Body armor is protective equipment designed to reduce injury or death from ballistic threats, primarily bullets. Modern body armor is constructed from advanced materials, most notably Kevlar®, a woven aramid fiber layered into ballistic panels commonly used in vests worn by military personnel, law enforcement, and civilians worldwide.
Materials designed to stop bullets are best described as bullet-resistant against the ammunition it was designed to defeat. But no body armor can guarantee to stop bullets of all velocities, weights, and designs.
With that in mind, certain bullet types can defeat certain types of armor more easily, and some exotic rounds may make a piece of armor much less effective. Armor manufacturing companies have to choose which bullets to prioritize stopping, and while they could potentially develop armor to stop truly exotic rounds, the priority is to protect the user from threats he/she is most likely to face.
Ultimately manufacturers are trying to create the armor that defeats the widest number of rounds, at a reasonable weight, while still being in the realm of affordability…a balance of the “protection, pounds, and price” triangle.
All types of people purchase body armor. Law enforcement and security personnel, armored car company employees, bodyguards, and citizens working or living in higher-risk areas. Really, anyone wanting extra protection in the event they are shot at.
Body armor is designed to stop bullets from penetrating the armor, but how it does that depends on the material, which absorbs the bullet’s impact. The bullet is either caught (as with soft armor), disintegrated (as with steel and, to a lesser extent, ceramic armor plates), or captured within the armor (as with polyethylene armor plates).
Though body armor protects the wearer from the most devastating part of a bullet’s impact, the possibility of injury via the blunt impact of the bullet due to what is known as backface deformation still remains. Current specifications allow for up to 44mm of backface deformation (1.73”).
When a bullet hits armor of any kind, it carries energy. Heavier and faster bullets transfer more energy and that energy has to go somewhere. Different types of armor deal with that energy in different ways.
Soft armor is designed to ‘catch’ the bullet to stop it, which takes time and distance. As the vest stops the bullet, the vest is deformed in the direction of the projectile’s travel toward the wearer’s body. The distance the armor deforms is commonly called “backface deformation.” The amount of backface deformation depends on the protective level of the vest and how much energy the bullet has.
Hard armor is affected by the bullet's energy transfer as well, but in different ways: steel armor shatters projectiles and redirects the pieces, while polyethylene and ceramic plates absorb the bullet and its energy.
All types of armor can experience backface deformation, with soft armor and UHMWPE (sometimes referred to as poly, polyethylene, PE, or HDPE plates) experiencing the most deformation.
Backface deformation often results in bruises, broken bones, contusions, and other injuries, sometimes referred to as blunt force trauma. Depending on the armor type, the round used, and the location of the shot, the wearer can still suffer a serious or fatal injury.
What Is Body Armor Made Of?
There are two types of body armor, soft and hard.
Soft armor is designed to stop lower velocity ammunition and is used in “bulletproof” vests (though remember that no armor is truly bulletproof).
Materials Used
These materials are woven into fabric layers, then cut and sewn into armor panels for ballistic vests.
Protection Characteristics
Pros
Cons
Hard Armor
Hard armor is designed to protect the user from rifle-rated threats. As a byproduct of this, it also protects against handguns and shotgun ammunition.
Materials Used
These materials are woven into fabric layers, then cut and sewn into armor panels for ballistic vests.
UHWMPE
An in-conjunction-with (ICW) plate is designed to be used with some sort of backing material, usually a Level IIIA soft armor ballistic vest or “plate backer” (a plate-sized piece of soft armor) which helps to absorb the kinetic energy and catch potential spall on the backside. Some ICW plates may be rated for Level III threats (six rounds of 7.62x51 ball ammo) when used in a stand-alone fashion, and Level IV (one round of .30-06 M2AP ammo) when used with a backer or Level IIIA vest. It is important to note ICW plates are Certified with a particular soft armor vest so while they can be used with all soft armor vests they may not meet the proper testing standard to stop the rifle bullets. Always buy an ICW plate certified with the soft armor.
In comparison, stand-alone plates are capable of stopping their NIJ rating without the use of any backing materials. This offers more flexibility in that you can use them in a smaller plate carrier (vs. a carrier for a larger vest) as well as save some weight from not needing the backing vest or panels.
A ballistic vest usually refers to the soft armor panels that are designed to stop the projectile. These panels are then placed into a carrier that holds the armor and is designed to be worn by the user.
Hard armor plates are worn in a plate carrier, though there are some carriers that are designed to hold both soft and hard armor plates, such as our Freedom concealable and All Star tactical products.
