Old Kevlar-How well did it do?

[mindwip]

About 2 years ago i bought an old test panel from Bulletproofme. These are cheap one panels with no carrier that are way past there warranty and have been used. So exposure to UV, sweat etc.

The vest a Point Blank Model 20 Class II Dupont Kevlar panel. We started off with some bird shot 3 shots during the day. The vest flew back about 10 feet after being hit. The first two layers stopped the pellets.





Next we moved on to some 9mm fired from a Sig 228. Also shot the vest with some .22lr from a Marlin 60. You can see the bullet did not make it far. The bullet was at the top layer and loose so i worked it out the hole. The bullet looked like i could of reloaded it. The vest was shot with about 5-7 9mm none made it through.



Next we added some AR and AKs to the mix. Needless to say these passed through the vest like it was not there. Here is a shot at the end of the day. Front and back.

Notice the the 9mm that is less then 1/2 an inch from the bottom, the bullet was stopped! I believe the rating for vests is they only have to stop a bullet 2inchs from a corner!




Last test, some one asked about being stabbed. I took a brand new mora knife (shaving sharp) and with a solid grip brought the blade down straight on the vest. Went about 1/2 to 3/4 through the vest. I would say i used 70% strength and that a stronger guy or a knife with a thinner blade would of gone through with easy. The vest worked against the knife but diffidently can be defeated by them. If i was going to be in a knife fight i would still wear the vest since any slashing should be stopped and a stab into a moving target may mean i live another day.



That's all the different types of ammo we had, will try more some time later. Wonder if a 30Cal can be stopped...

[ireload]

How much did it cost for the used vest?

[mindwip]

$240 and up. Police overruns and lightly used. Well worth it in my opinion. I have one.
The test panel is $40 on there web site i think i paid $25, maybe a discount because i was also buying a vest from them too.

[I_Love_My_.38]

Awesome post thank you. Although this failed with 556 and 762 I would definately buy it because most threats here in the city are handguns. Do you think it would stop a 357?

[mindwip]

The vest is rated for a 357 and even 41 mag. So i would say yes.

[ireload]

$240 and up. Police overruns and lightly used. Well worth it in my opinion. I have one.
The test panel is $40 on there web site i think i paid $25, maybe a discount because i was also buying a vest from them too.

That's a good price for it. I'm checking out their site. Thanks.

[GunGreg2107]

I recently bought a new vest also from bulletproof me, its a safariland 3a with extra trama plate and was a 2010 police overrun only paid 375 in bnib condition in size giant to fit me, they also threw in 2 3a test panels so I will shoot them up and post results as well.


Sorry for extreme runon sentence

[problemchild]

If the vest flew back 10 feet then the test was flawed. A person wont move so you need to strap the vest to a tree and shoot it. Failure would have been higher.

[mindwip]

Yes. that shot was not a good test. The bracing for the vest was too week and small. Later shots had more support. The bird shot still is stopped by the first layers. The same thing happened with our first 9mm shot hence why the bullet was not deformmed. Latter 9mm had proper support and the rounds mushroomed.

This was just a fun test. I had nothing to prove since many company's have shot vests over 25 years old and they still stopped all their rated rounds.

[DannyInSoCal]

I've always suspected the "expiration dates" were BS...

[problemchild]

How heavy was the vest? Could you just use 2 of the old ones?