Five bucks says it will also stop a high velocity spitwad!

Originally Posted by Redneck

You know, there is one real easy way to find out.

Can't find it, but there was a confirmed Darwin Award of some kid who got ahold of a bullet proof vest -- He wanted to know if it would stop a knife, so he has a friend stab him hard in the chest to find out. It didn't stop the knife.

If it can't stop a knife I can't see how it can stop shrapnel. In many ways it's just flying knife blades

There is supposed to be a new system coming out that will stop knives and level III ballistics without the ceramic plates. the kevlar is supposed to be woven closer together so it won't let the tip of a knife, or any other sharp object, through.

Surprisingly kevlar has problems with knives. When someone stabs a kevlar vest they keep pushing on the knife, this acts as a "double whammy" that kevlar vests can't take. This is opposed to a bullet or fragment that will never increase velocity after hitting a kevlar vest.

So a flak jacket will stop flak, but not knives.

Yup the tip of the knife acts as a wedge, as you apply force if wedges itself into the fabric. If youv'e ever ripped open a Kevlar vest you'd see that the fabric is woven so in turn it won't stop knives.

And yes the new system is a type of gel that when hit will harden and keep hardening so and so forth.

Originally Posted by the_13th_redneck

If it can't stop a knife I can't see how it can stop shrapnel. In many ways it's just flying knife blades

It doesn't stop all kinds of shrapnel, but most of it.

The reason for that is that the shrapnel isn't as smooth as a knife, and it spins most of the time, so it wont hit the vest straight on with a small entry point like a knife.
When it spins and hits the vest it will get stuck/entangled in the kevlar fabric.