The guys that race motorcycles use some real cool body armor. There are many great products on the market today. The focus of motorcycle products is protecting the rider from impacts during crashes. The existing products could be close to what you need.
These might be easy to approach and work with.
The inventor of the Segway Scooter is working on a bionic arm. The pentagon asked for his help. A utube video shows some amazing progress. The prototypes will soon be leaving the lab for field testing.
Massive Success to you
Terry Cantwell
http://www.protect-new-idea.com