![]() So in summary, establish your requirements before you begin shopping for armor. If you need to wear armor for more than a very short period of time, the value of lightweight armor cannot be overstated. When you want the lightest materials and construction technologies currently available, the costs will reflect this.ĭuring the decision making process for selecting armor, you will always be balancing weight and cost. Perhaps the most significant difference is weight in armor, lighter weight means higher cost, often to a significant degree. With different materials comes different performance metrics. ![]() Laminate materials used in hard armor manufacturing are almost always thermally molded and/or compressed. For instance, Kevlar used in soft armor will likely be a different variety than what you would find in a hard plate. ![]() The laminate materials usually differ from those found in soft armor. Among them are compressed laminates including high-density polyethylene, ceramics, Kevlar, and so on. There are a number of different materials used in the manufacture of rifle plates. Only “bullet resistant” is truly applicable. Because of the variances in performance, no armor should ever be referred to as “bulletproof” and you should beware a company that uses the phrase. ![]() Verify what threats a III+ plate is actually rated to stop with the manufacturer before purchasing.Īll body armor types have pros and cons, each of which falls under the three selection categories mentioned earlier weight, threat level, and cost. Although a III+ plate covers the majority of threats at a moderate weight and cost, making it a very attractive selection, you should beware the rating because some less scrupulous companies will use the “+” designation in an attempt to increase the perceived protection level of a plate. The NIJ does not recognize the III+ but most manufacturers use it to indicate protection from NIJ threat level III plus M855 and M193 threats. As a result, some manufacturers use a III+ designation to rate their plates. Bullet velocity plays a role in penetration but these are well known vulnerabilities. For instance, the M855 “Green Tip” can penetrate pure polyethylene plates while the M193 variety can penetrate steel such as AR500. While the 7.62x51MM NATO used in testing level III armor might generally be thought of as “bigger” than the 5.56MM round fired by AR-15’s and other rifles, there are varieties in the 5.56MM caliber which pose problems for some armor materials. Issues like this are what can make selecting armor more difficult but buying a product without fully understanding its true capabilities is even worse. In fact, there are situations where a bullet travelling slower might penetrate some armor types while the same bullet at a higher speed may not. With all NIJ armor ratings, it is important to know and understand that a plate rated to stop a particular threat may not stop a bullet that is smaller caliber. This is roughly equivalent to the common. Level III plates are designed to stop six spaced hits of 7.62X51MM NATO (Full Metal Jacket) travelling at 2,750 feet per second. Level III on the NIJ’s level system is where we enter the world of rifle plates, sometimes referred to as hard inserts. Although the threat levels are numerical and give some indication of an armor’s ability to stop a higher ballistic threat, the NIJ’s ratings is actually more complicated than simply saying “level IV is better than level III”, because that statement overlooks other details. ![]() The NIJ’s system breaks body armor into various threat levels, ranging from II to IV. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) manages a certification program that can give buyers some idea of what to expect from their armor. The threat levelis the most complex attribute of body armor to understand. There are three primary factors to consider when determining what armor is the best suited to your requirements: Weight, Threat Level, and Cost. Sometimes a little guidance can shorten the amount of research time needed to make a good decision by giving you some simple criteria to begin your search. There is a lot of information to process for the prospective body armor buyer and you could spend months researching before knowing exactly what you are looking for. People in the market for body armor may find themselves overwhelmed by the variety of choices on the market today. ![]()
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