Over the last few decades, manufacturers of ballistic shields have invested in developing portable ballistic shields without forfeiting the protective abilities. It is crucial that ballistic shields remain carriable, useable, and reliable when it comes to offering ultimate ballistic protection for soldiers and law enforcement. It should also improve rather than impede on mobility.
Ballistic shields have developed in terms of size, design, shape, weight, and protection. Ballistic shields are available in various sizes and shapes to best protect against specific threats. Although these factors largely depend on the manufacturer, shields can come in a variety of sizes. Some ballistic shields are as small as 16 x 20 inches (41 x 53 cm). They can be used when additional ballistic protection is nearby, such as trees or walls. These are designed to protect the torso, the vital organs, face, and neck while being easy and fast to deploy. They make a lot of sense for patrol officers to have in their car for establishing and maintaining perimeters or entering questionable scenes.
There are also some significantly larger options with their sizes at 24 x 48 inches (61 x 122 cm) to offer full body protection. These shields might be much heavier than the smaller options, however, they offer better ballistic protection. Some of the most common shield sizes tend to be between 20 x 30 inches (51 x 76 cm) and 24 x 36 inches (61 x 91 cm). These offer a combination of protection and mobility.
Finally, there are large Level IV rolling shield systems that bring maximum ballistic protection. These provide overhead protection and can protect multiple officers at the same time. The tradeoff here is increased protection for increased weight along with decreased mobility and speed. It all depends on the nature of your task: do you want maximum protection or full time mobility?
Check out the rest of our blog posts here.
Recent Comments