![Bulletproof glass window after a burglary attempt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Bulletproof_glass_window_after_a_burglary_attempt.jpg)
Bulletproofing is the process of making an object capable of stopping a
bullet
A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...
or similar high velocity projectiles (e.g.
shrapnel). The term bullet resistance is often preferred because few, if any, practical materials provide complete protection against all types of bullets, or multiple hits in the same location, or simply sufficient kinetic (movement) energy to overcome it.
Origins
In 1887,
George E. Goodfellow, of
Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone is a historic city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1877 by prospector Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It became one of the last boomtowns in the American frontier. The town grew si ...
, documented three cases where bullets had failed to penetrate
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
articles of
clothing
Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...
. He described the shooting death of
Charlie Storms by
gambler
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three eleme ...
Luke Short
Luke Lamar Short (January22, 1854September8, 1893) was an American Old West gunfighter, cowboy, U.S. Army scout, dispatch rider, gambler, boxing promoter, and saloon owner. He survived numerous gunfights, the most famous of which were agains ...
. Although Storms was shot in the heart, "not a drop of blood" exited the wound. Goodfellow found that, though the bullet did indeed kill Storms, it failed to pass through a silk handkerchief. The handkerchief essentially caught the bullet, but not sufficiently to stop the bullet penetrating Storms.
Another example was the killing of Billy Grounds by Assistant City Marshal
Billy Breakenridge
William Milton Breakenridge (December 25, 1846 – January 31, 1931) was an American lawman, teamster, railroader, soldier and author.
Early life
Breakenridge was born in Watertown, Wisconsin, to George D. and Elisa Ann Breakenridge. United ...
. Goodfellow examined Grounds and found that two buckshot grains had penetrated his Mexican felt hat band, embroidered with silver wire, penetrating his head and flattening against the posterior wall of the skull. Another of the grains had passed through two heavy wool shirts and a blanket-lined canvas coat and vest before coming to rest deep in his chest. However, Goodfellow was fascinated to find two shotgun pellets in the folds of a Chinese silk
neckerchief around Grounds' neck but no holes or wounds.
He also described a wound to Curly Bill Brocius
William Brocius (c. 1845 – March 24, 1882), better known as Curly Bill Brocius, was an American gunman, rustler and an outlaw Cowboy in the Cochise County area of the Arizona Territory during the late 1870s and early 1880s. His name is like ...
, who had been shot through the right side of the neck, narrowly missing his carotid artery. A portion of his silk neckerchief was carried into the wound by the bullet, preventing a more serious injury, but the scarf was undamaged.[ '']The Tombstone Epitaph
''The Tombstone Epitaph'' is a Tombstone, Arizona, monthly publication that covers the history and culture of the Old West. Founded in January 1880 (with its first issue published on Saturday May 1, 1880), it is the oldest continually published ...
'' reported, "A silken armor may be the next invention."
Invention and design
In 1887, Goodfellow wrote an article for the ''Southern California Practitioner'' titled "Notes on the Impenetrability of Silk to Bullets". In the process of doing so, he experimented with designs for bullet-resistant clothing made of multiple layers of silk. By 1900, gangsters were wearing $800 silk vests to protect themselves.
Bullet designs vary widely, not only according to the particular firearm used (e.g. a 9×19mm Parabellum
The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Parabellum or 9mm Luger or simply 9mm) is a rimless, tapered firearms cartridge.
Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer Georg Luger in 1901, it is widely considered the most popular handgun a ...
caliber hollowpoint
upright=0.2, Cross-section of a hollow-point bullet; proportions are those of a .22 Long Rifle cartridge
Jacketed soft point (JSP) round. Right: Jacketed hollow-point (JHP) round. JSP is a semi-jacketed round as the jacket does not extend to ...
handgun cartridge will have inferior penetration power compared to a 7.62×39mm rifle cartridge), but also within individual cartridge designs. As a result, so-called "bullet-proof" panels may successfully prevent penetration by standard 7.62×39mm bullets containing lead cores, however the same panels may easily be defeated by 7.62×39mm armor-piercing
Armour-piercing ammunition (AP) is a type of projectile designed to penetrate either body armour or vehicle armour.
From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armour-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armour carried on many warsh ...
bullets containing hardened steel penetrators.
Bullet-resistant materials (also called ballistic materials or, equivalently, anti-ballistic materials) are usually rigid, but may be supple. They may be complex, such as Kevlar, UHMWPE, Lexan, or carbon fiber
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
composite material
A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...
s, or basic and simple, such as steel or titanium. Bullet resistant materials are often used in law enforcement and military applications to protect personnel from death or serious injury. In 2018, the US military began conducting research into the feasibility of using artificial silk as body armor.
Uses
Bullet-resistant body armor has been in use since about 1984. When law enforcement began wearing body armor, there was a dramatic drop in officer deaths, saving over 3,000 lives.
The National Institute of Justice
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development and evaluation agency of the United States Department of Justice. NIJ, along with the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Juvenil ...
first developed standards for ballistic resistant body armor in the 1970s. The standards have been revised five times since 1984. The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center
The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) was originally created in 1994 as a program of the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ's) Office of Science and Technology.
Resources
The ''States, Major Cities and Counties ...
tests body armor to assess its compliance with the standards and publishes the results. There are many applications for bulletproofing, some of which include:
* Aerospace
Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...
* Armored car
* Armoured fighting vehicle
* Bank vault
* Bombsuit
A bomb suit, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) suit or a blast suit is a heavy suit of body armor designed to withstand the pressure generated by a bomb and any fragments the bomb may produce. It is usually worn by trained personnel attempting b ...
* Bulletproof glass
* Bulletproof vest
A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or a bullet-resistant vest, is an item of body armor that helps absorb the impact and reduce or stop penetration to the torso from firearm-fired projectiles and fragmentation from explosions. T ...
* Bulletproof helmet
* Liquid Armor Liquid armour is a material under research by defense institutions and universities around the world including the United States Army Research Laboratory (ARL). Some of the earliest research in this area was performed at Massachusetts Institute of T ...
* Military vehicle
A military vehicle is any vehicle for land-based military transport and activity, including combat vehicles; both specifically designed for, or significantly used by military and armed forces. Most military vehicles require off-road capabiliti ...
* Panic room
''Panic Room'' is a 2002 American thriller film directed by David Fincher. The film stars Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart as a mother and daughter whose new home is invaded by burglars, played by Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, and Dwight Yoaka ...
* Plastic armour
* Riot shield
* Safe
A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...
Classification
There are various tests which items must pass before being classified as bullet-resistant. These tests specify the detailed characteristics of bullets which the material or object must be resistant to. For example, the U.S. National Institute of Justice
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development and evaluation agency of the United States Department of Justice. NIJ, along with the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Juvenil ...
standard 0104.04 for bullet-resistant vests specifies that a Type II vest must not deform clay representing the wearer's body when hit by an 8.0 g (124 gr) 9 mm caliber round nosed full-metal jacket bullet travelling at up to 358 m/s (1175 ft/s); but a Type IIIA vest is needed for protection against the same bullet traveling at up to 427 m/s (1400 ft/s). In both cases, the vest is not required to protect against a second hit within 51 mm (2 inches) of the first.
References
{{reflist, 30em
Armour