Page 37 - Airsoft Action Issue 126 June 2021

K I T & G E A R
KIT & GEAR
T
A
E
P PLATE CARRIERS
L
R
IERS
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C
A
However, as quickly as metalworking evolved, so plastics in creating strong yet light fibres. These fibres
did the science of ballistic weapons! The bow gave were used by DuPont in the 1960s to create Kevlar,
way to the crossbow and the increased power and a brand known to all as being used in bullet proof
efficiency of the bolt soon started to make many vests. These plastics, known as aramids, create fibres
forms of plate armour obsolete, the negative of with an extremely high strength-to-weight ratio that
weight and bulk (and indeed price!) outweighing the are still flexible, offering great potential for dispersing
level of protection given. Of course, the introduction energy and coping with impacts. Similar products
of the firearm accelerated this trend but as both began to be created by other companies that utilised
crossbows and early firearms were slow to load and aramids and plastics and soon body armour became
fire, some armours remained popular, although the stronger, lighter and more accessible than it had ever
die had been cast… been.”
Fast forward to the 20th Century and of course …and this, my fellow BB-chuckers is where things
armour systems were still around in both WWI and started to get real for what has become the plate
WWII, but for the basic infantry soldier the new carrier of today. With the introduction of high-tech,
focus on fast, mobile warfighting lightweight (in relative terms!) armour plate
saw it largely disappear and constructions, the user could remain
the trend for non- highly mobile whilst at the same time
armoured benefitting from quite significant
troops levels of core protection.
became Armour plates
the norm themselves come in
throughout many shapes and
the Cold sizes these days
War period. and are
Yes, armour using made
thick layers of metal from
were used by American the
soldiers in the Korean and
Vietnam wars, but these
were specialist items for
specific end-users, and were
extremely uncomfortable
in those hot and humid
environments!
Once upon a time - and
not so long ago if I’m honest
- an “Armour Vest” was exactly
that, a vest into which you fitted
plates to protect you from harm,
and again, it wasn’t too long ago that
these were simply called “bulletproof
vests”, although that in itself was a bit
of a misnomer! Not truly “bullet proof”,
the majority of vests were just about able
to protect your vital core and organs from
pistol-calibre rounds and movies of the time
would often refer to bullets that would still
penetrate these vests as “cop killers” as the
vests were predominantly used by LEOs.
Reading online, the website of www.
safeguardarmor.com tells me that…
“The most important development in
the body armour industry was the use of

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