What would happen if you wore a bulletproof vest on top of a bulletproof vest?
It would depend greatly upon the characteristics of the vests concerned - it’s not a stupid question by any means.
Some very early vests actually had two protective inserts - using one would provide something like NIJ Level I (which doesn’t exist anymore) protection and using two would provide NIJ Level II. One might assume that using three would provide very good Level IIIA protection, but I’ve never tested that.
If the panels were reasonably stiff, the trauma protection would be pretty good, as well. I did a lot of testing on this type of vest in the early 1980s - they were good vests.
The table provided in NIJ Standard 0101.06, National Institute of Justice:
Thus, if you have two NIJ Level II vests and want to protect against penetration and trauma from NIJ Level IIIA, it’s possible that using the two together would accomplish that - I’m not recommending it, nor am I saying that it will work that way - I’m saying it might work - to know, you’d have to do lab tests. Naturally, if you have two vests of the same size with removable panels, inserting both panels in the same carrier would be more comfortable.
Note that under no circumstances will a soft body armor panel protect against rifle fire, nor is it likely to protect against stabbing weapons, unless specifically certified to do so.
We used to make assault vests with the same sized front and back panels, and some operators would use both panels in the front when making an intervention - it made the operator feel better and did provide a lot better trauma protection, meaning that they could keep going. Usually, they pinched a back panel from another vest in these circumstances.
I’m not recommending that, either - just recounting an anecdote. Since no training will ever provide protection against every circumstance, this is probably not a good practice - the better option would be to buy overbuilt vests in the first place. Any competent manufacturer will design a vest for specific requirements for institutional users - remembering that a testing regimen can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Zennison
What would happen if you wore a bulletproof vest on top of a bulletproof vest?
It would depend greatly upon the characteristics of the vests concerned - it’s not a stupid question by any means.
Some very early vests actually had two protective inserts - using one would provide something like NIJ Level I (which doesn’t exist anymore) protection and using two would provide NIJ Level II. One might assume that using three would provide very good Level IIIA protection, but I’ve never tested that.
If the panels were reasonably stiff, the trauma protection would be pretty good, as well. I did a lot of testing on this type of vest in the early 1980s - they were good vests.
The table provided in NIJ Standard 0101.06, National Institute of Justice:
Thus, if you have two NIJ Level II vests and want to protect against penetration and trauma from NIJ Level IIIA, it’s possible that using the two together would accomplish that - I’m not recommending it, nor am I saying that it will work that way - I’m saying it might work - to know, you’d have to do lab tests. Naturally, if you have two vests of the same size with removable panels, inserting both panels in the same carrier would be more comfortable.
Note that under no circumstances will a soft body armor panel protect against rifle fire, nor is it likely to protect against stabbing weapons, unless specifically certified to do so.
We used to make assault vests with the same sized front and back panels, and some operators would use both panels in the front when making an intervention - it made the operator feel better and did provide a lot better trauma protection, meaning that they could keep going. Usually, they pinched a back panel from another vest in these circumstances.
I’m not recommending that, either - just recounting an anecdote. Since no training will ever provide protection against every circumstance, this is probably not a good practice - the better option would be to buy overbuilt vests in the first place. Any competent manufacturer will design a vest for specific requirements for institutional users - remembering that a testing regimen can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
1 year ago | [YT] | 0