Will soft body armor stop an arrow?

[R0CKETMAN]

Flawed from the beginning.

- No arrow weight + No draw weight + No fps = no KE

[jesuvuah]

I just heard of an officer being shot by a crossbow. I have no idea if he had a vest on. Luckily the officer is recovering.

[Shao]

I just heard of an officer being shot by a crossbow. I have no idea if he had a vest on. Luckily the officer is recovering.

Modern crossbows can achieve well over 400 fps and deliver over 150lbs of kinetic energy. I hope he's recovering well.

Flawed from the beginning.

- No arrow weight + No draw weight + No fps = no KE

True... that and a 55lb. compound bow can have velocities all over the place. Not all 55lb. bows are created equal. Most will barely break the 200 fps mark.

Now try that same test with a high-powered 410+fps crossbow and see how well it penetrates.

[AndrewWiggin]

Flawed from the beginning.

- No arrow weight + No draw weight + No fps = no KE

Sorry, the data that I do know was listed in the description on the YouTube watch page. I added it to the OP.

We fired a 55lb compound bow with a 290 gr carbon fiber arrow tipped with four different arrow heads (listed below) at Level IIA body armor. The body armor is backed by clay, to simulate a body and approximate back face deformation.

4 blade 150 gr broad head
Muzzy 3 blade 100 gr broad head
90 & 100 gr field points

[AndrewWiggin]

Modern crossbows can achieve well over 400 fps and deliver over 150lbs of kinetic energy. I hope he's recovering well.



True... that and a 55lb. compound bow can have velocities all over the place. Not all 55lb. bows are created equal. Most will barely break the 200 fps mark.

Now try that same test with a high-powered 410+fps crossbow and see how well it penetrates.

Twang 'N' Bang did.

[Shao]

Twang 'N' Bang did.

Ahhh.. Google is your friend. I watched the video. Looks like the extra FPS really helps.

[AndrewWiggin]

I agree. Sorry I didn't post the video earlier, I was on my phone and it's kind of a PITA on the phone. There are a couple others out there, but this is the one I was thinking about:

[R0CKETMAN]

True... that and a 55lb. compound bow can have velocities all over the place. Not all 55lb. bows are created equal. Most will barely break the 200 fps mark.

Cam design, draw length, as well as arrow length will impact speed as well.

Sorry, the data that I do know was listed in the description on the YouTube watch page. I added it to the OP.

Don't be sorry, cool video...150gr 4 blade is one heavy tip and probably " weakened" spine. I'd be curious to see how mechanicals do

[ace4059]

I would like to see this done with a level III thrust vest/level II ballistic vest. On one of the expired vests in the armory we did a few tests on because the vests we were issued were also thrust rated. Screw driver was a no go along with a sharpened ice pick. Only thing that remotely penetrated was a dart. Never thought about an arrow test.

[terraMODA]

I can tell you No, for sure. I put a broad point arrow through my Leo friend's old kevlar vest as a test, with my 45lb recurve bow. It went clear through 10 layers of kevlar and barely slowed down. Stuck in my jeeps door after it went through the vest.