(Image of Polish inventor Jan Szczepanik successfully testing a
bulletproof vest (1901), [Public Domain]
via Creative Commons)
Cloth and fiber armors are
likely the longest-serving family of armor. Light and soft materials, from
overlapping paper scales to thick fabric gambeson jackets, have long been used
to create powerful armor that resists cuts and punctures. The effectiveness of
these armors grew exponentially when combined with mail coats made of
interwoven metal rings.
The introduction of firearms
into warfare caused many armor designs to become obsolete, but armorers and
inventors quickly began inventing better and stronger defensive equipment that
could resist firearm projectiles. The first bulletproof armors are thought to
have been reinforced metal breastplates, dating back to the 16th and 17th
centuries.
Yet, the first modern soft,
bullet-resistant vests are thought to have been created by the Japanese and
Koreans in the mid-to-late 19th century. The Japanese found that garments that
were skillfully constructed with around thirty layers of thick silk cloth could
stop a bullet from puncturing the human body. The Koreans, too, constructed a
bullet-resistant armor made of around ten layers of thick cotton material.
The men who popularized the
modern notion of the bulletproof vest were inspired by the cloth designs of the
Japanese and the Koreans. A Ukrainian immigrant priest named Casimir Zeglen and
a Polish inventor named Jan Szczepanik created and marketed a bulletproof vest
that consisted of a steel plate woven in between layers of silk. To prove that
their product worked, the priest, Casimir Zeglen, held a demonstration where he
was shot by a .44 caliber firearm at a distance of only ten steps from the
shooter.
The materials of
bullet-resistant armor have continued to change since the days of Japanese silk
garments. Instead of steel, aluminum was tried. Kevlar replaced Asian silk, and
ceramic plating was found to be a great solid material for bullet-resistant
armor. Now, however, silk is making a return—yet, this time the inventors and
engineers have set their gaze on scientifically-modified spider silk.
Written by C. Keith Hansley.
- http://www.historyofarmor.com/armor-history/history-of-bulletproof-vest/
- http://mentalfloss.com/article/24039/brief-history-bulletproof-vests
- http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-a-viral-image-robbed-a-polish-priest-of-his-iconic-inventionthe-bulletproof-vest
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