Does "expired" armor still work? (lvl III ICW test)

[AndrewWiggin]

https://youtu.be/8HCsLxxN_SU


A man contacted me to ask if I wanted to test some armor samples. Turns out he sells police surplus body armor. This plate is an RF1 ICW plate, which is roughly equivalent to lvl III ICW. Now, I thought it was a ceramic plate because I had it mixed up with another one the guy sent that is a ceramic plate. It's not. Derp. It's UHMWPE, which should theoretically be more prone to failure after its expiration date.

[StevethePirate]

My understanding is that expiration date has more to do with administration and liability than actual degradation of the armor. Heat, UV light, improper storage all play a larger role than time in performance degradation. The trouble is that all those variables are hard to quantify, so they throw a date on it, so you don't risk lives of people who use their gear hard.

A plate or soft armor, stored flat in a cool, dry environment without UV exposure SHOULD last nearly indefinitely.

[SW CQB 45]

I work at a Police Dept and Police Academy.

The PD donates expired body armor to the academy for the cadets to wear for class, to get them used to wearing body armorer.

if the body armor stinks or the outer cover no longer retains to the body, per the director....I destroy (burn) when we are at the firing range with the academy.

A few are saved to place against the dirt berm so the cadets can see for themselves how it works and the backface indention. Usually a healthy dose of 9mm 115 ball and the expired, stinky and rough carrier will hold up for a while but then we shoot 5.56 XM193 and it will penetrate.

[AndrewWiggin]

How do you get it to burn?

[SW CQB 45]

heavy razor blades, a lot of cadets, cut slits to penetrate the kevlar as best as we could, douse flammable fluid, burn pit and a road flare.

It will dull a razor blade after a few panels and then will start pulling kevlar strands.

I did a few, but since I was in charge.....and plenty of eager cadets....I let them do it.

[AndrewWiggin]

Lol. That stuff is pretty flame resistant. Good thing you had lots of help.

[SW CQB 45]

yes sir!

They will smoke for most of the day.

[Instaurator]

I was given a concealable Safariland IIA vest from 1989. It had been worn on duty at some point but I'm not sure how long or when. It had set in storage for probably close to two decades. I was interested in cutting some cummerbund shaped panels out of it for a stiffener just so I could hang some magazines on my plate carrier without the pouches sagging out at a weird angle. I cut a piece off that was roughly ten inches by ten inches and shot it with both 9mm and 45 acp. Both rounds were ball. The distance was approximately 5 to 7 yards. The armor stopped both rounds no problem which I thought was pretty awesome for a 25 year old armor panel. Not the first choice for cummerbund armor panels, but I saved a few bucks.