Bulletproof Vest

"I-I saw it, you..." "Important order of field work, don't believe everything you see."

- Hendricks and Phil Coulson

A Bulletproof Vest is a personal armor worn on the torso that helps absorb the impact from firearm projectiles and shrapnel from explosions.

History
Tony Stark went in a business trip to Afghanistan to demonstrate Stark Industries' new weapon, the Jericho Missile. As a precaution, he was wearing a Bulletproof Vest under his shirt. When his convoy was attacked, one of his own company's bombs landed near him and exploded, embedding several pieces of shrapnel in his chest despite the protection of the vest.

Phil Coulson was also wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D. model of the Bulletproof Vest while supervising rookie agent Hendricks during his first mission. After being informed that a Ten Rings cell was operative in the vicinity, both Coulson and Hendricks persecuted the van used by the terrorists with a pair of Motorcycles, until Coulson was shot and seemingly killed by heavy gunfire.

After Hendricks managed to complete the mission, Coulson approached unharmed revealing his to Bulletproof Vest to tell Hendricks that the whole mission was staged, as a way to know how a new agent would act under pressure.