Bullet-proof clothes

January 29, 2009 By 9 Comments

Finally a line of clothing that I’d really like to have! President Obama Wears Bullet-Resistant Suit at Inaugural:

According to some reports, he wore a suit made by a clothier specializing in bullet-resistant clothing during the inauguration ceremonies.

While no one from the U.S. Secret Service have yet to mention any details about the garment’s structure, some are speculating it may have come from the line by Colombian designer Miguel Caballero. As we noted last year, Caballero is well known for his super tough but flexible and business appropriate clothing, such as the $7,500 polo shirt that can stop a shot from a 9-mm revolver.

Due to some of the unfortunately rising levels of dangerous conflicts in Colombia and other parts of Latin America, the need for this type of clothing has also led to a spike in sales.

According to Caballero, many of his garments offer more than three levels of ballistic protection and they are about seven times more flexible than the Kevlar vests that are usually worn. Designers that use Kevlar tie together dense strands of the material (500 to 1,500 filaments per strand of yarn, according to Slate), which is then weaved into the clothing.

My fashion sense is now awakened. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a bullet-proof suit worn over a bullet-proof polo shirt?

Filed Under: technology 9 Comments
About Gene Veith

Professor of Literature at Patrick Henry College, the Director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary, a columnist for World Magazine and TableTalk, and the author of 18 books on different facets of Christianity & Culture.

  • Dan Kempin

    A 9mm revolver?

  • Bruce Gee

    Have people been taking pot shots at you again, professor?

  • Pingback: Bullet-Proof Suit…What!? « The Crimson Window

  • http://www.utah-lutheran.blogspot.com Bror Erickson

    Dan,
    That caught my eye too. There actually is such an animal, but why you would be testing clothing with it is anyone’s guess. The semi auto is definitely the more popular route to go with 9mm. But I suppose it isn’t going to matter much whether it is a revolver or semi auto.

  • kerner

    Obama’s best protections against bullets are Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.

  • Don S

    Kerner @ 5: :)

  • Joe

    9 mm revolvers are not that odd. I have a Rugar hat has two removable cylinders. One is .357 and the other is 9mm. This gives me three choices with one handgun. I can fire 9 mm or .357 or I can run .38 specials through the .357 cylinder.

  • Dan Kempin

    9mm revolvers do exist, as they do in 45acp and probably any other automatic cartridge, but they are definitely non-standard. (You might even say a novelty.)

    I’m willing to bet that whoever authored that piece didn’t know the difference. Just a meager example of firearm ignorance in the press.

    Those of you who knew the difference: I’m impressed.

    Hey Joe, do you load your own?

  • Booklover

    Now you men who don this stuff will know what it has felt like to wear those horrible brassieres and girdles all these years.