Body Armor – Brewsing

I’m confident that everyone has seen a movie in which a member of a police force, swat team, or bomb squad, is wearing some sort of body armor. If not, please refer to these links for examples of what I am discussing.

The heavily padded, reinforced, wearable, items, can be vests, leg and arm coverings, and even helmets and masks. I might include a riot shield as part of this collection but that doesn’t seem to technically fit the idea of “body armor.” And though it provides extreme protection, it is a held item, and easily discarded, therefore, it doesn’t make the cut.

These pieces of body armor are designed to defend and protect an individual from intense onslaughts. Body armor functions by protecting a person from bullets, knives, physical attacks, and even in the case of bomb protection, explosions. When a person puts on body armor, they are trusting that it will protect them from effects that ones musculature and skeletal structure cannot. When body armor is put on, the individual is trusting that these constructs will keep them safe, and insulated from harm. When body armor is worn, the wearer believes that blunt force and trauma, piercings and pain, and damage and destruction, will not have an impact upon them.

The flip side to putting on body armor, is that the wearer is now heavier with considerable additional weight . The persons mobility is affected, thus reducing reaction time and agility. In the case of a helmet and mask or visor, the person’s perception may be affected. And, with all the padding and coverings involved, a persons sensations and feelings are numbed and blunted. The most obvious danger is, of course, that regardless of the care and cautiousness that go into the creation of the body armor, it is made by man and innately, imbued with flaws. This means that despite our best intentions, trust, and will for it to fulfill its purpose, occasional, it will fail.

When it does fail, will a person be knocked to their back by the explosion? Will a knife pierce through faulty material? Will they be weighed down, and inept, like a knight lanced from his horse during a joust, possibly undamaged inside the suit of armor, but unable to rise due to its ridiculous weight? Or will they be agile enough, have clarity of vision, and have developed adequate core strength to get themselves upright again, to continue to fight?

How much body armor are you wearing?

How much do you need?

Humbly yours,