An alternative to shelling out a great deal of money to make "stunt grade" armor for your film would be to take a cue from Hollywood, and have one semi-durable suit for "basic" actions, and then a handful of "spares" made from your most affordable option, preferably a cheap enough option to offset the fact that these spares will ultimately be disposable.. When it's time for a fall, have the actor put on one of the cheap spares, take their fall, toss off the "dummy" piece after the shot, and put on their "show" piece. For most action movies that require performing stunts, etc. in armor or intricate costumes, most studios will make anywhere from half a dozen to nearly a hundred cheap run-offs of the "show quality" ensemble so they have something to fall back on (or simply, to fall in) that won't cost an arm and a leg to replace or repair. Granted, those studios generally would still have much higher budgets to work with than anyone here has, but the principle can still apply. Not sure anyone's found a good building/reinforcing method that would churn out true stunt-grade armor without costing upwards of $1,000 for one suit.