You've probably heard about kevlar before, but wonder what it is and what it's used for? Kevlar is developed and owned by the company Dupont, and is a SUPER-STRONG plastic material. This super-strong fiber material is best known for being used in bullet- and stab-resistant vests.
Kevlar has today been replaced or supplemented by newer materials in many professional vests. TWARON (produceret af Teijin) og Dyneema (UHMWPE) offer comparable or better protection at lower weight. Elite Armor primarily uses EA-TEX and TWARON in its vests to optimize the balance between protection, weight and comfort.
So what makes kevlar so super strong? Kevlar is built from woven fibers in multiple layers and is five times stronger than steel. This material makes it possible to produce lightweight bulletproof vests.
Besides being an extremely durable material, kevlar can withstand temperatures down to minus 196 °C. Kevlar is even slightly stronger at these low temperatures. At higher temperatures kevlar does lose some of its capability by about 10–20%, and after prolonged exposure to high temperatures this reduction increases. For example, kevlar loses 10% of its strength if exposed to 160 °C for 500 hours, and at 260 °C in just 70 hours it loses 50% of its strength.
Kevlar is perfect for protecting against bullets and knife stabs, as the material can absorb large amounts of energy. It requires a very high energy level to separate the tightly woven fibers.
Read what’s good about kevlar here!
- Kevlar is super strong while being relatively lightweight.
- Unlike most plastics, kevlar does not melt.
- It can resist many different chemical attacks.
There are also other brands that produce inserts in aramid fiber - for example Teijin, which produces Twaron. The Twaron inserts from Teijin are equivalent to Kevlar and are of the same quality. In a bulletproof vest made with kevlar (or another aramid fiber), it is the aramid specifically that makes the vest bulletproof.
Den revolutionære historie bag kevlar
In 1970 the groundbreaking Kevlar K29 was introduced. This material marked the first generation of bulletproof fibers that could effectively be integrated into flexible and concealable bulletproof vests. Almost two decades later, in 1988, Kevlar K129 came to market as the second generation of Kevlar fibers. K129 was an improvement in strength compared to its predecessor, K29, and remains a central component in many products due to its robustness and reliability. These generations of Kevlar have revolutionized safety technology and continue to be fundamental in the development of protective equipment.
In 1995 Kevlar Correctional was launched, and with this new type of kevlar one could be protected against knives and other pointed or sharp objects.
In 2010 Dupont launched Kevlar XP – the latest within Kevlar. This new material has an incredibly low weight, a high protection level (NIJ IIIA) and a thickness of only 5 mm. With a protection level of NIJ IIIA, Kevlar XP will be able to stop projectiles from a Magnum .44 already after the 3rd layer.
Gode alternativer til kevlar
An alternative to kevlar is UHMWPE, which is what EA-TEX and Dyneema fibers are made of. The protection level of these fibers easily matches kevlar and all the vests you find at Elite Armor – whether it’s kevlar (Twaron) or EA-TEX (UHMWPE) – are rated NIJ IIIA. Læs mere om alle materialerne i vores skudsikre veste her.
