Protective Kneewear

Heavy-duty wearable body armour has changed a lot throughout history. First, we had full plate armour, made from metal sheets of bronze or iron which were sculpted to the body to make the iconic suit of armour. Evidence of plate armour dates from around 1500 BC and reached its peak in the 16th Century. Its inflexibility saw it coupled with chainmail from around the 3rd Century BC, a flexible fabric made from interlocking metal links which may have been inspired by the earlier scale armour, made from many small overlapping plates. In the modern era, fabrics overtook metal as a comfier protective material, inspired by observations in the late 19th Century of the bulletproof protection of layered silk vests worn by American gangsters. In the modern era, bullet resistant Kevlar vests make use of strong and tough synthetic fibres and composites.

The rise of hazardous leisure pursuits – as opposed to military battlefields or policework – has seen a burgeoning market for civilian body protection, like this protective kneewear made by Forcefield Body Armour. It consists of a soft black foam which sits against the skin and is bonded together with sewn fabric to four rubbery outer layers made up of triangular cells. The cells are designed to absorb the energy of impact by buckling within their cellular structure, as well as the foam material itself deforming. In this way, the energy of impact gets dissipated as motion and heat. The pad is made up of four layers of this so-called 'Armourflex': each layer is 3.75mm thick, and each can absorb 100 Joules of energy.

Whilst it is unlikely to stop a sword or a bullet, protective gear like this is designed to be worn by extreme sportspeople such as people riding mountain bikes, engaging in snow sports and motorcyclists. The soft and flexible materials mean it can be slipped inside a pair of leather trousers, and the cellular structure has the added benefit of air flow making the wearable protection breathable and comfortable over sustained periods.