OK I need to find a lighweight, thin, wearable material that is strong enough to withstand cuts/punctures.?

Question

OK I need to find a lighweight, thin, wearable material that is strong enough to withstand cuts/punctures.?

Answer 1

The only one I can think of is Kevlar which is the fabric the police use for bullet proof vests.

This material will stop most bullets and is proof against knife attacks.

It is also the material protective trousers are made from when you are using a chain saw.

Answer 2

Besides denim and Kevlar, consider the material used for diving wetsuits.  Or go to a large fabric store and tell them your constraints.  Many popular plastics are quite resilient, including the Tyvek building material.  Most are impervious to water, so they would keep out rain, but they would also keep in perspiration.

Answer 3

teflon or kevlar

Answer 4

You won't find that in a single layer.  Here is an example of puncture resistant kevlar body armor:

http://www2.dupont.com/Kevlar/en_US/asse...

Note that to meet specs with regards to punctures it has to have 22 layers.  This makes it flexible, but it won't look like a shirt, it is a vest.  

It simply isn't possible using current technology to design a single layer material that will provide protection against  punctures.  Cuts are a different matter.  Note how here:

http://www2.dupont.com/Personal_Protecti...

DuPont is careful to specify "cut and slash" protection, not puncture protection, for their Kevlar gloves.  And their Kevlar chainsaw chaps:

http://www2.dupont.com/Personal_Protecti...

are multi-layer but not rated for puncture protection.  If you *really* need puncture protection, you are going to have to sacrifice a lot of flexibility in the material.  That is a somewhat unfortunate problem with current body armor technology.

Answer 5

The easiest is denim, hands down the cheapest.

Teflon, not sure where you'd actually be able to find it.

Kevlar is used in alot of composites, be careful while handling/cutting it if you do buy some as the weave can be easy to fray/pull apart.  There are alot of layers in a kevlar vest and they tend to be heavy, so by itself will be a project to make it wearable and functionable.