Lining a blazer and jumper
with Kevlar costs £130
Posted on 08/14/2007 11:11:59 AM PDT by yankeedame
Last Updated: Tuesday, 14 August 2007, 16:28 GMT 17:28 UK
Lining a blazer and jumper
with Kevlar costs £130
Parents concerned about knife crime are getting "slash-proof" school uniforms for their children. A company is offering to modify blazers and jumpers by lining them with knife-resistant Kevlar.
Bladerunner in Romford, east London, said it has been contacted by the parents of five local pupils about the £130 adaptation.
But the government said stabbings in schools were very rare and accused the firm of scaremongering for profits.
Jim Knight, Department for Children, Schools and Families minister, said: "Stabbings in schools are exceptionally rare. This is a commercial organisation scaremongering to sell its products."
Kevlar is a synthetic material that can be spun into a fabric which makes it light but also very strong.
Seven teenagers have so far been stabbed to death in London this year.
"I think paying £130 is worth it for peace of mind - kids spend more than that just on trainers," Parent Jo Coleman
Adrian Davis, from Bladerunner, said: "We introduced Kevlar-lined hooded tops out earlier this year and off the back of that a few parents asked us if we could alter school uniforms to make them stab proof.
"So we are offering the service on a private, individual basis."
He added the pupils were not from any one school.
'Peace of mind'
Alf Hitchcock, from the Association of Chief Police Officers, said it was an "extraordinary step".
"The reality of course is that crimes involving knives are proportionately very very low.
"But we do recognise that some parents do have that fear (of crime) and some feel they need to go to these steps."
One parent, Jo Coleman from Romford, said she was thinking of getting her son's jacket lined with Kevlar.
She said: "I think paying £130 is worth it for peace of mind - kids spend more than that just on trainers.
"I think it is a good idea. You are not so much worried now about adults snatching kids, but about the other children."
Ban knives. It works for guns. < /s >
What about flamethrowers made from spray cans and lighters?
I dunno where people got the idea that Kevlar is such a great fabric. Kevlar’s advantage is in tensile strength, not shear strength. Plus, a woven fabric is still going to have voids between the warp and the weft. A poinard or stiletto is still going to go right through this, just like chainmail.
hint...having a “slash” is slang for relieving oneself of urine...
p!ss proof school uniforms.. lol
Maybe they ought to make kevlar turtlenecks for students who mistakenly offend Muslim students during prayers..?
I believe that Kevlar is available in sheets, like paper, as well as cloth and yarn.
At what point does the British parent say to himself, “I can no longer send my child to school safely”?
Seriously, what are the Brits doing over there?
It is spun from a solution, and cannot be formed into sheets. “Sheets” of Kevlar are woven from the fiber.
I’m pretty sure they are banned in the UK.
The partner did, and the knife went right through the trauma plate, the kevlar, the wearers chest wall, punctured the pericardial sack and killed him deader than dog crap.
Kevlar is not 'stab proof'.
However the makers of this product might want to bring back another old British traditional garb:
L
Are they kidding??? This has to be a joke, yes? Peace of mind???! Peace of mind would be NOT sending your children to public school! These people are NUTS!!!
But what will they use to protect their necks?
I think in order to be useful against knives it would have to be more than just a few layers thick. It’d end up weighing twenty pounds, and be very hot.
Kevlar’s not great at all against thin thrusting blades, though it would probably minimize a slashing-type cut.
Along with criticizing England for the dangers there, we should note that US students could be arrested and convicted for wearing kevlar in most of our large cities (only police allowed to wear kevlar clothing).
A company is offering to modify blazers and jumpers by lining them with knife-resistant Kevlar.
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