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After a shooting occurred during a pizza delivery, former US Marine and pizza delivery man Richard Davis developed a bulletproof vest made of Kevlar.
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During the tests he shot himself 190 times in the chest.
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Variations of Davis’ original design are still used by police and military personnel today.
Necessity is the mother of invention. When there is a specific need and the thing When such a requirement is not met, some industrious soul must make it. Richard Davis embodied this mentality when he took Kevlar and fashioned it into a lightweight vest – and his revolutionary design changed warfare forever. With just a few minor changes, Davis’ design became the body armor that police officers and soldiers wear in combat today.
You may be wondering why Davis, a pizza delivery man from Detroit, would need such a thing. Well, what would You do if you’re tired of being shot at while delivering cakes?
Body armor has been around in one form or another for as long as there has been war. But when gunpowder and firearms took the place of swords and arrows on the battlefield, regular metal plate was no longer enough—incoming bullets from muskets would pierce most metals. But as firearms shrank from the cannons of the past to the rifles we know today, metal plate armor made a comeback.
During World War II, Col. Malcolm C. Grow of the British Army developed the flak vest made of nylon and manganese steel plates. It weighed 22 pounds, worked only where the plates were, and was not comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, but was reasonably effective. This style was used until the Vietnam War.
After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, Richard Davis opened a pizza place near 7 Mile in Detroit. One night, he was ambushed with a delivery down a back alley and held at gunpoint. Weeks later, another order arrived at the same address (it was even the same order of two pepperoni and ham pizzas). This time, however, he was prepared and had hidden a .22 caliber revolver among the pizzas.
The same robbers tried the same trick, but he was prepared. A shootout ensued. Davis took a bullet in the back of the leg and another grazed his temple. He managed to fire four shots at his attackers, wounding two of his three attackers. In the weeks he spent recovering, his pizzeria burned to the ground.
He had nothing but $70.
Meanwhile, a breakthrough in tire technology had been achieved in the laboratories of DuPont Co., using a new, lightweight and super-strong synthetic fabric called Kevlar. It was flexible and five times stronger than steel.
Davis obtained some of this new material and made some of it into a vest made of ballistic nylon. He called it the “Second Chance” vest and designed it with the intention of giving it to the police.
He worked on the vests during the day and tried to sell his life-saving wares to the police at night – with little success. He needed a bigger ploy to get their attention. His method? He rounded up the police to watch a demonstration. He planned to shoot himself in the chest – despite the fact that his vest had never been tested on a human.
The vest worked like a charm. Davis shot himself, and although it hurt like hell – because, as you know, vests can’t stop inertia – it didn’t matter. His throw was so effective that it later became standard for every police officer in the country. Variations of his original design are still used by troops today.
To watch the Smithsonian’s interview with Richard Davis, watch the video below.
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