In the early 80's I worked with DOC and was assigned to PERT. Eventually I saved my money and bought a Safariland Concealible Vest. The vest was manufactured 12/84 and I bought it in 1985. After leaving DOC the vest stayed in the closet. Yesterday I decided to take the 25 year old vest to the range to see what it would stop. Not being as brave as Richard Davis, I layed the vest on the range backstop. Shots were fired from approx. 2 feet, muzzle to panel.
This is the panels before testing. The ink on the label had partially faded but as best I can remember it was a Threat Level IIIA vest. The next label indicates that the seal had held and no moisture had gotten into the vest.
Test weapons were a:
.25ACP Baby Browning
.38 Spl Taurus M85
9mm Glock G26
9mm Glock G34
.45ACP Colt Govt
The first series of shots were into the back panel with:
.25ACP FMJ
.38 Spl Glazer Safety Slug
.38 Spl Winchester 110 Gr Silvertip
9mm Speer 124 Gr Gold Dot (Glock G26)
9mm Winchester 115 FMJ (Glock G26)
The nest series were into the front panel with:
9mm Speer 124 Gr Gold Dot (Glock G34)
9mm Winchester 115 Gr FMJ (Glock G34)
.45ACP Winchester 230 gr JHP
After the shots were fired I cut the sealed plastic cover to expose the vest. Both panels are made up of 10 layers of Kevlar.
The single round that penetrated the most was the 115 FMJ fired from the Glock G34. 3 full layers and almost the 4th.
Not a very scientific test by any means. All rounds were stopped but what would the blunt force trauma have been? I'm not saying a 25 year old vest should be relied on for protecting your life but then again, a 25 year old vest would be better than nothing.
This is the panels before testing. The ink on the label had partially faded but as best I can remember it was a Threat Level IIIA vest. The next label indicates that the seal had held and no moisture had gotten into the vest.
Test weapons were a:
.25ACP Baby Browning
.38 Spl Taurus M85
9mm Glock G26
9mm Glock G34
.45ACP Colt Govt
The first series of shots were into the back panel with:
.25ACP FMJ
.38 Spl Glazer Safety Slug
.38 Spl Winchester 110 Gr Silvertip
9mm Speer 124 Gr Gold Dot (Glock G26)
9mm Winchester 115 FMJ (Glock G26)
The nest series were into the front panel with:
9mm Speer 124 Gr Gold Dot (Glock G34)
9mm Winchester 115 Gr FMJ (Glock G34)
.45ACP Winchester 230 gr JHP
After the shots were fired I cut the sealed plastic cover to expose the vest. Both panels are made up of 10 layers of Kevlar.
The single round that penetrated the most was the 115 FMJ fired from the Glock G34. 3 full layers and almost the 4th.
Not a very scientific test by any means. All rounds were stopped but what would the blunt force trauma have been? I'm not saying a 25 year old vest should be relied on for protecting your life but then again, a 25 year old vest would be better than nothing.
