My dept recently had an officer get shot. The .40 S&W hollowpoint struck the officers vest approximately 1/4 inch from the bottom of the level IIIA armor panel. The round penetrated the armor and severely injured the officer. He was treated and is doing better. The vest was only 3 years old.
Afterwards we recieved some rating information and it seems that these vests are not tested near the edges. Is it common for rounds to penetrate near the edges?
I also found it concerning that these vests will only stop a 9mm fired from a submachine gun 50 percent of the time.
My department is doing some testing with the vest and others like it to see why it didnt stop a round its rated to stop.
moved to terminal ballistic forum.
IIRC, the manufacturer specifies the edge distance that the armour is supposed to be tested, but it cannot be more than 2" from the edge of the panel.
1/4" is pretty darn close to the edge.
There is much more to the ratings than just what rounds they will stop. How close to the edges, how many hits, velocity the ammunition is traveling at etc.
IIRC, the Colorado verification test is one of the better testing methods.
According to the memo going around it actually penetrated the armor. Any officers that have the vest are being told to let their supervisors know and I think the dept is gonna buy them new ones.
Body armor is one of those things that isn’t very sexy and is often overlooked until you need it. Having experienced the wonders of kevlar I can’t overstate how important getting a good vest and proper fit is.
I would take a look a look at the latest testing protocol that DocGKR posted once concerning contact shots, etc… I seem to remember reading something about edge shots. I may be wrong.
I too would expect that at the edge effectiveness to be reduced (it still protected the most vital areas), but if the failure modality of the vest is what the rumor mill mentioned above puts it as, then it’s hard not to question how a hit elsewhere on the vest would do.
I hope the officer makes a speedy recovery, prayers with him and his family.
Maybe the dept. looking into this will have some positive results too.
Agreed 100%. My armor is expired, but I am waiting for a new vendor to get our contract. The current vendor measures us for sports bras.
My wife used to be a C.S. rep in charge of federal contracts for a major body armor manufacturer. When she first saw my “sports bra,” she about lost her mind.
The cut of my current armor makes me think I am even more uncovered than I previously believed. I had not given much thought to the vulnerability of edge shots.
Every body armor manufacturer guideline I’ve seen for vest fit sucks, in no uncertain terms. I gave up on their forms years ago, and now send tracings of panels I had custom made whenever I need a new vest.
The back and forth to get a truly good fit is worth it. Unless you gain or lose a lot of weight thereafter, you usually will only have to do it once in a great while.
I think you may be referring to a “V50” test, where armor is tested to a velocity where 50% of the rounds are stopped, and 50% pass through, often with a 9mm bullet. That figure is the “V50”. The higher the number the better.
If it was struck within 1/4" of the edge of the vest, it most likely wasn’t rated to stop that. Most/all soft body armor isn’t. Even the latest NIJ body armor standard uses a 2" from edge minimum. Body armor isn’t magic or a force field. Soft armor acts like a net. Get too close to the edge and there’s not enough mass to spread out the impact of the bullet.
I know it’s a stressful time, (been there, done that plenty), but your department needs to take a breath, and learn what actually occurred. If you don’t have someone on staff that understands ballistics and soft body armor, than they need to seek help from another agency, NIJ, etc., to complete the investigation. They shouldn’t be doing anytesting on the actual vest in question.
More armor, costsmore, so I’ve seen some manufacturers and vendors undersize, trying to keep costs down. Even most of the ones that do “custom fitting” just try and stick you in a stock size. The first one I got issued looked like it was made for a 10 year old.
I once had a manufacturer rep tell me that there was no way I could wear a vest in the dims I brought in to order, and he had to refit me properly. We went around and around for a time, with him pointing out how stupid I was, and how he and his employer knew better.
He hadn’t bothered to ask what I was wearing at the time, which was what my new order had been measured and traced from. After showing him, he looked a little sheepish and a lot like he knew he was about to get run over by a truck. I ended up with competitor product.
I always point out that I have been wearing various body armor of some sort almost daily for over 25 years. I then ask them how many days a week they wear a vest.
True, too much armor is sold by people who know more about hemming pants than armor.
But the other side of the coin is how the vast majority of cops, don’t have even the slightest knowledge about that vest they’ve been wearing daily for the last 25 years.
We all know (and complain about), how little most of the guys we’ve worked with know about the gun/ammo they carry. The average knowledge of the body armor they wear is a tiny fraction of that. I remember when my agency issued a level II vest, a bunch of guys I worked with went and bought their own level I T shirt vests, (remember those?). They would brag about how light and comfortable they were, and that they worked “just as good”. “They stop .38, 9mm and .45” they would say. When I would point out the velocities listed on their vest, were well below a lot of common rounds, they would just shrug and ignore it. I’ve seen guys shocked, when they found out the soft level II vest we were issued wouldn’t stop rifle rounds. Yet when I was involved in testing vests for my department, trying to engage most guys about it, beyond “comfort”, was like pulling teeth.
Armor, like a gun, is equipment, and it’s bullshit how few bother to learn anything about either, beyond scuttlebutt at lineup.
That is so true on many levels. Vests are a fine line between comfort and protection.
In this case I am not suprised there was a failure that close to the edge.
As bad as it is getting the guys to listen you should try getting the bosses to look at rifle plates. We are mostly rural and every other house has a hunting rifle.
Best wishes and a fast recovery. We are pulling for you brother.