While you were focused on surviving Thanksgiving dinner with relatives, you may have missed some massive survival gear Black Friday sales all Thanksgiving week. But that's what Cyber Monday is for. Since 2005, people have continued their post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping, increasingly opting for the convenience of buying online.

At Spartan Armor Systems, we're thrilled to equip you with civilian body armor at the most affordable prices this Cyber Monday. Our Tucson, AZ, operations center has our bestselling products lined up and ready to ship with one-day fulfillment.

Be Thankful for Civilian Body Armor

Our last blog mentioned that police departments began equipping officers with body armor in the 1970s. Less than 60 years later, civilian body armor is easily obtainable online (unless you live in Connecticut). What a time to be alive! And it's also a wonderful time to reflect on how we got here.

Read to the end for details on surprises we'll offer for Cyber Monday body armor sales.

The Progress of Civilian Body Armor Availability

Personal protection has been paramount in every civilization throughout human history. Modern body armor is no different in that it's essentially an evolved form of a shield. And we know that the evolution of defensive equipment tracks with the offensive threat levels. The predominant dangers are the driving force of defensive innovation.

With that said, there was a time not that long ago when modern body armor was available only to military members. As new threats emerge, the free market responds and provides the opportunities we now enjoy. It’s a beautiful thing.

Let’s look at how we’ve gone from those early days to now, starting with modern armor.

Timeline of Body Armor Availability

WWI: The U.S. military did not yet have widespread use of body armor but did employ the chrome-nickel Brewster Body Shield, weighing in at about 40 pounds!

WWII: Soldiers began utilizing flak jackets and helmets, mainly to protect against small arms fire and shrapnel. Though these were about half the weight of Brewsters, they didn’t offer much in the way of ballistic protection or mobility.

1950s-1960s: Scientists conduct research into aramid materials.

1965: After 15 years and $500 million, Dupont brings Kevlar to the market, a material that would become known for its use in body armor for police officers and soldiers. Dupont says, "More than 2,500 lives have been saved by officers wearing body armor.”

The successful application of ceramic body armor in helicopters during the Vietnam War led to its widespread use among military and law enforcement. As with other innovations, its newness and scarcity would make it cost prohibitive for most civilians at the time. For more on the birth of modern ceramic body armor, see our blog post, History of Ceramic Body Armor: A Brief Overview.

1970s: Police departments began equipping officers with wearable ballistic body armor vests.

1975: The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) runs widespread field tests of the new Kevlar body armor with 15 city police departments.

1976: After the NIJ had dedicated $3 million to the development of body armor, the agency deemed the new vests to be effective and non-restrictive for police officers in the course of their duties.

2000s: We began to see body armor manufacturers offering various forms of NIJ-certified body armor for the civilian market. Some specialize in steel, some in ceramic, some in polyethylene, and some in combinations of these materials.  

2008: The NIJ publishes the current ballistic standard, 0101.06, Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor.

2012: Multiple body armor companies launch, with a focus on making body armor affordable to neglected markets. Spartan Armor Systems began as a one-man side hustle, experimenting with steel plates and selling his creations on eBay.

2015: Spartan Armor expanded and began offering low-cost, quality body armor to small police departments with about 25-50 officers. Over the next several years, those innovations would also benefit the civilian body armor market. We especially see this with the availability of low-cost, rifle-rated steel armor.

2019: Cyber Monday sales hit an astounding $9.4 billion.  

2020: Cyber Monday sales were closer to $10 billion due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with many shoppers opting for Black Friday online deals. Spartan Armor alone saw sales triple in 2020 from where they were in 2019, with civilian body armor demands increasing due to civil unrest.  

2023: We now see civilian body armor readily available at affordable prices online, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday firmly establishing themselves as the most significant sales holidays across most markets. Even the highly sought Level IV ceramic body armor has become more financially attainable for civilians.

High-profile public attacks over the past 20-25 years have pushed civilian body armor from a niche survivalist market to a more mainstream, common-sense piece of safety equipment.

Despite numerous attempts to ban civilian ownership of body armor, it remains accessible as a means of self-defense for the average citizen, as it should be.

Why Now is the Time for a Civilian Body Armor Purchase

Modern body armor has undergone considerable improvements in recent years. It can defeat the latest threats while remaining lightweight, comfortable, and affordable. Unlike the WWI days, you can now even get effective steel body armor in a lightweight form.  

Here are just a few reasons why this Cyber Monday is the best time to stock up on body armor:

• Convenience of shopping from home
• Single-day fulfillment means your order rapidly arrives at your door
• Online-only benefits when you act now during exclusive Cyber Monday deals

If you missed our Black Friday deals, or if Cyber Monday is more your thing, get ready because it's about to get interesting at SpartanArmorSystems.com.

Conclusion

Cyber Monday has become the biggest online sales day in the U.S. since it began in 2005. And at Spartan Armor Systems, we want to get in on the action by offering our customers the best deals in the body armor industry.  

We're thankful for you, the customer, and that defensive armor is so abundant in our day and age. Check us out this Cyber Monday for exciting body armor deals you won’t want to miss.