What are the pros and cons of ceramic body-armor versus Kevlar fiber?
Kevlar prevents penetration by bullets but does not guard against impact. For example: if you are shot (with a normal bullet) while wearing kevlar, the force of the bullet impacting your body will (at least) leave a *massive* bruise, but the bullet will not penetrate the kevlar. I.e. the bullet will not put a hole through your body and your important internal organs. Similarly with an explosion. The force of the explosion will do damage, but any projectiles propelled by the explosion should (at least theoretically) not penetrate your body, should only leave impact damage. Ceramic body armor guards against impact (not completely, but to a very great degree). It is not flexible like kevlar, so - any projectile that does not penetrate armor will not leave any damage - an explosion will result in impact damage, but **much reduced** - basically your body being banged against the armor instead of the much greater damage of your body being banged directly by the explosive force The cons of body armor are weight, flexibility, cost. It's considerably heavier than kevlar. It's not flexible as is kevlar. It's more expensive. Note that most police-style bulletproof vests combine both, typically an armor plate inside a kevlar wrapper. The impact force of a bullet can kill even when the bullet does not penetrate kevlar, so the armor protects against the impact force of a bullet.
