Body Armor for Noobs
Recently, someone asked me to recommend a type of body armor to them, and when I was thinking about what to recommend I realized that I should probably write a general overview of the subject to provide some information to noobs. By the way, there’s no shame in being a noob to something. I was once a noob searching for information about body armor and as a civi (that’s military speak for civilian), I needed to find information before making my first purchase. We’re all noobs to something we’ve never experienced or looked into. I consider it a fun word to use when introducing people to subject matter that I find interesting or cool.
Although body armor has a long history of use in places such as medieval Europe and feudal Japan (among other places), I will focus on modern body armor used by police, military, and civilians in the prepper or self-defense community spaces. I will also focus on armor that offers protection for the human torso. I will not dive into armor that covers other parts of the body, such as ballistic helmets and shoulder armor. Focussing on this will be most useful to those interested in purchasing body armor for the first time and who live in locations where it is legal to buy, sell, own, and carry it. As always, check your state and local laws to see if you can own it. Some states like New York have restrictions on ordinary citizens. There are exemptions to the New York law, such as for law enforcement and active duty members of the military. Additionally, 18 USC 1931 prohibits violent felons from owning body armor. So keep things legal and be sure to do your homework before buying anything.
The NIJ and Types of Armor (Protection Levels)
First, there is no such thing as bulletproof or stabproof armor. This is a myth. Ballistic-resistant armor offers protection against a significant number of handgun and rifle ammunition. Stab-resistant armor offers protection against knives and other sharp objects. Being shot or stabbed while wearing armor can still result in injury to the wearer, but the armor is supposed to minimize injury. Each type of armor is assigned a rating that corresponds to the threats against which it protects. In this article, I will address ballistic armor specifically.
The National Institute of Justice is the evaluation, development, and evaluation agency for the U.S. Department of Justice. According to the NIJ website:
“NIJ establishes and updates voluntary minimum performance standards for body armor, conducts testing against these standards to ensure that body armor complies with the standards, and sponsors research to improve body armor.”
This file is from the NIJ and discusses the Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor in greater detail, along with the NIJ standard 0101.06. Be sure to save this file for future reference. I’ll also drill down on this area a little later.
Essentially, the NIJ independently tests ballistic armor for manufacturers according to certain standards to ensure their armor meets a specific level of performance. When purchasing armor from any company, look for the NIJ certification to know if it has passed the NIJ’s compliance testing. This will indicate that the product has ballistic resistance. You don’t want to buy something that won’t work when needed.
From the NIJ’s website:
“Compliance Testing
NIJ administers a program to test commercially available armor for compliance with the standards to determine whether the vests will perform as expected.
In addition to being tested for NIJ compliance, body armor models must meet workmanship and labeling requirements.
NIJ also has a follow-up inspection and testing requirement to ensure that the body armor worn by officers is safe and reliable. Each body armor manufacturer with a model that meets the standard is subject to six follow-up inspections and testing over a five-year period, consisting of:
Inspections of recently manufactured vests to determine whether they are constructed in the same way as the original samples.
Follow-up ballistic testing.
NIJ's Criminal Justice Testing & Evaluation Consortium manages the compliance testing program.”
In the current iteration of the NIJ standard, there are five different protection levels of ballistic armor. They are Type IIA, Type II, Type IIIA, Type III, and Type IV. Manufacturers may refer to these as Level IIA, Level II, Level IIIA, Level III, and Level IV. The words “level” and “type” are used interchangeably, so don’t get confused by this. They mean the same thing.
Furthermore, you may see that there is a Level III+, which is a special designation that the industry created to fill a gap between level III body armor and level IV body armor. It is easy to confuse these levels and terms when learning about this topic. That’s why I suggested saving the file about the Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor.
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Level IIA is supposed to stop 124 grain 9mm Full Metal Jacketed Round Nose bullets with a velocity of 1225 ft/s and 180 grain .40 S&W FMJ. Level II is supposed to stop faster 124 grain 9mm FMJ and 158 grain .357 Magnum Jacketed Soft Point bullets. Neither one of these levels is designed to stop rifle rounds, only offering protections against specific handgun ammunition.
Level IIIA is supposed to stop handgun ammo up to .44 Magnum. Meaning, this level will stop the common types of handgun ammo. This level of soft armor is helpful for use in backpacks or in concealment shirts designed to be worn under normal clothing. It can be worn or used without announcing to others that you have it, like when operating as a “grey man” or when sending your children to school with it. Backpacks equipped with this level of armor can be turned around and worn on the front for ballistic protection.
Levels III, III+, and IV offer protection against rifle rounds. These are hard armor plates, usually made of alloy steel or composite. There are other alloys out there, as well as a variety of composite plates made of different composite materials, such as ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene or boron carbide ceramic. The technical aspect of plate composition is beyond the scope of this article. Just be aware that there is a variety of plate compositions out there and they center around the strength of the plate versus their weight.
