An Overview of the Civilian Ballistic Vest

The Civilian Ballistic Vest is a kind of body armor that is used to shield a wearer from various threats coming from firearms, explosions and other weapons. This kind of vest is intended to be used by civilians and private citizens because it has a lower protection level and is capable of concealment. A civilian ballistic vest was designed to meet the protection needs of civilians from common threats such as handguns, knives and sharp objects.

Just like the military bulletproof vest, a civilian ballistic vest has also different ratings of effectiveness. The rating of your vest would depend on the level of protection that you will need. The civilian ballistic vest works by catching the bullet and absorbing the impact of the bullet by the layers of fibers. The impact of the bullet is then dispersed throughout the wider part of the civilian ballistic vest to reduce the blunt trauma injury. The more layers of fibers are in the civilian ballistic vest, the more it is effective in stopping the bullet because each layer helps in absorbing the energy of the bullet until it has fully stopped.     

A civilian ballistic vest is effective in defying most ballistic threats but it is not 100 percent effective all the time. There are times that the vest also fails especially when higher and stronger types of firearms or weapons are used. There are also times that sharp object will penetrate the vest if you are hit at the right angle and slide happens between the fibers.

All civilians are allowed to wear and use a civilian ballistic vest provided that there are no restrictions or legislations prohibiting their use. Such restrictions are enforced to prohibit convicted felons from accessing body armors. Also there are countries encouraging the use of body armors such as civilian bulletproof vests especially when their job involves the use of hazardous chemicals and life threatening conditions.