Double Naught Spy
New member
... pretty sure it'll be hard to prove effective against bear attacks.
- TXGunNut
I have no doubt that vests would be somewhat helpful in protecting a person in a bear attack, but only when the bear was going after the chest area and people often die as a result of trauma to their heads, necks, lower abdomen, and limbs. They do no good in protecting areas not directly covered by the vest, such as the legs which were being chomping on in the above incident where Ty Bell shot and killed his hunting partner, Steve Stephenson, while a grizzly chomped on Stephenson's legs.
Typical ballistic protection worn by street cops is soft armor. Soft armor will not protect against rifle rounds such as used to shoot the bear in the above story.
Im kind of amazed at the negativity associated with them, especially from people who say they carry a gun. The very same reasoning can be applied there. Like carrying a gun, its a personal choice, for whatever reason the person sees fit. If you dont want to wear one, thats fine, dont. Dont carry a gun either, youll probably never need it anyway.
I have found this amazing as well. Apparently, if you carry a gun that will allow you to project force over distance against other people, it is considered to be good self protection. If you wear a vest that will help protect you when force is used against you, you are parnoid. Quite honestly, I would be more inclined to believe that these are reversed.
I had a cop freak out when he pulled me over for speeding and I was wearing a vest. "Freak out" is probably a bit strong, but I have never had a cop come to my driver's side window and then retreat quickly in mid sentence to the rear of my vehicle and question me from the back bumper before. He finally relaxed, came and retrieved my licenses, but still questioned my 'need' for a vest even at the gun range. I asked if he wore his to the range and he said that he did, but that he shot with other cops. So I said something like, "So you think I should trust the gun handling skills of strangers at the range when you don't trust the gun handling skills of your fellow officers?"
I got the ticket.