How long is Body Armor still effective

fixer27

fixer27

Joined
Nov 17, 2004
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The local police dept has upgraded their body armor and now there is a
surplus of there old armor for sale. A gunshow is coming up and there will
be tons of these vests for sale. (for like 50 bucks) So how long is this
stuff still effective? I was thinking about buying a vest just to have one
around, so any advice will be appreciated.
 
Good question. Not sure if this is correct, but I receive a new vest every five years, but I'm not sure if that's related to the actual usage degredation of the fibers used.

There should be a ton of reading oon this via google, if you can weed-out the Zylon issue.

-dan
 
Nobody knows. It depends on so many things (for one, how often was it worn?) The manufacturers are conservative; they would much rather have police departments buy new vests before they really need to than take any chance of a vest of theirs getting penetrated by a bullet.
 
I remember recently (past 6 months or so) about a recall of vests becaus the fibers were deteriorating prematurely. I'm sorry, but I don't remember which company made these vests. Before buying one though, you might want to research this and make sure that these aren't the same vests.
 
They're on deep discount, right?
Buy two, and shoot up one of them to see how good they are. :D
 
i have heard that how you store them (ie hot trunks are bad) how ya wash them (some soaps deteriorate the fabric) can make a big diff, even if ya bought 2 to test if one worked it isnt any sure thing the other will.

thats not even considering that the second chance company recently went bankrupt due to selling vests made from a new material that didnt stand up as expected, zylon(?) or something, so i wouldnt want one of those.

if i really needed a vest i would get a new one myself.
 
The material is called Zylon and many companies used it. And as far as
buying two, I can just see the 911 call when I show up at the pistol range
with a vest to shoot at. "Why officer, I was just testing the fiber strength
yeah surrrrre " In that case I would just buy a new one, much cheaper than
lawyer. :eek:
 
My attempts to buy one were not received in a good way. I was looking for a vest from one of the top names in the industry and not some fly-by-night outfit. Since I didn't carry an active shield, my request was met with nothing but suspicion.

If you want one, you are better off getting one from a known source then out of a "pile". Heat and sweat take a toll on them. Some are a little better then other but, I'm not aware of any that really resist normal use over time. They are expendable with use just like a disposable pen.
 
I have a Point Blank that has never been worn. It is SpectraShield, and it was a salesmans sample, too small for most adults, perfect for my shall we say, vertically challenged frame. Does anyone have a good idea?

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Sid Post said:
My attempts to buy one were not received in a good way. I was looking for a vest from one of the top names in the industry and not some fly-by-night outfit. Since I didn't carry an active shield, my request was met with nothing but suspicion.

If you want one, you are better off getting one from a known source then out of a "pile". Heat and sweat take a toll on them. Some are a little better then other but, I'm not aware of any that really resist normal use over time. They are expendable with use just like a disposable pen.
Click to expand...


heck ya see all the 'rapper' guys wearing them i figured anyone could buy them.........

i know in some states if ya wear 1 when committing a crime it carries enhanced penalties FWIW, some states may ban civilian use altogether??

also i have seen them at gunshows several times, i would imagine they would sell to anyone with $$.
 
Kohai999 said:
I have a Point Blank that has never been worn. It is SpectraShield, and it was a salesmans sample, too small for most adults, perfect for my shall we say, vertically challenged frame. Does anyone have a good idea?

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
Click to expand...

The only thing that I have found is that Zylon is too unstable to be trusted
and according to www.bulletproofme.com used vests are still supposed
to be usable (assuming they aren't made from Zylon) and they sell some
"refurbished" vests for $150 or so. According to them if you take your plates
out of the carrier you can tell if their Zylon because they will have made in
Japan on them. BTW, point blank used Zylon. They also got themselves
sued and were offering a trade in program. FWIW
 
Interesting question. I'm not sure I would buy a used vest at all, but I haven't researched it extensively. Obviously, I wouldn't touch Zylon. I'd actually be suspicious of any laminate or non-aramid fiber, which means I'm suspicious of Spectra as well. I would at the very least do more extensive research on the topic. The view on tacticalforums -- who were among the leaders in forcing the issue on zylon -- is that spectra has the same problems as zylon.
 
Five years is all vests are warranted for, you will get no answer beyond that from armor companies.

Buying two and testing one is no help either, as you have no guarantee that you didn't shoot up a good vest and are wearing a POS. Storage, care, and whether or not they got wet a lot are all factors in degradation, and theoretically it could be trash long before the warranty date.

Either you need body armor or you don't. These vests don't qualify as armor.
 
If your going to get a used vest invest in a ceramic plate to go in the front and rear of it ( a new ceramic plate). That way if the fibers are not holding up as well as could be expected the plate will earn its money if the situation arrises. If you get any flack from the dealers just tell the that five people in your neighborhood were killed by bullets in the last year and that should shut them up about a citizen buying a vest. Its not any of their business anyway.. Also go for the highest rated vest like the threat level 3 to a 5 they offer the most protection for the buck anyway. Also if you live below the mason dixon line you may as well invest in a couple of those ribbed undershirts cause if you wear the vest much in the summer its gonna get hot..
 
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