Body Armor History

Injury has been a more come experience than death. Man from the beginning of time had to find a way to protect themselves from the weather, animals and each other. Body armor was the answer to this. Body armor was the equaliser to all wars.

“Throughout history, humans have used all different types of materials to protect themselves from animals, weather and other humans” (“Body Armor”). In the earliest forms, body armor was made from animal skin, as they found more protective materials and weapons were being used they had to find other ways to protect themselves. “Wood and types of metals such as bronze.As the art of war started to develop the knight was created, the pioneer of body armor”.(Weaponology) The wealthy men of ages as young as

The body armor the knight used was evolutionarily. Instead of making one large sheet of steel they took it and laid them to form scales. These plates would lie on top of each other like roof shingles do on a house. When there was a “blow to one of those plates it would be distributed over a larger area than just that one spot” (“Body Armor”), Think of it like an earthquake, where the Larger plates like the chest plate received their “strength from how they were bent, like a dome”.(“Weaponology”) This was a very effective form of body armor for “protecting the whole body from most attacks like spears, javelins and arrow” but there was downsides to this style (“Body Armor”). It was hard for the Knight to move efficiently and effectively. The armor was very heavy and could be worn for days at a time in battle. “The

This idea of silk to be true body armor didn 't come till a priest named Casimir Zeglen found the perfect 4 ply weave to stop most projectiles like the 38. Special and 45 a.c.p. but couldn 't stop the “newest round of 357 Magnum”. Created by Smith and wesson(Weaponology). His vest was tested over a “dozen times in theaters and large crowds and he was so confident in his vest he was the one being shot”.(Weaponology)The vest would cost “cost about $800 then and nearly 15,000 in today 's money”.(Weaponology) During this time the military was looking for a bulletproof vest but Zaglen 's vest couldn 't stop rifle rounds. WWI offered only “special troops the chance to weird body armor, but it was heavy”(Military). Even then the armor was heavy, lacked in mobility and still couldn 't stop high velocity rounds from some firearms. The helmet was also reintroduced during this time and was thought a symbol of weakness by both sides. “Just before the start of WWII Archduke Francis Ferdinand was wearing body armor similar to Zegeln’s style” (History)(Weaponology). “The point of body armor is to protect you from most of the bullet most of the time by most of the people”(Weaponology). “Francis Ferdinand was shot in the neck only a few inches lower and WWII could have been avoided”(Weaponology). During the war, the search of a