How Does Soft Armor Work?

Engineered synthetic materials started with “nylon” which was the first super-polyamide fabric developed by DuPont® back in the 1930’s. As with most synthetic materials the “magic” is in the process of manufacturing them more so than in the ingredients used. That is where all the cost is as well.

The name “aramid” fibers is from “synthetic aromatic polyamides” or aramids for short. Super-strong plastics engineered into strong, ring-like molecules connected in long strings. Its strength comes from this natural arrangement, at the molecular level, in regular, parallel lines. When enough kinetic energy is introduced to the fabrics surface, in the form of a projectile, it compresses to become even more dense across the entire surface of the material, a 10″ x 12″ soft armor panel for example. 

The more layers of materials the more surface area to absorb the distribution of the energy from an incoming round with each underlying layer receiving only the energy not consumed by the preceding layer. The more layers, the better the level of protection. At some point cost and practicality come into play when it comes to layers and thickness. 

So, like the teachings of Judo and Karate, the materials use the incoming (opponents) kinetic energy to compress and harden to defeat the (attacker) round. At AR500 Armor we offer two types of soft body armor, Rimelig – designed to meet all NIJ Standards while keeping the cost at a minimum to make body armor affordable and available to the everyman (or woman), and Hybrid – exceeding NIJ standards for maximum performance against the incoming threat.