Buying ballistic Kevlar fabric

There are several distributors across the world offering ballistic Kevlar fabric. There are several types of fabric, thick and thin. The fabric used in the Interceptor system (US military, Afghanistan/Iraq forces) consists of 30-34 layers of a very thin type of Kevlar fabric. I have been unable to confirm this but I believe 12 layers of the “thicker” Kevlar is equivalent to level IIIA. I was unable to acquire that specific fabric (thin version) but managed to find a Chinese, a European and a US distributor of other brands. Other variations of Kevlar fabric are considerably thicker than the Interceptor Kevlar and thus require fewer layers to create level IIIA protection. Ill describe the fabric I ended up purchasing (sold directly from the distributor or via the distributors ebay account):

Seller: Infinity, site: www.armorco.com

Kevlar® 29 Style 745 Bullet Resistant Fabric. It is made from DuPont(TM) Aramid Yarn and woven into a fabric on weaving looms. It is used primarily in the Safety & Personal Protection Markets. It can be found and used in a number of personal protection applications including but not limited to: Bullet Resistant Vests, Car Armor, Cockpit Door Armor, Bullet Resistant Panels and many non-ballistic Industrial uses.

SPECIFICATION: Fabric Specs: Weight: 14oz. Sq.yd... Width: 50 inch width... Denier: 3000... Weave: Plain... Thickness: 24.1 (mils) 0.61 (mm)... Breaking Strength: Length & Width Directions(Length}: 1600 (lbf/in) (Width): 1800 (lbf/in)... Thread Count: 17 x 17

Kevlar can be sewn into multiple plies and is not needle resistant, it can be glued using a polyurethane based glue, it can also be used with Epoxy resins and vacuum bagged in laminating applications. KEVLAR FABRIC - It is perfectly legal to own, possess, transport or ship Bullet Resistant Kevlar fabric in all 50 U.S. States and the EU. As such; anyone can legally buy ballistic Kevlar fabric and create/sew their own level IIIA armour.

End note: Obviously, it takes multiple plies/layers of this fabric to make something bullet resistant. I strongly suggest buying Kevlar Scissors from the same site as normal scissors will not do the job properly.

I bought the following ballistic material from one supplier: infinityfrp.com or their subsidiary: armorco.com (10 yards/9 meters of Kevlar fabric) and infinitycomposites.com or their subsidiary: armorco.com (flexible level IIIA Kevlar composite plate)

I bought 1 flexible composite plate with black rubber lamination measuring aprox: 1, 4 x 1, 4 meters. I told them to cut it into 4 pieces in order to reduce shipping cost from 600 to 150 USD. Price of the composite plate: aprox 700 USD.

I also bought 10 yards (35 USD per yard) of ballistic Kevlar fabric. You actually get a lot more fabric than a square yard as the width of the fabric is 1, 27 meters and is delivered on a roll. 8 yards was enough for 4 layers of DAPS (deltoid protector + axillary protector) fortification/enhancement, ballistic girdle/belt (protecting hips and butt - 12 layers), 2 knee protectors (14 layers) and 2 boot protectors (12 layers)

Dying nylon fabric (for dying camo colored ballistic outer pouches)

You will often find that you are only able to acquire camo colored items, in which case you will have to dye the items black. I did the mistake of importing “black spray-on dye” from the UK, which proved to be worthless. Keep in mind that all body armour Kevlar hard shells/pouches are made of nylon, which do not absorb normal water based fabric dye intended for cotton based fabric. You will need to choose one of the two following options in order to dye nylon fabric:

1. Buy specialized nylon die which is applied through hand wash or machine was process. This process can be quite messy.

2. Simply buy large permanent markers (spirit based) and order additional refill.

I chose option 2. And due to the fact that I failed to plan the dye phase properly I ended up buying 12 large black permanent markers (spirit based). 12 markers was enough to dye 6 items (1 vest, 4 DAPS pieces, 2 axillary + 2 deltoid protection outer pouches and a couple of other smaller pieces. 12 permanent markers retail for 112 Euro. If you plan accordingly you only need to order 1 large black permanent marker + refill which will cost you 20 Euro.

Keep in mind that the items that are dyed will cause the items to smear ink on your skin and other surfaces. This is quite annoying and a clear drawback when using permanent markers for dying vs. more complex nylon dying techniques. The result will be that you will have to wash of your skin and ruin a few t-shirts/boxers each time you try on your armour system. If I knew the ink would smear so much I would have spent more time researching the conventional nylon dying technique.