3 Must Have Body Armor Related Safety Accessories
The process of selecting the right body armor and plate carrier is an important first step in increasing your likelihood of surviving dangerous encounter such as active shooter or robbery. However, there are additional safety factors to consider. What if the bad guy isn’t courteous or skilled enough to shoot you square in your body armor plates? What if the shot occurs at close range with a high caliber firearm? Wearing body armor provides a huge advantage, but there are still many situations where you could still find yourself or a loved one, in a life-threatening situation. In this article we’re going to cover three important body armor accessories that will increase safety and protection during violent scenarios.
While there is a large amount of disinformation spread by keyboard warriors online in regard to steel body armor plates, fragmentation aka “spall” is a reality. If you’re unfamiliar with these terms, we’re merely talking about
the possibility of injury due to bullet fragments being dispersed upon impact with a steel body armor plate. It’s for this very reason that we developed our Encapsaloc™ fragmentation mitigation coating. However, there are still many situations where people decide to purchase body armor plates without this thicker full coat, opting for a base coat instead. A base coat only protects the plate against corrosion and provides little protection against spall related injuries. In the absolute worst-case scenario, spall injuries can be fatal. While this is rare, it is a reality. If you decided to purchase base coat steel plates but would like to add fragmentation mitigation after the fact, we do have a solution. You can purchase a Spall Containment Sleeve which is an actual sleeve that fits around each plate with special materials designed to capture bullet fragments and reduce the chances of spall related injuries. In many cases we’ve even seen customers use Spall Containment Sleeves with full coat plates just for some extra piece of mind.
Trauma pads are one of the least expensive ways to add additional protection to your body armor rig, especially if you’re running ceramic body armor plates. Unlike steel core body armor, ceramic body armor plates are prone to back-face deformation (BFD). A bullet traveling thousands of feet per second releases a large amount of kinetic
energy upon impact. While ceramic body armor plates are great for stopping high caliber bullets moving at higher velocities, the release of kinetic energy upon impact can result in a dimple in the back of the body armor plate. While we rigorously test our body armor products to ensure that the fall below the BFD max of 43mm as per NIJ 0101.06 standards, the reality is that any sort of BFD hurts and can result in some internal bruising and injury. These internal bruising injuries are commonly known as blunt force trauma. While you don’t see the same dimple effect in steel core body armor plates, the release of kinetic energy still travels past the plate and into the wearer. Trauma pads greatly cushion the blow and reduce the possibility of blunt force trauma injuries. Keep in mind that the likelihood of blunt force trauma injuries increases significantly at close range. Trauma pads are a simple and cost-effective way to mitigate this risk. As a bonus, the cushioning effect of trauma pads also make body armor plates more comfortable to wear.
When it comes to body armor, many people tend to plan for an ideal scenario where each bullet is placed perfectly in their body armor plates. Next time you’re at a public indoor gun range take a look at the ceiling, you’ll typically see lots of missing paint and dents from bullet impacts. Keeping in mind that these shots are being placed in the ceiling
by people training with firearms. It’s logical to conclude that bad guys and active shooters (who likely spend little time on the range) will not have the tightest groupings. This is especially true in mass shootings where someone may be looking to harm as many people as possible, as fast as possible. This is why it’s important to have a med kit nearby whenever possible. Our Advanced First Aid Kit (AFAK) and Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK) both have the necessary medical equipment to field treat traumatic bleeding. Don’t plan on bad guys having good aim, plan on effective administration of tourniquets and gauze until help can arrive.
There’s a lot of tactical gear on the market related to plate carriers and body armor. When you buy body armor, it’s important to take care of the fundamentals. Having a proactive approach to mitigate spall/fragmentation, blunt force trauma and traumatic bleeding could very well save your life or the life of a loved one. This day in age, it seems that the only guarantee in life is that there are no guarantees. There are low cost, high reward products such as Spall Containment Sleeves, Trauma Pads and med kits which will provide greater peace of mind and safety at a time when it’s needed most. Have additional questions about our body armor safety gear? We’re always here to answer your questions and help you select the safety equipment that’s right for you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
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