Bullet Proof Vests and Knifes

eyeball · September 14, 2001, 09:58 PM

can a bullet proof vest withstand a knife shanking?

Seeker · September 14, 2001, 11:55 PM

How to best defeat a vest with a blade? Say a Ka-bar?

Does a stab require a lot of force? Can it be wiggled in? What about if you put it against the vest and then thrust?

Anybody have a vest they can use for research?

SMHeaton · September 15, 2001, 03:30 AM

In the Second Chance catalog, they have vests that are specifically designed to withstand knife attacks (It seems to me they market these more heavily to corrections officers.) and on other vests they have warnings that the vests will not defeat knife attacks.

So I guess it depends on the design...

Regards,
SMHeaton

Double Naught Spy · September 15, 2001, 10:24 AM

The most correct answer is NO. Ballistic vests are not designed for dealing with knives and ice picks. Stab vests protect against these threats, but not bullets.

Of course, a nice thick vest would help protect you against slashes, just as wearing a few layers of denim jacket. Here, the ballistic vest simply provides a thick layer of extra clothing. A high tech Second Chance ballistic vest that is very thin would be poorer at this task than an older and low tech very thick vest.

I do recall that some companies make combination vests, but they are about twice as thick since they do two jobs.

Jorah Lavin · September 15, 2001, 10:42 AM

I think that if I was expecting to be exposed to knife stabs, I'd infest in some finely made interlocked chain mail to wear under a bullet-resistant vest.

Now, if I could walk and breathe with this combination is another question.

-J.

September 16, 2001, 10:38 PM

This is another reason that the steel plates should be considered in a vest. A blade may defeat kevlar, but it won't punch a steel plate.

eyeball · September 17, 2001, 02:28 AM

haha... that stuff is like the stuff that King Arthur and the knights of the roundtable used to wear... lol

Jorah Lavin · September 17, 2001, 03:41 AM

but I assure you, good-quality chain mail was the high-tech of that era, and still does the job it was meant to do; slow or even stop pointed and edged weapons. With good-quality alloy steels and titaniums, a modern version could be light and impressively strong.

-Jorah

eyeball · September 17, 2001, 12:09 PM

lol

Coronach · September 17, 2001, 03:12 PM

They use very fine chainmail to armor some divers to resist shark bites, there is absolutley no theoretical reason why some form of very fine hi-tech material chainmail would not work amazingly well against thrusts or slashes by the average knife.

I, myself, considered this some time ago...and I'm sure I was not the first.

Mike

September 14, 2001, 09:58 PM	#1
eyeball Junior member Join Date: June 7, 2001 Posts: 84	Bullet Proof Vests and Knifes can a bullet proof vest withstand a knife shanking?

September 14, 2001, 11:55 PM	#2
Seeker Senior Member Join Date: May 30, 2001 Location: Lacomb, Oregon Posts: 1,393	How to best defeat a vest with a blade? Say a Ka-bar? Does a stab require a lot of force? Can it be wiggled in? What about if you put it against the vest and then thrust? Anybody have a vest they can use for research? __________________ Molon Labe Seeker "The oppressed should rebel, and they will continue to rebel and raise disturbance until their civil rights are fully restored to them and all partial distinctions, exclusions and incapacitations are removed." --Thomas Jefferson Don't Tread On Me! "Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none" -- Thomas Jefferson In order to rally people, governments need enemies. They want us to be afraid, to hate, so we will rally behind them. And if they do not have a real enemy, they will invent one in order to mobilize us. -Thich Nhat Hanh

September 15, 2001, 10:24 AM	#4
Double Naught Spy Senior Member Join Date: January 8, 2001 Location: Forestburg, Montague Cnty, TX Posts: 12,717	The most correct answer is NO. Ballistic vests are not designed for dealing with knives and ice picks. Stab vests protect against these threats, but not bullets. Of course, a nice thick vest would help protect you against slashes, just as wearing a few layers of denim jacket. Here, the ballistic vest simply provides a thick layer of extra clothing. A high tech Second Chance ballistic vest that is very thin would be poorer at this task than an older and low tech very thick vest. I do recall that some companies make combination vests, but they are about twice as thick since they do two jobs. __________________ "If you look through your scope and see your shoe, aim higher." -- said to me by my 11 year old daughter before going out for hogs 8/13/2011 My Hunting Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange

September 15, 2001, 10:42 AM	#5
Jorah Lavin Senior Member Join Date: April 4, 1999 Location: Indian Land, SC USA Posts: 593	Fine chain mail? I think that if I was expecting to be exposed to knife stabs, I'd infest in some finely made interlocked chain mail to wear under a bullet-resistant vest. Now, if I could walk and breathe with this combination is another question. -J. __________________ I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit... it's the only way to be sure.

September 17, 2001, 03:41 AM	#8
Jorah Lavin Senior Member Join Date: April 4, 1999 Location: Indian Land, SC USA Posts: 593	eyeball, I was mostly joking, but I assure you, good-quality chain mail was the high-tech of that era, and still does the job it was meant to do; slow or even stop pointed and edged weapons. With good-quality alloy steels and titaniums, a modern version could be light and impressively strong. -Jorah

September 15, 2001, 03:30 AM	#3
SMHeaton Member Join Date: May 17, 2000 Location: Provo, Utah, USA Posts: 46	In the Second Chance catalog, they have vests that are specifically designed to withstand knife attacks (It seems to me they market these more heavily to corrections officers.) and on other vests they have warnings that the vests will not defeat knife attacks. So I guess it depends on the design... Regards, SMHeaton

September 16, 2001, 10:38 PM	#6
PreserveFreedom Guest Posts: n/a	This is another reason that the steel plates should be considered in a vest. A blade may defeat kevlar, but it won't punch a steel plate.

September 17, 2001, 02:28 AM	#7
eyeball Junior member Join Date: June 7, 2001 Posts: 84	haha... that stuff is like the stuff that King Arthur and the knights of the roundtable used to wear... lol

September 17, 2001, 12:09 PM	#9
eyeball Junior member Join Date: June 7, 2001 Posts: 84	:p lol

September 17, 2001, 03:12 PM	#10
Coronach Senior Member Join Date: March 25, 1999 Posts: 3,147	You laugh They use very fine chainmail to armor some divers to resist shark bites, there is absolutley no theoretical reason why some form of very fine hi-tech material chainmail would not work amazingly well against thrusts or slashes by the average knife. I, myself, considered this some time ago...and I'm sure I was not the first. Mike __________________ The axe bites into the door, ripping a hole in one panel. The maniac puts his face into the hole, cackling gleefully, "Here's Johnny...erk." "And here's Smith and Wesson," murmurs Coronach, Mozambiquing six rounds of .357 into the critter at a range of three feet. -Lawdog "True pacifism is the finest form of manliness. But if a man comes up to you and cuts your hand off, you don't just offer him the other one. Not if you want to go on playing the piano, you don't." -Sam Peckinpah "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert Heinlein