A bullet vest, also known as the ballistic vest is used as a personal armor which is used basically to absorb the shock which is produced when a firearm is shot.

A bullet vest, also known as the ballistic vest is used as a personal armor which is used basically to absorb the shock which is produced when a firearm is shot. Tactical vests are generally used as a self-defense item and are worn at the torso. These vests are generally made up from numerous layers of laminated or woven fibers and are highly capable of protecting the body from the small caliber shotgun and handgun projectiles. In certain cases, these bullet vests are also used to protect the body against explosives such as the hand grenade. A ceramic or a metal plate can also be used inside the soft vest in order to provide additional protection from larger range guns like the rifle.

The compactly woven fibers or the metallic plate used to make the tactical vests can provide a soft armor resistance to slash or the stab attacks from a sharp knife. These bullet vests are generally used by the police forces, security guards, bodyguards and private citizens. On the other hand, the vests made up with the hard-metal plates are mainly used by the combat soldiers, hostage rescue squads and the police tactical units. The modern days body armor can also combine with other protective clothing like a combat helmet.

Bullet vests made for military and police use also includes side protection armor gears and ballistic shoulder, whereas, the bomb disposal squad generally use heavy armors and helmets along with spine protection and face visors. Layers of very extremely strong fibers are used to make the tactical vests which helps in deforming a bullet, escalating it into a shape of a dish and spreads the force of the impact to a larger area of the bullet vest fiber. The vest is helpful since it absorbs the force of the bullet and stops it from completely piercing the fabric matrix.

While a bullet vest prevents the piecing of the bullet, the wearer and the vest still absorb some amount of the energy produced by the bullet. Modern gun bullets can exhibit enough energy to cause blunt force trauma under the point of impact with even penetrating. Tactical vest specification should include both penetration resistance necessities and the scale of the energy of the impact that is delivered to a body. Vests which are designed to protect under the bullets provide little protection against impacts from sharp weapons like the knives, ice-picks, arrows or from the bullets which are made form the non-deformable materials which contains a steel core and not the lead.

In some parts of the world, it is illegal to import bullet vest and other body armors. In Australia, one has to take a prior authorization from Australian Border Protection Service and the Australian customs before importing any kind of body armors or tactical vests. It is also illegal to possess body armors without prior authorization in Queensland, Victoria, Northern territory, and New South Wales. According to the British Columbian Body Armor Control Act it is illegal to own body armor without a license.