Life tends to bring some bad experiences, such as being attacked by other people looking for your valuable supplies. This is one of the reasons why you should always make a home defense plan so that you can defend your loved ones and belongings.
Likewise, you need to invest by acquiring body armor for physical protection from bullets. Thankfully, body armors are available in a variety of shapes, styles, and levels of protection for anyone who needs them. This post discusses some of the factors you should consider before buying body armor.
Why you need a body armor
Body armors have existed for thousands of years. Keep in mind that people have been at war with one another, making it necessary to have some sort of protection from lethal weapons. One type of body protection is a body armor that has been used usually by peacekeeping forces, armies, and ordinary civilians.
Today, body armors are increasingly becoming popular, leading to some developments like ballistic vests or bulletproof vests designed to protect your body. So why do you need body armor? Well, below are the benefits of having this gear:
- Protection during shooting practice. Many people like the added weight of body armor while training and it also offers extra protection during active shooting drills. This is because there are risks of accidental discharges like you can trip and discharge your firearm while running.
- Home defense. You can wear body armor before checking out your home in the night.
- Protection from active shooters. You can keep a body armor in your backpack so that you can wear it when there is an active shooting.
- For safety while patrolling. In a bad situation, you may need to defend an area, so having body armor can make a huge difference.
Types of body armors
As explained above, there are good reasons why you need to use the best body armor. Whether you’re a bodyguard or a private citizen, you can find a body armor that meets your needs. The common types of body armors you can likely find on the market are a soft body armor and a hard body armor. Here is what you need to understand about these two types of armors:
Soft body armor
As the name suggests, while soft body armor is usually flexible and soft, it’s considered to be strong. Because this body armor is not bulky, you can wear it underneath your clothes or even use it as an extra type of gear.
You can also use a soft body armor rather than a hard body armor to get a higher level of protection. You see, soft body armors are usually made of fabric-like material, such as kevlar and spectra that provide high strength. This woven fabric catches the ammunition and absorbs its force, just like when you try to poke your fingertip through a shirt.
Even better soft body armor is not only comfortable to wear but they also cover more parts around your torso. You can find soft body armors in vest forms and standalone plates that are meant to slide into a backpack or a vest.
Although soft body armors are flexible and easy to wear, they are not as strong compared to the hard body armors. Remember that soft body armor is designed to halt the pistol-caliber bullets and not give you protection from rifle-caliber ammunition.
Hard body armor
Hard body armor also popularly called tactical body armor has a soft armor shell featuring rigid plate carrier and armor inserts. These metal plates are made up of ballistic steel and ceramic. These armors are stronger than the soft body armors because they have internal plates.
You will find a variety of hard body armors on the market that have layered plates. The plates with ceramic coating are considered to be strong as they have a protective material that adds more strength. However, you can find hard body armor vests that don’t come with the pates. This gives you a chance to choose the right plate to incorporate into your body armor and buy.
Also, hard body armors have strength qualities, making them heavier and less pliable than the soft body armors. The truth is that hard body armors are heavier, uncomfortable, reduce your agility, and cover less part of your body than the soft body armor.
Despite this, you can have peace of mind knowing that this body armor can protect you from high caliber rifle shots. They can protect you against serious threats, especially the ones you plan for emergencies. No doubt, you need hard body armor when you find yourself in tactical situations.
Features you should look out for in a body armor
Body armors come in all forms and shapes. You can find concealed vests or external combat plates. The bottom line is that you want to get a body armor that has features that you want. Some of the features you should consider include the following:
Protection
The whole reason for buying a body armor is to have protection against threats, such as the bullets. Ideally, if a body armor doesn’t provide adequate protection from knife attacks or bullets, then there is no reason to buy and wear it. Therefore, you need to research and understand the protection levels of any type and model of armors you intend to buy.
Comfort
You need to find a body armor that is comfortable for a very good reason. Any body armor that feels uncomfortable wearing it means you will avoid putting it on. This is the reason why you should choose a body armor that has some padding and is adjustable to make sure that it fits you. In short, avoid buying a body armor that has no adjustment options or doesn’t have padding.
Mobility
Apart from your armor being comfortable to wear, you should get one that allows you to be mobile. Understandably, body armor needs to provide enough protection to your body from bullets, knives, and other lethal weapons but your reaction can also be slowed by it.
In threatening situations, you need to move fast while wearing body armor. So finding a body armor that gives you sufficient mobility is the major factor in staying alive.