NCJ Number
184833
Journal
Corrections Technology and Management Volume: 4 Issue: 4 Dated: July/August 2000 Pages: 32-36
Date Published
2000
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article describes the composition and field testing of body armor for corrections officers that can resist crude stabbing and edged weapons.
Abstract
To create such armor, synthetic fibers were spun into a super-fine (approximately 200-denier) thread, resulting in an ultra-tight 70 x 70-thread count per square inch. The resulting dense yet flexible fabric is far less likely to spread apart and allow penetration by typical prison weapons. This correctional fabric, constructed on special looms, was assembled much as in a standard ballistic vest, with layers of fabric being offset so that even the microscopic gaps between the threads are not in alignment. When struck by a stabbing instrument, the fabric in correctional vests turned some of the weapon's kinetic energy into heat generated by the friction between the dense fabric and the weapon. Most of the weapon's momentum is transferred directly to the fabric's threads, which absorb and transfer the penetrating motion laterally across each layer of fabric. Resistance and friction generated by the vest, coupled with deformation of the wearer's body at the moment of impact, often turns the weapon's point away from the axis of thrust, reducing its ability to penetrate farther. The field test found that this deflection could result in the bending of crude stabbing weapons, even California-type ice picks. The same properties that protect a vest's wearer against penetrating weapons also reduce the impact of blunt trauma.