Posted on 05/14/2014 4:51:46 PM PDT by Teotwawki
A South Carolina teenager was charged with involuntary manslaughter after police say she fired a shot at a friend in a bulletproof vest, but missed the Kevlar and struck him in the heart. Anderson County Sheriff's Lt. Shelia Cole said Blake Wardell, 26, found an old flak jacket early Wednesday morning in Greenville, put it on and asked 18-year-old Taylor Kelly to shoot him. Kelly fired a single round from a small-caliber handgun at the vest, but just missed.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Darwin award!!
Even the vest itself will stop 9mm. If you hit the vest.
But if you're in a situation where the vest is a necessity....the plate is a necessity. (even a plate carrier and plates rather than a bulky flak).
One of my Marines took a burst of steel core 7.62x54 and lived to tell the tale - plate stopped every round; he was upside down at the time (long story) one round missed the flak and went through the back and out the stomach.
I knew another guy that took two to the plate and continued on with just two small bruises.
The problem is with mass media and the rolling casualty ticker - the powers that be think everyone should be wrapped in bubble wrap, Kevlar, condoms, and glow belts, and provided a rape whistle; safe from any contingency.
- E.G. you're loaded down with so much crap it defeats the purpose because you can't move.
USMC - Uncomplicated Sh#t Made Complicated
Also known as Agincourt Syndrome.
I bought a used vest off of a guy years ago. It had a patch on it. I asked him about it. He said he used his .357 and tested it on his dog. Lol!
Before anyone asks, he said the dog was ok.
HEY, I think I might have one of those...
“Remember that reporters are often the most uninformed people in our society”
Probably they figure a .380 is a bigger bullet than a .308! ;)
He now has a hole where his heart was.
Maybe the vest was loose, or worn low, or she shot from a bit to the side.
Although Kelvar was invented in 1965, it was not used in personal armor until the 1980s. From Wiki:
Kevlar is a well-known component of personal armor such as combat helmets, ballistic face masks, and ballistic vests. The PASGT helmet and vest used by United States military forces since the 1980s . . .
So if a Veitnam era flak jacket, it was not Kevlar.
Que up Don Adams: Missed it by that much!
flak jackets aren’t bulletproof vests.
He had it on backwards?
Local surplus store had a bunch about 15-20 yrs ago. Either late 80s then or they weren't kevlar
Well, his head was up his a$$ so that is possible.
I would bet that Stupid had a Viet Nam era jacket and that he did not snap it closed and had a gap down the center of his chest——— and of course there are no kevlar layers in these 50s designs, just hard plastic and ballistic nylon.
I can’t believe all of these posters though claiming they couldn’t stop some bullets-—— in particular if it was a “small caliber pistol round”.
According to the Wikipedia, Kevlar wasn't invented until 1971, by DuPont chemist Stephanie Kwolek.
Now it has been 40 plus years for me but what I remember is overlapping hard plastic pieces sort of like scales as the protection.The later jackets had pockets to stick plates in.
The damned collars used to interfere with your steel pot at the back of your neck when you tilted your head up.
I still think that the old jackets will stop most handgun rounds but I bet that our genius subject did not snap his vest closed. It was oh dark thirty and he likely was floating drunk. Take a look at the Daily Mail photos of you have not already done so.
Yeah, stupidity and incompetence all around!
I, however, do not believe criminal charges are warranted.
And, if I were on the jury, I'd hang it and hold a presser afterward and gloat at having wasted the taxpayers' money on the trial.
Maybe he wadded it up over a less critical area and neglected the instruction to shoot into the vest....
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