Level III plates will stop handgun ammo and certain kinds of rifle rounds, including 7.62x39 FMJ (AK47), 5.56x45 FMJ (AR15), and 7.62x51 FMJ (.308). Not all AR15 rounds are the same though. M855, aka Green Tip, ammo has a steel core that is designed to penetrate hard surfaces. That’s why it is often referred to as “penetrator” ammo. While it has penetration properties, it still doesn’t have the same penetration power as armor-piercing ammunition. Level III+ plates will stop green tip ammo and .30-06 jacketed soft point rounds. It offers protection against common all handgun rounds, AK47 and AR15 ammo plus the green tip penetrator rounds and .30-06 JSP. What’s not to like about that?
Level IV plates offer the highest level of ballistic protection. This level is designed to stop .30-06 M2 AP, or armor-piercing ammunition. Some Level IV plates are rated for multiple hits, meaning they will stop multiple rounds of armor-piercing ammo. This may interest some people but I advise you to get to cover if you’re being shot. If you’re taking multiple hits, you’re in an exposed position and you need to get to cover, quickly! Don’t sit out in the open to get shot multiple times. That will get you killed.
Is your head swimming yet? Don’t worry. Some of that information is very technical, so I’ll give a list of the general rules for higher levels of armor and a graphic to illustrate it. If you prefer, you can save them for future reference.
Level IIIA protects against handguns
Level III protects against most rifle rounds
Level III+ provides additional protection against rifle rounds, M855 in particular
Level IV is designed to stop armor-piercing rounds
Additional Features/Options
There are various options to choose from when selecting ballistic plates, so some thought must be dedicated to the selection process. For example, a decision must be made regarding the threat level to select but one must also consider the fit of the armor against the body. I recommend measuring your torso with a measuring tape before shooting the size you need.
Ergonomics also factor in when the armor is worn for extended periods of time. Most companies offer a variety of “cuts” and “curves.” Generally, there are two types of cuts, the shooter’s cut and the swimmer’s cut. The shooter’s cut offers better torso protection because it covers more but the swimmer’s cut offers greater mobility. There are also two types of curves, single curve and multi curve. The single curve offers better protection, but the multi curve options are ergonomic and more conformable for longer periods of wear.
Another option to consider has to do with the coating applied to steel plates. Enter the debate about spall and fragmentation. Depending on what you read elsewhere on the internet or who you talk to, steel plate armor creates fragmentation or spall, when a bullet hits the hard surface of the plate and breaks into pieces. Based off of the research I’ve done, some say spalling occurs when ceramic armor breaks when impacted by a bullet and those ceramic pieces can cause injury. Regardless, manufacturers offer some options to help mitigate fragmentation and spall in both contexts.
Again, companies offer steel plates with a special coating that is supposed to reduce fragmentation. The coating is said to prevent the spall from traveling off the plate into places like your face, neck, arm, and groin. Without the coating, fragmentation is sure to occur. Imagine being in a gunfight and going down because of this. The option for ceramic may be a special coating or an external wrap depending on the manufacturer. If you feel these options meet your needs, then by all means, spend the extra money. You never know if it may keep you in the fight.
Last, I’d like to bring up the topic of back face deformation. When a bullet strikes the front facing surface of any type of armor, the back side of the armor - the side against the torso - is deformed and displaced. This is called back face deformation and this can injure the person wearing the armor. To mitigate this, a trauma pad is essential. The trauma pad is a separate piece of spongy material that goes directly behind the armor. If you plan to buy body armor in the future, this is a must have in order to avoid injury after taking a round to the check.
Discussion
There’s a couple of additional things to mention. First, when buying plate armor, you will also need to buy something to carry it with. Enter plate carriers. Plate carriers can get expensive by themselves, but you definitely need one to carry plates. I recommended spending a little extra for a decent carrier. Get something that has a low profile, so it allows for better nobility, has good stitching, has a drag handle and has magazine pouches already stitched in or will accept them. Going cheap will leave you wishing you would have just spent the money in the first place. These need to made well enough to accept daily abuse.
Second, do not let your ceramic armor fall and hit the ground and don’t expose it to water. Dropping the ceramic can cause it to break, reducing it’s effectiveness. Exposing it to water can damage it too, if it’s made with kevlar. This also applies to soft armor made with kevlar. Water will destroy it. When you receive the armor, leave the protective cover alone and don’t tamper with it.
Lastly, after you get your armor, wear it and get used to wearing it. Put on your plate carrier at home and wear it around the house for a hour or two yo let your body adjust yo having it on. Then take it with you on your next trip to the gun range or when you go shooting out in the desert or the forest. Getting used to how it feels while shooting is important so that you’re not surprised and not used to it when it matters most. Get used to pulling rifle magazines from the pouches on the front of the carrier to build muscle memory. If you’re like many others, you’ll also have a gun belt, equipped with a handgun, dump pouch, individual first aid kit, radio and magazines, to wear with it.
Conclusion
I hope this article provided some information for noobs who may be thinking about buying body armor. My aim was to give a general overview of the topic. As with anything there are some deeper tangent discussions that could be had, but I felt that they wouldn't be germane for people who are just getting their toes wet.
To anyone thinking about buying armor for the first time, I recommend taking the threat level into consideration first and then move to sizing and options. Then choose a carrier. Sometimes you can find deals and sales on this gear and as always, buy from a reputable company like AR500, Spartan Armor, Hoplite Armor, RMA Armament or some other reputable company.
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