In going over Bruno Sutkus's book, Sniper Ace, about his fighting on the Eastern Front in 1944. In it he writes on pages 43-44:
Waistcoat is generally a vest (18th Century). What type of vest could do this? A steel breast plate like that worn by Soviet mine removal soldiers would be heavy and cumbersome - especially for a sniper.
"[W]hile observing the terrain, I was detected by a Russian sniper. Under my camouflage jacket I was wearing a thickly-layered protective waistcoat that was relatively bullet-proof at 400 metres - I decided to risk receiving a shot to the chest. His bullet hit me there fair and square. I feigned dead and kept my sights on the enemy sniper. Once he eventually left his hiding place, I shot him from behind."
Waistcoat is generally a vest (18th Century). What type of vest could do this? A steel breast plate like that worn by Soviet mine removal soldiers would be heavy and cumbersome - especially for a sniper.