h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Now here's an entry that knows its techno-babble! One question though, I remember reading that Kevlar vests were not capable of stopping a bullet dead, but rather worked by spreading the impact (that would normally punch a nasty hole clean through the human body) out over the torso and that a person shot in this way could expect anything from horrendous bruising to cracked ribs and internal bleeding. From the annecdote that you quoted at the start of the entry seems to suggest that bullets bounce off Kevlar like they were made out of custard. So does being shot whilst wearing Kevlar smart a bit or not?

Of course it does. As Scotty would say, "you canny break the laws of physics captain"

I think the key phrase is "He flew about 2 metres backwards". Which leads to another question: shouldn't the force the bullet hit him with be roughly equivalent to the recoil of the gun, by Newton's third law? Or is there something else to take into consideration here?

Yes, whether or not the person being shot is a character in a Hollywood movie.

lol

It's likely that an equivalent force can have a different effect, depending on where it is exerted. Arms and wrists my absorb a fair amount of force by muscular exertion (and flopping around). Being hit square on the chest gives no option except to go backwards.