This is a quote from The Body Armor News online magazine. I have substituted “Puncture” in along with “Bullet”.
” The reality about bullet ( puncture ) proof vests ( boots ) is that they’re not Bullet ( puncture ) proof , They’re actually bullet ( puncture ) RESISTANT. The fact is that bullet ( puncture ) resistant vests ( boots ) don’t protect the wearer from every threat. Nothing is Bulletproof ( puncture proof ), not even a manhole cover. In a small percentage of cases a bullet ( ray barb or other pointed object ) can get through a vest ( boot ) that has been rated to stop them. Bullet resistant body armor ( puncture resistant wading boots ) do not make the wearer Superman!”
I designed these boots for two main factors- comfort and protection- and they do well on both accounts. They almost as comfortable as bare feet and that is a major factor. Comfort is something you need every trip all day long. They are also extremely protective. They will protect against 99% of all the hits you will ever encounter. Is it possible that something could get through? Yes, it is possible.
Most stingrays that a fisherman will encounter are small and will issue a glancing blow as they push away to escape. Unprotected this type of hit will penetrate almost all footwear that is not made with protective material. Our boots protect very well against this common type of hit. If a fisherman steps directly on part of a ray then the hit will usually be harder as the ray tries to get free. These hits will certainly go through non protective footwear and even many wading boots. Our boots will protect very well against this type of hit also. We have many testimonials attesting to the fact that folks have been protected from penetration from ray hits. Even one on camera!
We developed the boots using stingray barbs as the standard. We continue to test each production run by testing the boots with a barb attached to a hose. We swing it at a good hard rate and the barb never goes through the laminate. We use knives to test them as well. Our test try to simulate a real world ray hit. One could swing a knife or a barb with a force and rate much higher than what a stingray can swing it’s tail. In this case a knife or barb may penetrate, but stingrays don’t bench press 250 lbs. with their tails so a test like that is meaningless. Same with using an Ice pick to test. Stingray barbs are not shaped like an icepick and the material was designed around a barb shape ( point at the tip and knife like after ). We also continuously work on improving the product so that it gets better and better with each production run. Despite all this engineering and testing there is still the chance that under the right circumstances ( size of the ray, how it is encountered, specie of ray, etc.) a barb could penetrate or partially penetrate. The boots are awesome protection and will stop most penetration’s, you just have to know that there is always that chance. You are not invincible in these boots.
