Friday, January 2, 2009

The difference between KEVLAR and SPECTRA

By Marcos Santana

In the last couple of years a lot of improvements have been made, especially in the police and military equipments and gear , improvements that have lead to better safety. The new bullet proof body armor is more comfortable and protective. In the past bulk and discomfort was part of being protected. Thanks to KEVLAR the new body armors for the police and military have greatly reduced weight and size.

However today a new material called SPECTRA has been released on the market and SPECTRA is more flexible, lighter and stronger than KEVLAR. This new substance is changing the face of bullet proof wear for police and the military, but what are the differences and the big advantages of SPECTRA?

If we examine the structure of the two we see that Kevlar is made from a high strength and high performance fiber who's properties are not yet entirely understood despite the fact that it has been used in bullet proof clothing for many years. A more or less exact description is difficult but you should try to see it is that the molecules form into sheets that then stack themselves around the center of a fiber like spokes. Stacking together several layers of Kevlar in a woven pattern creates the bullet proof material.

The woven material catches the bullets and the fibers break apart layer by layer and absorb the velocity. The bullets also get dulled and flattened when trying to penetrate the many different layers of the bullet proof material. This always has been a very effective method but nowadays the bullets are made of harder materials and they have a lot more velocity than in the past.

This means that Kevlar vests are stretched to capacity and sometimes even penetrated completely by these forceful weapons. The only answer with this material is to thicken the layers of weave, which make the material even bulkier, heavier, and less flexible.

Spectra is a completely different technology. The material is about 40% lighter than Kevlar, making it more comfortable from the start. On top of that, it is not a woven structure, meaning that several layers are not necessary, further reducing weight and bulk. - 15359

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