Over the years, many improvements have been made in military and police garments to increase safety and create bullet proof body armor that is both comfortable and protective. However, in the past, being safe has meant a certain amount of bulk and discomfort, as well as added weight and mass for soldiers and officers facing combat on the battle fields and in urban wars. The use of Kevlar, a registered trademark of DuPont, has made body armor lighter and easier to work with, but flexibility has still been a problem.
However today a new material called SPECTRA has been released on the market and SPECTRA is more flexible, lighter and stronger than KEVLAR. This new substance is changing the face of bullet proof wear for police and the military, but what are the differences and the big advantages of SPECTRA?
Let's first examine the structure of each of the two materials. Kevlar is a high strength, high performance fiber that, despite its many years of use in bullet proof clothing, is still not entirely understood. The best description of how it is believed to function is that the molecules form into sheets that then stack themselves around the center of a fiber like spokes. The idea behind using this as a bullet proof material was to stack several layers of the material together in a weave pattern.
The weaving would then "catch" the bullet by allowing the fibers to break apart layer by layer and absorb the velocity, slowing the bullet to a stop as it also dulled and flattened from striking the material. However, this was mostly effective when bullets were slower and had less total velocity, making them easier to stop. Now, our troops and law enforcement officials face much more technically advanced weaponry with bullets flying at higher speeds and constructed from harder metals.
Due to these improvements in weaponry we are back to the point of the bulky, heavy and less flexible bullet proof material because the only solution to this advanced weaponry penetrating completely the vests is by adding more and more layers of Kevlar to the fabric.
Spectra is a completely different technology. The material is about 40% lighter than Kevlar, making it more comfortable from the start. On top of that, it is not a woven structure, meaning that several layers are not necessary, further reducing weight and bulk. - 16650
However today a new material called SPECTRA has been released on the market and SPECTRA is more flexible, lighter and stronger than KEVLAR. This new substance is changing the face of bullet proof wear for police and the military, but what are the differences and the big advantages of SPECTRA?
Let's first examine the structure of each of the two materials. Kevlar is a high strength, high performance fiber that, despite its many years of use in bullet proof clothing, is still not entirely understood. The best description of how it is believed to function is that the molecules form into sheets that then stack themselves around the center of a fiber like spokes. The idea behind using this as a bullet proof material was to stack several layers of the material together in a weave pattern.
The weaving would then "catch" the bullet by allowing the fibers to break apart layer by layer and absorb the velocity, slowing the bullet to a stop as it also dulled and flattened from striking the material. However, this was mostly effective when bullets were slower and had less total velocity, making them easier to stop. Now, our troops and law enforcement officials face much more technically advanced weaponry with bullets flying at higher speeds and constructed from harder metals.
Due to these improvements in weaponry we are back to the point of the bulky, heavy and less flexible bullet proof material because the only solution to this advanced weaponry penetrating completely the vests is by adding more and more layers of Kevlar to the fabric.
Spectra is a completely different technology. The material is about 40% lighter than Kevlar, making it more comfortable from the start. On top of that, it is not a woven structure, meaning that several layers are not necessary, further reducing weight and bulk. - 16650
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If you want to know more about Kevlar and Spectra make sure to visit our websites : Navajas | Linternas | Relojes Militares and Insignias Militares | productos militares | Chalecos Tcticos
