Are Carhartt Jackets Bulletproof? Video Says No

Rugged, durable and warm, Carhartt makes some of the finest working-man jackets on the market. However, if you ask the New York Police officers involved in the recent shooting of a knife-wielding man, they might say it’s too rugged. The New York Post reported earlier this week that officers fired nine shots at the man, four of which failed to penetrate his Carhartt jacket, raising the question, is Carhartt bulletproof?

But before you go grab your jacket from the closet, YouTuber ShootingTheBull410 put a new coat to the test with disappointing, but unsurprising results. So why the ammo failures with NYPD? Well, the Post has since reported the department is looking into malfunctioning ammo.

Got any ideas about what could explain the NYPD bullet failures? How does ammo malfunction to the point that it won’t penetrate a work jacket? Wrong powder charges?

10 thoughts on “Are Carhartt Jackets Bulletproof? Video Says No”

    1. maybe he should have stayed about 10 to 15 feet away instead 5 inches away from the jacket. if they did not go through the officer may have been farther than 15 feet away

  1. Comments re NY Post article are incomplete to tell most of the causes of “failure to penetrate”. Obviously the near point blank range in the video ruined the jacket

  2. My contacts at Rodmans Neck tell me that they are looking at a bad lot of ammunition.

    Plus I wouldn’t put to much credence into any New York Post articles. I love the Post but it’s become a NY Enquirer. Still better than the NY Daily News though.

    1. If the police were using hollow point bullets, the cavity of the bullet can fill up with the canvas material that the jacket is made of, it can and will slow down the bullit. Saw this happen when we returned fire during a shootout, the perp was wearing a leather jacket, we were using Glocks .40 cal. The rounds just about made it thru the leather

  3. If they were using Hollow Points, The cavity of the bullet would fill up with the Canvas material that is used to make the Jackets.

  4. They were liberal bullets. They couldn’t make up their collective minds whether the wanted to hurt someone or not. lol

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