How long does a vests ability to stop bullets last?
Unless damaged or degraded by sun, chemicals, etc (see vest care), a properly cared for vest can last decades. My personal vest went out of warranty last spring, and I have no plans to replace it, ever. Kevlar degrades at such a miniscule rate (un-measureable), that we might as well not waste time on it. I will say this, for a demonstration at a para-military-type convention around a decade ago, I watched the owner of a major vest company take a level II-A vest of unknown origin and age, selected at random out of a stack of trade-ins, (well, it was Kevlar 29, and it had been traded in as out of warranty)and nonchalantly shoot himself in the chest with a 6″ S&W .44 Magnum.
