Leo Garments unveils bullet-resistant vest range

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South African protective clothing company Leo Garments has launched a new range of bullet-resistant vests at the Securex exhibition in Midrand as it moves into the security market.

Ravesh Rama, with Technical and Marketing at the Rama Group, told defenceWeb that the vests were a natural evolution of Leo Garment’s existing product line and would be marketed to some of the company’s existing customers, which include the South African Police Service, South African Air Force, South African Military Health Services, security companies etc. These customers have bought items like rainwear in the past.

Leo spent two years researching and developing the new line of vests, which Rama says distinguish themselves by using a light aramid for reduced weight (the vests weight 3 kg without armour plates), and feature thermal regulation channels in the inside material to keep the wearer cool. Rama said the market is huge for such vests as there are hundreds of thousands of private security personnel in South Africa, in addition to the police and military.

The Leo Basic vest provides protection between level II and III and has two external pockets that allow hard armour plates to be inserted. The Leo General Purpose Vest has front and back external plate pockets allowing for Level III and Level IV hard armour inserts. The Leo Tactical Vest, designed for tactical squads, features MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment) attachment points and front and back plate pockets for Level III and Level IV hard armour inserts. It offers optional throat, groin and bicep protection.

The vests have been on the market since the beginning of the year, with hundreds sold, but were officially launched at Securex 2015 this week, where they received a “phenomenal” response, with half of enquiries being for the vests.

In addition to the vests, supplied under the Leo Armour banner, the company also supplies a full range of associated products including riot control gear.

Durban-based Leo (Lifesaving Essential Overwear) Garments was established in 1983 and specialises in protective overwear and products for the safety, medical, promotional and uniform industries. Its product range includes ballistic, freezer, chemical, flame, abrasive, cut and stab protective wear as well as rainwear and reflective wear.