The t-shirt that stopped a knife?

You’re sitting at home playing some Call of Duty 4 when you get the urge for something to eat. Because you play that XBOX every waking moment you haven’t taken the time to stock the fridge or pantry with something edible which means you’re making a road trip to the local corner food mart to try and silence that food-deprived stomach. You pull up to the store and head inside to see what’s available. While listening to some tunes on your IPOD you try to decide between the 8-hour old hot dog on the grill, some dried-out chicken tenders that have sat under the heating lamp so long they’re as tough as rubber, or a pint of Ben & Jerry’s that has more calories in it than what Roseanne Barr can consume at an all-you-can-eat buffet. You do the right thing and opt for all three. As you head up to the counter to checkout you see somebody else has come in the store and is arguing with the cashier. You must not have heard them come in because of your tunes. You get a better look and the guy has got a knife. Unbelievable. The store is getting held up while you’re inside. A car is honking out side. The getaway driver is getting anxious because it’s taking too long. Feeling the pressure, the robber is becoming agitated because the cashier is having trouble getting the register open. Then he notices you trying to get invisible behind the potato chip rack. Now he’s really starting to wig out. The register drawer slides open. The robber makes a grab for some cash. The cashier gets brave and tries to stop him. You see the flash of a knife. The cashier disappears behind the counter. The door bangs open as the robber makes his getaway. You stand there in stunned silence as your mind replays it all back in slow motion. The screeching of rubber outside jolts you back to reality. You rush up to the counter to check on the cashier expecting the worse. To your amazement he’s pulling himself up off the floor. Shocked, you tell him you saw him get slashed with the knife. The cashier says, “Yeah, but luckily I had my new slash resistant t-shirt on.” You’re like, “Your what?”

Is that story too crazy to be true? Maybe a few years ago but not now. Because of increasing knife attacks on children and late-night convenience store clerks in Japan, a uniform manufacturer in Osaka has developed a new t-shirt that is made of fibers three times as strong as cotton but doesn’t resemble your traditional body armor. The t-shirt is made from slightly thicker ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene. In short, the strength of the t-shirt is equal to that of body armor made from aramid fibers but it’s machine washable due to its light weight. The t-shirt is said to have superior resistance to slashing attacks but is vulnerable to a puncture. It’s available in both short and long sleeve versions with prices ranging from $189 to $588. Defenitly not easy on the pocketbook.

Here’s a pic of the t-shirt. It’s not the best looking t-shirt but I guess you have to compromise on looks with what you gain in functionality.

The original story can be found here.