Polyethylene Armor – How Good Is It?

When it comes to body armor, immobility can be a liability. How is that? Because if you can’t move quickly because of your armor’s weight, then your chances of becoming a victim while under fire increase. 

Although your armor protects your vitals, it doesn’t cover your entire body (which would restrict your mobility further) and there are plenty of other areas of your body that do not react well to bullets.

Speed as a tactic

For many animals in the wild, speed is a survival mechanism, and it’s no less true for humans.  Think of it this way, which is more difficult for someone to shoot, a slow-moving turtle or a running rabbit?

Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE, or PE for short) is a very lightweight material capable of stopping not only standard Level III rounds such as the 7.62×51 M80 ball ammunition, but also high-velocity rounds such as the 5.56 M193 round at 3,150 feet-per-second.

At 3.5 pounds, these plates are neutrally buoyant, which means they float. What does this mean? Well, while they won’t act as a life preserver if you go into the water wearing your vest, it does mean their weight won’t contribute to downward pull. Steel or ceramic armor, in comparison, can add 12-19 pounds of additional weight to fight against. If you work around water, PE plates are a definite advantage.

Armor is a trade off

As we frequently (always?) say, armor is a trade-off between price, performance, and profile (weight & thickness), and polyethylene plates are no different.

While PE plates excel at capturing high-velocity ball ammo, they will not stop M855 ‘green tip’ or any armor piercing ammunition. Additionally, PE plates can be susceptible to heat damage above 140-150F Fahrenheit, so if you need armor that can be stored in your vehicle trunk and you live in Phoenix, polyethylene probably isn’t for you.

So if you’re looking for an American-made (Phoenix, AZ), multi-hit, very lightweight armor solution that won’t weigh you down, give our PE plates a look.