ONE ANSWER TO VIOLENCE: BULLETPROOF CLOTHING (Published 1981) (2024)

''I sure wish Pope John Paul had been wearing body armor,'' said Tim Zufle, president of a security company in New Orleans. Mr. Zufle was not referring to the cumbersome World War II flak jackets, but to a lightweight Du Pont fabric, made of fibers five times stronger than the steel in cables, that his company uses to make ordinary clothing bulletproof.

More and more public officials, faced with the threat posed by modern-day terrorists, are turning to the ancient solution of armor. They are having Du Pont's bulletproof fabric sewn into ordinary clothing such as vests, raincoats, even umbrellas. This so-called soft body armor adds only two to four pounds to the clothing's weight.

Sales of the relatively new bulletproof fabric were reported by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company to be up 15 percent in this country and 30 percent in Europe. Dealers in bulletproof clothing report bigger increases, mainly because of purchases by law enforcement officers. Mr. Zufle said sales at Solutions Inc., which has five branches, have been rising 100 percent a year since 1977.

People who buy soft body armor wear it inconspicuously, but a notable exception is President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, who bought a gold-plated bulletproof vest two years ago. Businessman and public officials who wear bulletproof apparel generally do not want to talk about it for fear of reducing its effectiveness.

Some governors, including John D. Rockefeller 4th of West Virginia and James A. Rhodes of Ohio, reportedly wear it at public appearances.

Many businessmen who travel in countries where terrorists are active are buying body armor, according to Edward A. Coppage, president of Progressive Apparel, a manufacturer of bulletproof clothing in Virginia.

Armour of America, a Santa Monica, Calif., security company, reported selling bulletproof blankets and draperies to bankers in the Pacific Northwest. In Houston, a spokesman for South Central Research, a security firm, said customers for bulletproof clothing were mostly oil company executives and lawyers who ''feared for their lives here in Murder Capital, U.S.A.''

Shop owners, some of whom have been previously robbed or wounded, are buying the kind of bulletproof vests used by the police, according to Louis Imperato, owner of John Jovino, a policeoutfitting store in Manhattan. In Los Angeles, a spokesman for Safari Land, said it was receiving inquiries about body armor from ''the Chinese Grocers' Association, the Retail Liquor Dealers' Association and everybody in between.'' The grocers were interested in bulletproofing their aprons and the liquor dealers wanted bulletproof undershirts.

The fiber that stops bullets was invented 16 years ago by Stephanie Kwolek, a Du Pont research scientist. It is a hybrid of nylonthat is generically called aramid and known by the Du Pont tradename Kevlar. But it was not until 1971, when the company experimented with different weaves and many layers of the fabric, that Kevlar was proved capable of stopping bullets.

Eight layers of Kevlar, about a quarter of an inch thick, will stop low-velocity bullets from handguns of .22 and .38 caliber; and 23 layers, about five-eighths of an inch thick, will stop even a high-velocity .44 caliber bullet. Kevlar, however, will not stop armor-piercing rounds or rifle bullets.

As a bullet penetrates the layers of Kevlar fabric, it flattens out, spreading its force sideways instead of forward. Although the bullet is stopped, its impact can still break ribs and cause a severe bruise. To prevent the bruising, or ''blunt trauma,'' some armor companies line the Kevlar with thin scales of Lexguard, an impactresistant plastic made by General Electric.

Police departments continue to be the primary customers. Du Pont estimates that almost half of the nation's 650,000 police officers, including all 22,900 in New York City, have Kevlar vests, and it is estimated that they have saved the lives of over 300 policemen in this country.

But now a dozen makers of bulletproof clothing cater to civilian buyers, according to a Du Pont spokesman, the sole manufacturer of this aramid fabric. For example, Mr. Zufle's Solutions specializes in ''fashion conscious ballistic apparel'' and has mail-order catalogues in English, French and Spanish. (For a free catalogue, contact the company at 230 Lafayette Street, Gretna, La. 70053 (504-366-4851). For a Conservative Suit

Popular items are his custom-made vests of any specified material including leather, velvet or pin stripes for a conservative suit. Prices range from $350 for a vest with minimal bullet protection to $1,800 for vests with maximum protection. A minimum security vest will stop low-velocity bullets, such as a a .38, but provides no protection against higher velocity bullets. The maximum security vest will stop nearly any handgun bullet.

Vests typically weigh 2 1/2 to 4 pounds, while a raincoat liner may weigh 4 to 6 pounds. Kevlar reinforced clothing, though, can be uncomfortably hot in the summertime. ''But I'd rather sweat to death than be shot to death,'' said a New York policeman.

The vests are made so that the bulletproof material can be taken out and slipped into other vests, jackets or raincoats that have been specially prepared with ''pockets'' to hold it.

Solutions also carries Kevlar umbrellas costing $900 to $1,200, which ''are good for shielding submachine gun fire,'' and a $1,000 fake arm cast with a Kevlar sling and a .357 magnum pistol molded into the cast. It has sold 250 pairs of $800 ''ballistic knee shields,'' mostly to Italian executives Shopping by Mail Order

Progressive Apparel, 29929 Eskridge Road, R-4, Fairfax, Va. 22031 (703-573-0700), also offers by mail order a variety of clothing, including undershirts at $103 to $252, dress shirts in several colors at $131 to $280, suit vests at $228 to $470, wind breakers at $290 to $486 and raincoats at $365 to $638.

There are no comparably equipped stores in Manhattan, but John Jovino, 5 Center Market Place (925-4881) carries undersh*ts at $200 to $300 and will make suit vests for $300 to $350 and raincoats for $600 to $700 on special order.

Like other police outfitters that sell bulletproof apparel to civilians, Jovino will not sell its bulletproof equipment unless the customer has a gun permit or a recommendation from a police department. ''We don't want this stuff to get into the wrong hands,'' the owner said.