a piece of body armor that can only defend you from firearms. Equally a knife proof piece of body armor is worthless if you are in danger of getting shot.
Thankfully modern day types of body armor are now able to offer multi-threat protection. This means that they’ll protect the person wearing them from different kinds of attacks, for instance there is now body armor which is both bullet and stab resistant, as well as bullet, stab and spike proof varieties.
The most significant factor when choosing your body armor is to make certain that it’s going to protect you. Ensure that you have the correct form of protection for the threats you might face, because you can not put a price on your life.
