Bullet Resistant Windows vs. Film

You’ve likely heard of bullet-resistant windows, but have you heard of such a film? If you haven’t, there’s a good reason for that. It’s because there is no such thing as a film that is bullet resistant.

No Such Thing As Bullet-Resistant Film

It’s a highly misleading and dangerous myth that has unfortunately caught many off guard. The claim is that a very thin film can be applied to regular glass windows in order to make them bullet resistant.

This is simply not how it works. No matter how thin or tough the film is, it will not make regular glass bullet resistant. The only way to create truly bullet-resistant windows is to use a specialized type of glass that is designed to withstand high impact.

Window films are useful for other needs, though, such as creating a one-way view through a window, tinting it when there is too much light coming in, or creating an anti-theft film on a window (if someone was trying to break in with a brick or bat, for example).

Let’s look at the key differences between these two types of window protection.

Windows That Can Stop A Bullet

The first and most obvious difference is that bullet-resistant windows are made of a specialized type of glass, while window film is just a clear plastic or polyester sheet. This is an important distinction because the properties that make glass bullet-resistant are completely different from those of plastic.

Glass can withstand high impact because it is a brittle material. When it is hit by something, it shatters into small pieces instead of large shards. This means that when a bullet hits a pane of glass, it will cause the glass to shatter into small pieces, but the overall structure of the window can remain intact.

What Is Window Film?

As we’ve already established, window film is not bullet-resistant. It is a thin sheet of plastic or polyester that is applied to the surface of a window. The most common use for window film is to tint windows, but it can also be used for privacy or entry-level security purposes.

Window film comes in a variety of different thicknesses, but none of them are thick enough to stop a bullet. Even the thickest window film will not make regular glass bullet resistant.

What window films can do is hold the glass together once it has been shot. If you are looking to stop a bullet though, it’s not for you.

Different Types Of Bullet Resistant Windows

There are three main types of these protective windows: monolithic, laminated, and wired.

Monolithic windows are made from a single piece of glass. The glass is thick and can withstand high impact without shattering.

Laminated windows are made from two pieces of glass with a layer of plastic in between. The plastic helps to hold the glass together and prevents it from shattering.

Wired windows are made from two pieces of glass with a wire mesh in between. The wire mesh reinforces the glass and helps to hold it together.