Different pieces of body armor are designed to be used at different times, for that reason you should decide if you are going to be wearing your body armor underneath or above your clothing.
Covert sorts of body armor are made to be worn under clothes. Due to this they are normally designed to be as slender and as lightweight as they can be, and are built to be invisible when worn underneath clothing. These sorts of body armor are often manufactured from moisture wicking fabric which help to keep the person wearing them cool, and are also usually designed in lighter colors than other types of body armor.
Covert body armor is worn by individuals that prefer the fact they are using body armor to go undetected. This is often individuals such as close protection officers, undercover operatives and door supervisors, since an overt type of body armor would not be suitable for them.
Overt forms of body armor are designed to be worn over your clothing, and for that reason they tend to be made of stronger fabrics than those used for covert types of body armor. The idea of overt body armor is that it will be apparent to other people, and as a result typical overt body armor covers are usually black, but there are many other colours that are available. In many instances overt pieces of body armor will come with high visibility markings, or be made totally from high visibility materials, ensuring that the person wearing them sticks out.
Police forces from around the world use overt types of body armor, as well as security companies and also security staff. An overt piece of body armor can often act as a deterrent, as it can help identify individuals of authority quickly in a crowd.
Body armor has come to be popular over the last twenty-five years, for 2 main factors. To begin with, earlier forms of body armor were heavy and also stiff, however advances in technology means that the body armor we benefit from these days can provide high levels of protection, whilst at the same time being light-weight, flexible and comfortable even when used for very long amounts of time. The 2nd reason for the increase in body armor use is that, sadly, it is actually becoming essential in some types of work as a result of the increased risks that many of us face in modern society.
Once you have decided if you’ll need a covert or overt type of body armor, it’s then vital to select what protection levels you’ll need. When picking an item of body armor you must consider what types of threats you may encounter, as different varieties of body armor will provide protection against different types of threats.
A bullet proof vest is considered the most well recognised type of body armor available. This sort of body armor is made to stop a round by “catching” it inside a web of super strong fibers, and prevent it from passing through the vest itself. They can provide different levels of protection, that will offer the wearer defense against low powered firearms up to high powered Magnums.
Another popular form of body armor is stab proof vests. Most people think that if a unit of body armor can stop a bullet it will be able to stop a blade, however this is not the case. The reason being that a blade penetrates material in another way to a round, and therefore a regular bullet proof vest is not going to defend its wearer from a blade based assault.
In recent years spike resistant vests have also become obtainable on the body armor market. These types of vests offer the person wearing them protection from spiked weapons such as needles and syringes, which can very easily slip through the weave in the fabric of a bullet or stab resistant piece of body armor.
With such a selection of body armor available you need to think about which sort is suitable for you. If you’re operating in an area with zero gun crime but high amounts of knife violence then it’s worthless using an item of body armor that can only protect you from guns. Similarly a knife resistant piece of body armor will be pointless when you’re in danger of getting shot.
These days modern day varieties of body armor are now able to provide multi-threat protection. As a result they’ll protect the wearer from a variety of assaults, for instance there is now body armor that is both bullet and stab proof, and even bullet, stab and spike resistant varieties.
The most significant consideration when deciding on your body armor is to make sure that it is going to protect you. Make sure that you have the correct form of protection for the threats you could encounter, because you can’t put a price on your life.