Legacy Dual Threat Body Armor

“The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Depending on the reader, this quote could be taken in several different ways. For me, it’s courage. Courage is not the absence of fear, instead it’s honestly acknowledging fear and stepping up to the challenge at hand, thus refusing to be “spineless”. Our first responders and those in service, whether civilian or military, diligently do this every day. Where some of us have a career that is more often than not predictable, the men and women serving in selfless roles of enter each workday with the only certainty being the uncertainty of what could happen. These men and women are putting their lives on the line so that we don’t have to. Men and women who are fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters. They have families to provide for and loved ones praying for their safety with every passing shift. The number one priority for everyone, is to simply make it home.

There have been many inventions, safety protocols and various tools and equipment that are utilized to aid in keeping our first responders safe. One in particular has been the development of body armor. Over the years body armor has undergone quite a few changes. From starting out as heavy steel plates adding so many pounds you’d feel as if you were carrying an extra body, to becoming much lighter and made with different materials such as ceramic or Kevlar. Although there are many out there deemed quite impressive, I’ve yet to find any that surpass what I have discovered with that of Legacy Safety and Security.

Legacy Safety and Security carries a full line of body armor items that fit a variety of needs and lines of service. They literally have the lightest armor available today. Products ranging from vests, helmets, backpacks and even clipboards, they truly cover a vast area for protection services. Legacy broke into the armored market with the production of the first ever Compression Armored Shirt. This shirt has zero straps or Velcro and is machine washable. Innovative and ingenious, providing protection in the lightest form possible. From there, Legacy was full steam ahead engineering variants of armor that far exceeded government specs, while always maintaining the lightest weight.

The Legacy product I want to focus on today is their Dual Threat Body Armor, dual meaning it protects against knife and gun threats. The Dual Threat Body Armor is soft body armor that comes in various sizes, with each 10 x 12 panel weighing in at only 1.25 lbs. These are soft panels that are NIJ compliant with an MSRP of $64.99 for the 6×6 panel. Sound a little too good to be true? Well, it could seem that way. I had the honor of testing this armor myself and I was very anxious to put it through the paces. Holding this Dual Threat Panel, I was honestly unable to understand how something so light, soft and comfortable would actually stop the penetration of a bullet or even a knife for that matter. However, seeing is believing. During testing I utilized different shooters, guns and ammunition as well as conducted a stab test. Ammunition utilized was 38 special, .9mm, .40 S&W and .357 mag. The stab test was done AFTER the panel had been shot and the blade never made it past the superficial black cover, zero penetration to the armor proving its claim to stop an E1 spike. Ammunition testing was even more impressive. Out of 26 layers, only one round made it to layer 8. The rest didn’t surpass layer 3. Each and every person there was literally in awe at the amazing durability and protection of this less than 2lb panel. The remaining layers are purposely there for BFD (Backface Deformation). BFD is the bulging that occurs on the opposite side of where the bullet hits. This bulging can be powerful enough to cause serious injury even without bullet penetration. This is measured by placing clay behind the armor. After shooting the indentation is measured to ensure it meets government regulations. The U.S. Government requires the BFD measurement not to exceed 44mm, Legacy’s measured 23mm which isn’t even close to what’s allowed. Legacy tests all their armor themselves and then sends it to Oregon Ballistic Lab in Oregon for NIJ testing. OBL is an NIJ accredited lab and they have completed all the testing for all of Legacy’s products. Legacy does not sell anything that has not been thoroughly tested. Their motto: ”Your safety and Security is our Legacy!” Rob Hausman, CEO of Legacy Safety and Security gave this quote, “I want the men and women who wear this to go home at night and I want them to have the confidence that their armor isn’t pushing the bare minimum government requirements”.    

Legacy safety uses a specially designed high-quality plastics type laying system with a hard plastic backer and an added foam comfort trauma pad that is worn against the body. When asked why not go the bare minimum requirement with BFD the CEO quickly points out the safety of the operator by stating, “These panels are being worn and are extremely close to a person’s body, so again the folks at legacy want to sleep at night knowing they are protected and we know their families also want to sleep at night knowing the same thing. We do not cut corners to save a few dollars and we pride ourselves in our BFD ratings more than anything else.”

The Dual Threat panels are solely for protection against blade and handgun rounds. Legacy does however offer a full line of products to meet individual needs including soft armor with rifle ratings. The need for body armor stretches from military and law enforcement to other civilian uses that bear great validity. This was an eye-opening opportunity to realize that soft body armor exists that truly works as well as being light and affordable. This opens an entire world of new possibilities for civilian usage. To learn more about Legacy’s products you can catch them at www.legacysafetyandsecurity.com.