Do bulletproof vests really work?

Most criminals do not shoot all that well and a head shot is extremely to make without considerable training and practice.

Yes, the bulletproof vest works for certain calibers of bullets that are shot at the torso or back. They do leave a bad bruise and hurt like the dickens, but you are still alive and functioning. However, for high caliber bullets they do not fully protect the wearer.

You may have noticed that head shots are protected by police officers wearing helmets when in a tactical situation.

That's true, but it's also why a bulletproof vest is rarely seen without an accompanying helmet!

It's very hard to conceal a vest in an undercover situation, where it cannot be detected under another garment and wearing a helmet would give you away, despite what moviemakers would have you think. But in most real-life situations the vest is well worth it.

As mentioned by someone else, the head is a hard target anyway. You are much more likely to have the chest as a target, and then it does work well.

How Bullet Proof Vests Work

As a "Second Chance Survivor" I can say with certainty that yes they work.

There are always the open areas and bigger badder bullets that your vest won't be rated for.

I took 3 rounds of .45 cal to the chest at less than three feet while working a gate at an Army base (civilian BF trying to get in to kill his Enlisted GF). Three large bruises and 4 cracked ribs, but he also received 7 rounds into his vehicle before he went around the corner.

Yes, it does.

Most criminals don't really have that great an aim. They're not sharpshooters. When they shoot at police, it's usually not from very close up, and it's usually sort of random blasting. The vest protects the majority of the major organs.

Yes, you can still be killed, but those vests save a lot of lives. It's *definitely* better than nothing at all.

Yes, you can buy a vest ... the cheapest I've ever seen them is $600. They're made of thin layers of rubber that are meant to absorb the impact of the bullet, and they weigh usually 10-20 pounds - the lighter ones are more expensive. They're hot and uncomfortable and you'll sweat all winter in them. They don't stop knives - unless you have the metal plates, which are waaay heavier. Check out a police officer supplier if you want one.

How 'old school' are some of you guys? I haven't had a "steel plate" in my gear for 10 years. The military has long since switched the majority of its gear. There is a small trauma plate in my second chance vest though.

Yes, bullet resistant vests work. However it all depends on the level of vest, versus the caliber of bullet, versus angle, trajectory, and hundreds of other factors.

Nothing is compleltly bullet proof. You can always find some kind of bullet to penetrate whatever kind of vest you are wearing. But yes they make vests that are bullet proof for your average caliber rounds. As far as shooting someone in the head, yes the obvious answer to that questions is yes you could do that. But when you are in a firefight hitting someone is hard enough but hitting them in the head is even harder. That is why people are taught to hit them center mass of the chest. It is much easier to hit your target.

It's almost impossible to aim that precisely unless your target is standing perfectly still. So if they happened to get you in the head you' d still probably be screwed, but since aim is not precise, wearing a vest drastically decreases the odds of a bullet hitting somewhere that would be deadly.

You gotta ask yourself how easy is it to get a head shot?

Its hard......

Besides you don't aim for the head when you shot someone you aim for the center of mass which is the heart. The vest only protects you if the person firing the gun isn't shooting a rifle(m16, ak47)