My old body armor from 1995

[tercel89]

I dug out my old Second Chance brand vest that I bought in 1995 when I was a reserve deputy with the sheriffs office. We had to buy our own equipment so I kept it and today I dug it out. It was made in 1995 and most Kevlar is rated or warranty for 5 years. It is soft body armor Kevlar with no metal plates. Mine shows that it is a level IIA and is rated for 9mm 124gr FMJ and 357mag 158gr JSP  directly and any angle. It's also rated for .44 mag at perpendicular angles . Today I took out my panels and shot it with 9mm 147 gr FMJ and 45ACP 230gr . I shot it at a distance of 10 feet.  It stopped them both. I shot it with 2 rds of each caliber. Just thought I'd share this since it was kinda neat . 23 years and it still stops bullets. And remember that heat is supposed to degrade Kevlar : I kept this vest in the trunk of my patrol car at my present day job as a "worst case scenario tool" , kinda redneck but putting more on cant hurt. Anyways I'm sure it got really hot in there for several years and now after 23 years it still works.  Pretty neat huh ?

Edited August 13, 2018 by tercel89

[Omega]

I had seen a report once testing a bunch of old body armor material, Kevlar, if I remember right, held up the best over time.  I've done the same to a few old level IIIA panels, with 5.56 and 9mm  it stopped the 9mm, and a few 5.56, but barely.

[Ronald_55]

Nice! I dont want to be in that vest when they hit though. I imagine breathing would hurt the next day. 

Edited August 13, 2018 by Ronald_55
Spelling :(

[tnhawk]

8 hours ago, Ronald_55 said:

Nice! I dont want to be in that west when they hit though. I imagine breathing would hurt the next day. 

Breathing may hurt after a hit to the vest, but it's better than the other options.

[GlockSpock]

So, two thoughts.

That would mean the difference between having a bad day and having a really, really bad day.

Also, I have heard multiple times from multiple people that getting show while wearing a vest feels very, very painful. As if the strongest person ever punches you in the gut or something.

However, I've also heard that it isn't much at all. These people have cited Newton's Third Law, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Their logic goes something along the lines of if getting show while wearing a vest hurts, shooting the projectile in the first place would hurt too.

I'm not really sure. I don't care enough to find out myself.

(Reno 911)

However, by all accounts, this seems to be real:

 

[tercel89]

I forgot to add that I shot it at a distance of 10 feet.

[Will]

Buddy brought some out to the ranch to try out it was five year turn in and he had it in closet another five years also  IIA. He put a few rounds of 9mm and I put four .357 Silvertips into it. Nines were ball ,Mags were HP vest

stopped them all in layer one and two,Silvertips mushroomed.  He had .30 M1 Carbine and said it should stop this

as it is a pistol round,I said Nada at 1900 FPS and it sailed through both sides.  I have pick up a used vest on advise from some metro officers and keep one panel under my car seat and one under passenger seat,with

instructions of officers that in case of gunfire, hold up to window and go like hell.  I see a firm in Atlanta sell a panel for childrens school backpacks. My next purchase.

 

 

[felinesNfreedom]

That's pretty cool. I've got some old body armor like that, not as old. Good to see it works.

[gregintenn]

I think I'd rather take a chance on being shot rather than wear a thick vest every day in the summer. I doubt it is optional for you guys though.

[ncrobb]

I remember seeing a promotional video from this company back in the early 1990s and at the end the guy put on a vest, shoved a thick telephone book under it and proceeded to turn a S&W 44 mag upside down and put it to the vest over the phone book.  After a bit of fidgeting he says “this is the part I hate” and pulls the trigger.  

[tercel89]

23 minutes ago, ncrobb said:

I remember seeing a promotional video from this company back in the early 1990s and at the end the guy put on a vest, shoved a thick telephone book under it and proceeded to turn a S&W 44 mag upside down and put it to the vest over the phone book.  After a bit of fidgeting he says “this is the part I hate” and pulls the trigger.  

Yeah the guy with glasses. He really believed in his products. He shot himself a lot. Several videos of him doing it. Unreal !

[DaveTN]

12 hours ago, gregintenn said:

I think I'd rather take a chance on being shot rather than wear a thick vest every day in the summer. I doubt it is optional for you guys though.

You get used to it. I wore mine every day. I was stabbed in the back during a large family fight. I didn’t even know it until I heard another Officer yelling at a guy to get on the ground as he had him at gun point. I was surprised when he said “He just stabbed you”. I had a slit in my shirt and through the vest cover, but it didn’t go through the vest. Mine was just one of many cases of our Officers being shot or stabbed that was saved by a vest.

We had to buy our own and there were mostly Second Chance soft body armor under our shirt. I see Officers today wearing much heavier stuff.

[Will]

For maximum effectiveness you must use the optional kevlar square that slides in pocket over your heart. This

is a trauma plate that helps impact on chest as .32 and up can cause out of whack heartbeat leading to death.

[Jamie Jackson]

On 8/15/2018 at 9:57 PM, tercel89 said:

Yeah the guy with glasses. He really believed in his products. He shot himself a lot. Several videos of him doing it. Unreal !

Rich Davis (founder and developer of Second Chance) was a larger than life individual and near evangelical in his desire to get workable, and wearable, body armor into the hands of LEO's.

Those videos are remarkable indeed.

Trivia: Rich Davis was friends with John Ross and is quite obviously mentioned as "Davis Richards" in Ross's Book "Unintended Consequences".

[Chucktshoes]

5 hours ago, prag said:

Rich Davis (founder and developer of Second Chance) was a larger than life individual and near evangelical in his desire to get workable, and wearable, body armor into the hands of LEO's.

Those videos are remarkable indeed.

Trivia: Rich Davis was friends with John Ross and is quite obviously mentioned as "Davis Richards" in Ross's Book "Unintended Consequences".

I loved the scene where the Davis Richards character goes off on his rant regarding NIJ standards. You just know that was lifted directly from conversations had between Ross and Davis. 

[Pain103]

 About 8 or 9 years ago myself and the rangemaster took several expired vests in various conditions and shot them them with all the rounds they were rated for. All the vests that were taken care of stopped them while the ragged vests that looked like a slob took care of them failed. The vest that was around 10 years expired held up against a 12 gauge slug.  

[Grayfox54]

Back around 2001 I was at a shoot and the property owner had an old out of date vest. We wrapped it around an upright post and commenced to shooting it with whatever we had. It stopped all the handgun rounds, but rifle bullets zipped right through. 

I shot it with one of my heavy 300gr .45 Colt loads. It stopped the bullet, but buried the fabric 1 1/2" into the post. 

[Ronald_55]

On 8/13/2018 at 10:11 PM, Will said:

I see a firm in Atlanta sell a panel for childrens school backpacks. My next purchase.

 

 

 

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