How can the vests be bulletproof?

A bulletproof vest is composed of plate carrier clothing and ballistic plates. What really plays the bulletproof role is the ballistic plates. The clothing is just the carrier but not bulletproof.

Ballistic plates are divided into two categories. One is soft plates (relatively weak protection ability), and the other is reinforced / composite hard plates (relatively strong protection ability).

The soft plates are usually made of high-performance fibers (such as UHMWPE and Kevlar). Its bulletproof principle is that when the bullet / fragment hits the fiber layer, the huge impact force will be consumed when stretching and shearing the fiber layer. At the same time, the fiber layer will spread the impact force generated by the bullet / fragment to the area outside the impact point, so as to absorb the impact force. The soft plates can resist the bullets of pistols and shotguns or fragments of explosives such as grenades, as well as long-distance automatic rifle attacks (not at close range).

Soft Ballistic Plate

The hard plates are made of metal, ceramic, high-performance composite plate and other hard materials on the basic of soft plates. The bulletproof principle is that when the bullet hits, firstly the metal plate, ceramic plate or composite plate in the bulletproof plate contacts the bullet (equivalent to the first line of defense). At the moment of contact, the bullet and these hard bulletproof material plates may crack, which consumes most of the bullet’s energy. As the second line of defense as well as a buffer, the soft bulletproof material absorbs and diffuses the remaining energy of the bullet, so as to achieve the purpose of bulletproof. The hard plates can resist more powerful weapons, such as automatic rifles.

Hard Ballistic Plate