A promising alternative to the brittleness and low absorbed energy of conventional fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) can be offered by hybrid composites, which integrate FRPs with metallic reinforcements. In this investigation, hybrid composites of woven E-glass fibers and expanded steel meshes comprising various steel mesh sizes (fine, medium, and coarse) were manufactured adopting a hand layup technique with epoxy resin and compression molding. Two stacking configurations were investigated: steel mesh reinforcement in the outer and core layers. In accordance with ASTM D790 standards, three-point flexural tests were performed for evaluating mechanical performance under both horizontal and vertical loading patterns. A multi-criteria decision-making strategy (TOPSIS: Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) was utilized to determine the most effective configurations based on flexural strength, stiffness, strain level, energy absorbed, and density. The results demonstrated substantial improvements in energy absorption of up to 127.8 % and ductility, with strain increases attaining 204.5 %. There was significant variation in strength and stiffness across alternating configurations. The optimum structure was vertically loaded hybrid composites utilizing fine steel mesh in the inner layer (SVI1), providing the most effective balance of durability, resilience, and retention of energy for lightweight, energy-absorbing applications, revealing overall improvement of 34.75 %.