The term “bullet proof vest” or “ballistic vest” refers to the combination of armor and carrier, and usually refers to a soft-armor based system.
Body armor doesn’t have an expiration date, but it does have a warranty period.
How long a vest will last is determined by what it’s made of, how well it’s cared for, and how much abuse it’s suffered during its “lifetime.” The biggest factors in determining how long a vest lasts (versus the warranty period) are wear-and-tear, sweat, humidity, water, and heat.
The NIJ therefore mandates that certified armor must have a five-year warranty. This testing simulates the bending, folding, sweating, heating, cooling, and other abuse that armor will encounter over its useful life. This is why armor companies offer set-period warranties.
The NIJ has created minimum performance standards against which our and many other brands of armor are tested against to help assure purchasers that the armor meets the levels of performance the NIJ has set forth in the 0101.06 body armor standards.
There are currently 5 levels of body armor protection, from Type IIA (least protective) to Type IV (most protective). Sometimes you’ll see the classifications referred to as “Level IIA”, etc., but for all practical purposes, they mean the same thing.
For detailed specifications, including testing specs for “conditioned armor”, 0101.06 body armor standards, where the listing starts on Page 3 of the document. Details on protection levels starts on Page 3 and the protocol for conditioning armor (to simulate armor being worn over time) starts on Page 27. The following lists specs on new armor only.
Type IV (Armor Piercing Rifle)
Choosing body armor is a juggle between protection, price, and pounds (weight). The lighter and more protective you go, the more expensive armor tends to become as more advanced and exotic materials are introduced into the final product.
Light is most popular among citizens looking for Level IIIA+ protection that is relatively lightweight yet affordable
Lighter falls between these two, costing less than the Lightest but weighing more than the Light
Lightest is popular among LE, security, and other professionals looking for the lightest, thinnest, most concealable, and most flexible IIIA+ protection we offer, but it costs more
We recommend measuring around the widest part of your upper body. Once you have this measurement align it to the closest size below in the chart. If you select a size smaller than your measurement you will have a gap on the sides of our traditional wrap armor and if you purchase a size up you will have overlap which is more ideal. To determine your overlap divide the difference from your measurement to the size selected by two.
Type IIA (9 mm; .40 S&W)
Type II (9 mm; .357 Magnum)
Type IIIA (.357 SIG; .44 Magnum)
Type III (Rifles)
Type IV (Armor Piercing Rifle)
Choosing body armor is a juggle between protection, price, and pounds (weight). The lighter and more protective you go, the more expensive armor tends to become as more advanced and exotic materials are introduced into the final product.
Light is most popular among citizens looking for Level IIIA+ protection that is relatively lightweight yet affordable
Lighter falls between these two, costing less than the Lightest but weighing more than the Light
Lightest is popular among LE, security, and other professionals looking for the lightest, thinnest, most concealable, and most flexible IIIA+ protection we offer, but it costs more
We recommend measuring around the widest part of your upper body. Once you have this measurement align it to the closest size below in the chart. If you select a size smaller than your measurement you will have a gap on the sides of our traditional wrap armor and if you purchase a size up you will have overlap which is more ideal. To determine your overlap divide the difference from your measurement to the size selected by two.
Properly caring for your body armor will help ensure that your investment lasts as long as it can. Abusing armor by letting it get dirty, creasing it (soft armor), storing it wet, handling it roughly (ceramic) can shorten your armor’s lifespan.
As body armor is often associated with firearms, it's common to have questions about regulations on the purchase or ownership of body armor.
It is legal under federal law and in 49 of the 50 states for law-abiding, non-felon citizens to purchase, own, and use body armor for lawful purposes. Using body armor during the commission of a crime can add penalty enhancements.
No license is needed to purchase or own body armor, but there are two states in which citizen purchase (Connecticut) or ownership (New York) are restricted.
There are currently 5 levels of body armor protection, from Type IIA (least protective) to Type IV (most protective). Sometimes you’ll see the classifications referred to as “Level IIA”, etc., but for all practical purposes, they mean the same thing.
For detailed specifications, including testing specs for “conditioned armor”, 0101.06 body armor standards, where the listing starts on Page 3 of the document. Details on protection levels starts on Page 3 and the protocol for conditioning armor (to simulate armor being worn over time) starts on Page 27. The following lists specs on new armor only.
In comparison, stand-alone plates are capable of stopping their NIJ rating without the use of any backing materials. This offers more flexibility in that you can use them in a smaller plate carrier (vs. a carrier for a larger vest) as well as save some weight from not needing the backing vest or panels.