KCTV5’s Ellen McNamara tested a backpack shield with Corinne Mosher at CenterFire Shooting Sports in Olathe.
For about $120, you can buy the shield online from a company called Tuffy Packs. It is one of a few companies that sell this type of product. It weighs about one pound.
“I was really impressed that even though the size of the shield was quite large, in my opinion, it didn’t really add all that much extra weight,” Mosher said.
Mosher knows all about bulletproof vests. She is married to a police officer. She is also a mother and the director of education at Centerfire Shooting Sports.
“It’s the National Institute of Justice rated 'IIIA,'so that means that it should withstand pretty much all common pistol calibers,” Mosher said about the shield.
For the test, Mosher set out four guns.
“We’re going to have a .380, which is considered the lowest or smallest caliber viable for self-defense,” Mosher said. “We’re then going to go to a 9mm, then we’re going to go to a .40 caliber, and then we’re going to end with a .45 caliber pistol.”
Mosher stands at close range to truly test the backpack insert. The shield is secured to a dummy and then Mosher starts firing. She fires the .380, the 9mm, then the .40 caliber and finally the .45 caliber. As she goes up in calibers, the reaction on the target is stronger.
Mosher examines the back of the shield and the dummy.
“There’s no damage to the back of the vest, and the bullet would be trapped inside the layers of material here,” Mosher said. “It is not going to feel comfortable if you’re the one behind that. But you’re going to be alive.”
So the shield performed just as the company said it would. The backpack insert comes with instructions, training advice and results from a test.
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