Materials used in Soft Body Armor

Let us take a look at the history of the materials being used in soft body armor.

Ever since man has existed in this world, protection is already an issue. From the old centuries, man has used animal and plant skin as a body armor until the century of Rome and Greece. Because of the animals and gladiators, men have become involved in making body armors through metallic plates. But not long ago when rifles and guns were also developed thereby those metallic plates were useless. Soldiers also find it hard to move when in a war zone since the body armors are heavy and bulky.

So what are the materials being used to develop soft body armor? let us have a look.

Several manufacturers have been involved in developing and refining materials used in bullet proof body armor. Here are some.

1.       Kevlar – this material was introduced in the early 1970s. this was the first generation of bullet proof fibers developed by DuPont for body armor which help made the production of flexible, concealable bullet proof armor practical and reality for the first time. This was developed specifically by Stephanie Kwolek. In about 1988, DuPont released the second generation of Kevlar which was called Kevlar 29.

2.       Spectra – this type of fiber is developed and manufactured by AlliedSignal. This is an ultra high strength polyethylene fiber. This fiber is dissolved in a solvent and spun through a series of small orifices called spinnerets. The solution is then solidified by cooling and the cooled fiber has a gel-like appearance.

3.       Twaron – another fiber manufactured by Akzo Nobel. The fiber uses 1000 or more finely spun single filaments that act as an energy sponge, absorbing a bullet’s impact and quickly dissipating its energy through engaged and adjacent fibers.

These three materials or fibers are the three main fiber materials used to make our soft body armor.