With the rapid progress of the bulletproof industry, various types of bulletproof equipment emerge in an endless stream, and there are more and more choices when we choose to buy bulletproof inserts, making it difficult to choose.
When most of the board is selected, the first choice is the protection level, material and price. From the point of view of materials, the mainstream bulletproof boards include ceramic boards, PE boards and steel plates; from the perspective of defense level, the United States NIJ standards, German standards, Russian standards and other standards can be seen in the market.
However, not many people pay attention to the shape of the bulletproof board, but they do not know that the shape is also one of the factors that greatly affects the experience of the bulletproof board. From the perspective of appearance, the shape of the board is mainly divided into two categories: curved board and flat board. There are various differences such as single-curved, multi-curved, and ASC chamfering. The use of an inappropriately shaped insert will affect the wearer's range and agility for tactical movements, as well as the actual protective effect.
1. Curved board
As the name suggests, the curved plate is a plate with a curved surface, which is designed according to the contour of the human chest. Therefore, the curved board fits the human body better and is more comfortable to wear. At present, the boards used by individual soldiers are mainly curved boards. With the advancement of technology, there are usually two different classifications of curved inserts: single curved inserts and multi-curved inserts.
1) Single curved board
A single-curved board is a plug-in board with only one arc that fits the curve of the human chest. It can be imagined as a rectangular board cut from a piece of pipe. Compared with the multi-curved board, the single-curved board is simpler to make and the cost is lower.
2) Multi-curved board
Multi-curved panels have additional curves along the length of the panel and are often chamfered on both sides of the upper edge.
Because the curved insert has a curvature, it can better fit the body surface, so it can provide more protection to the wearer than the flat insert.
In addition, compared with the single-curved insert, the cut corners on both sides of the multi-curved insert allow the wearer to have both arms unimpeded during tactical activities, allowing the wearer to use weapons such as guns and perform various tactical actions more freely and flexibly. There is also a theory that when the bullet touches the insert plate, its curved surface structure will cause the bullet to deflect at an angle, thus greatly reducing the penetration force of the bullet to the insert plate.
The production process of curved inserts is relatively complicated, and they are currently produced with uniform specifications and standards. Since each person's body shape is different, it cannot perfectly fit the body of each wearer. In addition, since the curved surface structure will deflect the bullet, the direction of the deflection is random, which may bring secondary damage to ourselves and our comrades.
2. Flat board
The flat board is just a flat plate-like structure, the production process is simple, and the price is relatively cheap, so many people think that the protection effect of the flat board is not as good as that of the curved board. But not necessarily, the plane structure will not involve the problem of the uncertainty of the deflection direction of the bullet. Moreover, its structure is simple, the production process is also simple, and the price is cheap, which is also a good choice for some specific usage scenarios. For example, most of the shields of the current high defense level, such as NIJ III and NIJ IV, are of flat structure, and the armor modules installed on Jeep, Hummer and other vehicles are also of flat structure. But for individuals, the comfort of wearing a flat board and a curved board is indeed much different.
3. Cut corners
We can notice that some bulletproof inserts are missing a piece on the left and right sides of the top, while others are not. In fact, the missing part is called the SC cut angle, which is designed to facilitate the user to smoothly perform standard shooting actions after wearing the insert plate. If there is no chamfer, it will hinder the shooting action to some extent.
In addition, at present, the cutting angle of some inserts is asymmetrical. This kind of cutting angle is called ASC cutting angle. This is because the movement range of the left and right arms is different when shooting. Therefore, the size of the cutting angle is adjusted separately to Better fit.
But one problem with this corner cutting is that it needs to distinguish between the left hand and the right hand. If it is reversed, it will have a very bad experience.
Different inserts have their own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, when choosing a bulletproof insert, it is recommended to first fully understand the conditions and conditions of its use scene, and rationalize the material and shape of the insert according to its own actual situation and combat needs. s Choice.
