star trek - Why don't Starfleet Officers wear protective gear when going abroad?

So I've watched pretty much all the Star Treks and from what I've seen, Star Trek officers don't wear any protective gear! Why don't they wear any kind of armor like the Klingons? Is it because the weapons are so powerful that it doesn't matter if you wear armor or not? Ex: You're shooting antimatter so it doesn't matter if you have matter type armor?

But then again, the Borg. They have personal shields, but everyone else doesn't for some reason. Why can't Geordi or Data figure out how to create portable force fields by putting down things similar to those power poles placed in a triangular formation when they need to teleport into an "interfering" atmosphere?

Answer

Given that the primary purpose of Star Fleet is peaceful exploration and all that good stuff, I'd be willing to bet that the primary reason they don't wear any sort of armor is that it goes against that particular mission statement (e.g., "Hey dude... if you're here to talk peace, why are you wearing that big ol' suit of armor?"). Klingons are a battle-oriented people, thus they're always ready for battle. Same for the Borg: They know they're not the most popular kids on the playground, so they dress accordingly.

This seems like the best fit given the nature of the various races that wear armor: The Hirogen, the Cardassians, the Jem'Hadar, etc.

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