Body armor shelf life question

[Yarome]

Just curious. Say, for ceramic type IV body armor, what is it that gives them a limited shelf life?
Is there any data on effectiveness rates over time?
Are their storage methods (ie., dark and limited airflow) that will effectively prolong the life of body armor or is it a chemical breakdown sort of thing you can't really do much about?

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[CamoDeafie]

Liability. Thats all it is to the warranty periods of 5-10 years. Some companies will replace free of charge any of their plates within warranty period if you've been shot wearing theirs and survived, usually if LEO/Military.

Proper care and storage would help make them last longer. Ie, not stored in an oven at 300 degrees, not stored in a cryogenic vat for years, and this is more for the cloth covering, out of the sun's UV rays which does degrade the fabric itself.


I have a set of ESAPIs that last passed DOD inspection back in 2018 I think, and they were made in 2005 and 2008.. I'll have to look again but the point is; short of extreme abuse like driving over them, dropping from the roof, grappling with them on, using them as blunt objects to slow things down, or whatnot... they'll last longer than their warranty periods. It just means that the maker won't be held liable for their performance after the warranty period.