Is it necessary to buy class I or II bullet proof vest in light of recent terrorist attack across the world? If I travel overseas to Indonsia or thailand, I would feel safer wearing a bullet proof vest. There are on sale to civilians too. <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

even with all these terrorist attacks lately the chance you will actually encounter one is very slim. But if you do encounter one, a vest would be very welcoming ! More likely things are robbery, kidnapping and stuff. A vest can safe your life in that situation. But even the most modern vests are certainly not as comfortable as just wearing a t-shirt. They are hot, sweaty, stiff, heavy and a good one cost a fortune. Wheather to take a vest or not is all personal. Do you thing the chance you will encountering a situation wenn a vest could save your life high enough to pay for the vest and actually wearing it everyday? Thats the answer you should ask your self.

btw a level I vest is beter than nothing, but it's really gives very little protection. Take atleast a IIA vest or higher.

Bullet proof vest are illegal in some places to own which you may want to take under consideration when traveling. Also bullet proof vest are not stab or shrapnel proof. And the chances of you getting hit by gun fire are much slimmer than getting his by explosive device. They are also very hot and uncomfortable unless of course you pay $1000 for a slim model.

Wouldn't security people wonder if you're a terrorist trying to protect yourself from retribution?

Sue

Susan, good point.

Basically, unless you are likely to need it, armour isn't worth it. To expensive, to hot, to bulky, and too many questions get asked. AFAIK, it is legal to own in every state of the union. But once you are out of US territory.....

Being in the wrong place in Russia with a GPS can get you hard time. Body armour would get you the same in a lot of countries. And if it was spotted while you in line at the airport (not hard, it isn't subtle), you WILL be pulled aside and asked some questions.

And feel free to call me a hypocrite, but if the airport security guys don't spot it, I will point it out to them if you make my "spidey sense" (TM, Marvel Entertainment) tingle. No one who has ever worn armour would wear it again if they didn't NEED to.

Everything we do is a calculated risk. Personally, if I was worried enough about my travel location that I was considering a bulletproof vest (translation: bullet-resistant), I probably wouldn't go.

Robert Young Pelton has written a number of books on traveling to dangerous lands. He also has a good monthly piece in National Geographic's "Adventure" magazine.

As others have pointed out, merely having the vest in another country is probably enough to get you singled out for some one-on-one time with the local authorities. That's gotta make our jails look like recreation centers.

Body armor will cause you more trouble than it is worth while you are traveling, unless you are Benjammin.
picard120, you really need to reevaluate your travel plans if you are worried about being shot. Find a safer place to vacation.

If you don't use level III, don't waste your time.

I wear mine most of the time here in Baghdad.

I stow it in a cargo bag and check it if I have to take it out of country. You don't wear body armor after you are out of Iraq. You will get hassled about it if you do.

I would not wear body armor back home like I do here, but I will be buying some to keep with me from now on. I believe it is only a matter of time now until what is happening here will be happening everywhere.

Two more huge car bombs this morning, and a heckuva lot of gunfire. What goes up, must come down. A spent AK-47 bullet can seriously injure or kill you unless you are wearing body armor.

In Europe most attacks with terroristic background were performed with bombs. The vest would not help very much when you are in the blast radius.
Those vests are easily spotted when you know what you´re looking for. In a magazine about using guns in selfdefence the author stated some interesting theories. When noone is carrying a weapon openly, the person with the vest would pose the most serious potential thread. This would turn this person into a primary target. It´s not too different for robberies. Body armor promises more loot and requires serious force. In conclusion they wrote that you should evaluate were you´re going, keep a low profile and be aware of the situation.
Concealed body armor could make LEOs nervous around here. That would be even worse if you don´t speak the local language.
BTW: Your chance of getting killed in a traffic accident is by far greater than getting harmed in a terrorist attack. At the risk of sounding cynic: The number of victims in the london bombings are lower than a week´s death toll in german traffic.