Maintaining your armour

The effectiveness and protection level of body armor is subject to how well it is maintained. How you use it is also critical to its durability. The maintenance of body armor involves aspects such as cleaning, assembling and storing. You need to know how to appropriately carry out each of these activities, to ensure your body armor lasts long. Let’s explore the top ten tips you could use to keep your body armor in top-notch condition for long. The tips are divided into three categories;

Cleaning

    1. The insert plates should be washed using cold water and soft soap. Use a soft cloth to scrub. You should avoid using hard detergents, bleach, and hard brushes.
    2. Body armor carrier differs from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some can be dry cleaned while other cannot. Always check the manufacturer’s instructions and adhere to them.
    3. Do not submerge your armor in water even when washing. It is advisable to keep it away from moisture as much as possible. Avoid leaving the armor outside, or anywhere it is exposed to UV radiation.

Assembling

    1. Insert Ballistic Panels correctly. Body armor will come with directions from the manufactures on how to insert and secure the ballistic panels in place. Take your time and ensure that the panels are well placed. Wrong placement will ultimately damage the carrier.
    2. Do not overload your carrier. Body armor comes with pockets to stash weapons and add trauma plates. Ensure every plate you add id necessary and avoid loading too many weapons on the armor. Too much weight will reduce the effectiveness of the armor and will eventually take a toll on it.
    3. Putting on body armor and adjusting is not as straightforward as one might assume. A big part of ensuring that the armor remains protective is ensuring it fits well. While putting it on, raise the armor over your head and let it sit on your shoulders. Now strap up the shoulder straps and the waist straps. Put on the armor while sitting down to ensure it fits well and feels comfortable.

Storing

  1. Body armor should not be put on hangers. They should be stored lying flat. Hanging armor means its weight continues acting on the ballistic materials, therefore, degrading them.
  2. It is best to have a locker or wardrobe where you could lay your body armor. Do not leave it in the car trunk or anywhere else it is exposed to sunlight. UV radiation degrades the ballistic materials.
  3. Always unload and disassemble all the part of the body armor before storing it.
  4. Conduct a frequent check on the body armor to ensure it is still in excellent condition. Body armor has strong double stitches around the carrier. Check these to ensure they are all still intact. Ensure you replace any trauma plates that have been hit or body armor that have been penetrated by a bullet.

These tips are meant to ensure that your body armor lasts for long. They do not mean that your body will remain new forever. It is therefore vital that you keep in mind the warranty period of the manufacturer. Different manufacturers offer different warranty periods. Always replace the body armor after the warranty duration has elapsed