A bulletproof vest consists of a cover and an implant. The cover itself does not protect you from bullets; the implant does. The implant is made of extremely strong fibers that absorb and distribute the energy from a projectile throughout the vest. By distributing the energy, the impact force is minimized – also called "blunt trauma" – and it will therefore hurt less to be hit by a bullet.
Note that we write less pain. Even though you protect your life with a bulletproof vest, and even if you don't die from being shot, it does not mean that it won't hurt to be hit.
The fibers in the implant
The implant can consist of aramid (including Kevlar and Twaron) or UHMWPE (including EA-TEX and Dyneema). Regardless of the type of fibers the implant consists of, the fibers are woven crosswise until they are ultimately impenetrable.
Level of protection
Depending on how high the level of protection is in the bulletproof implant, the implant can consist of different numbers of layers. The fewer layers, the lower the level of protection.
The level of protection on the side is defined in NIJ standard 101.06 level IIIA (Level 3A), which is the highest level for soft bulletproof vests also known as "Soft Armor". If a higher level of protection is desired, some of our models can be upgraded to "Hard Armor" by using a trauma plate, thus achieving level IV protection.
The composition of a bulletproof vest
A bulletproof vest is made up of ballistic fibers, and when the ballistic fibers are assembled, they must subsequently be wrapped. The wrapping of the ballistic fibers can be done in two different ways – as described below.
Some manufacturers use rubber sealing, which is supposed to help ensure that the fibers stay dry. The downside, however, is that the rubber sealing is not breathable, and therefore the vest will typically be uncomfortable to wear for longer periods at a time.
All Elite Armor implants are sealed with a high-tech membrane designed to keep the implant dry while being breathable and allowing for a higher degree of comfort.
Particularly for EA-TEX
Here at Elite Armor, we have developed our own sealing material for our implants, called EA-TEX. EA-TEX is very similar to similar technologies like Gore-Tex. This membrane ensures maximum breathability, which guarantees comfort for the end user and helps protect the fibers in the implant. Additionally, a layer of comfort foam is added, produced from ultra-light and very soft material. The comfort foam is placed between the implant itself and the sealing of the implant – naturally with the soft side facing the body, so the vest is as comfortable as possible to wear.
The comfort foam comes in many qualities, and the purpose of this foam layer is precisely to make the vest more comfortable to wear. There is also a variant of our comfort foam that adds a cooling effect to the vest, which can naturally help make the vest comfortable to wear, even for longer periods.
Covers
There are different types of covers or 'covers' for our bulletproof implants. Some covers will thus have pockets on the chest, in which it will be possible to insert extra protection in the form of a trauma plate or also known as a 'hard armor plate'.
Among other types of covers, there are covers with fabric 'straps' that hang down. These straps also provide an extra form of protection, as a potential attacker will have a harder time getting underneath the vest and pulling it up, leaving the abdomen unprotected. Here we can refer to our RX1 model, which comes with these straps.
Some of our covers also have an extra function consisting of fabric 'straps' that should be tucked into the pants. This makes it more difficult for an attacker to get underneath the vest and pull it up. This results in the abdomen having a higher level of protection by keeping the vest in place.
The finished vest
A finished Elite Armor vest therefore consists of up to 3 parts, depending on the desired level of protection. Generally, most of our 'soft armor' vests are rated to have a protection level corresponding to NIJ Level IIIa. If a higher level of protection is desired, one can achieve NIJ Level IV protection with certain of our vests by using trauma plates.
A bulletproof vest is therefore composed of both an implant and a cover. Some vests can be supplemented with a trauma plate or exist only as a 'plate carrier' where protection is only achieved by inserting plates.