The forerunner to the modern bullet resistant vest or body armour, as it is also known, was the chainmail and breast plate of medieval times. Obviously, today's armour has to protect against a great deal more than musket shot!
The modern vest consists of a nylon overjacket which contains Kevlar pads (Kevlar is a carbon based material manufactured by Dupont). The pads can absorb the impact of hand gun and rifle bullets with no drastic effect to the wearer.
For high velocity bullets, the Kevlar pads are supplemented with ceramic armour plates. Some vests have an armour plate pocket on the front and rear, different types of protective plates may be inserted for different situations.
Some of the latest body armour consists of small titanium plates, these are very light and maneuverable, and give protection against both knife and ballistic attacks.
Body armour is mainly utilised by the armed forces; sadly, the police are now having to equip themselves with this type of protection on a more and more regular basis, and in the US these are now standard issue.
