This work looks at the role played by constant levels of fibre and/or particles in epoxy matrices on impact responses during dynamic loading. In order to delineate the differing roles of reinforcements, hybrid composites containing different amounts of fibres and particles were prepared. Maximum loads and energies were used to distinguish the responses during and following impact. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the surface features before and after failure. Furthermore, such microscopic analyses were also employed to substantiate the deductions arrived at based on mechanical data analysis, which included the deduced parameter in the form of energy for propagation. The experimental results pointed to the fact that the total energy and load generally rise as the fibre content in the epoxy system increases. The hybrids, on the other hand, displayed a trend where the normalized load and the total energy increased as the fibre content in the hybrid was raised from 1 to 5 vol%. This was most evident when the differing levels of fillers and fibres were fixed at a total of 7 vol%. In addition, comparison was made between two sets of compositions of fibres and particles in the composites. The results showed that the higher fibre content in the hybrid allowed greater load bearing and energy absorption and the difference in recorded levels increased with higher fibre content in one hybrid set. Fractography studies indicated flatter surface features for systems with only particles added, whereas the ‘all‐fibre’ bearing systems displayed ‘fast‐fracture’ features resembling ‘river patterns’. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry