Body Armor Question?

[Sandles2Sidearm]

I have a concealable (not really) level IIIa vest with integrated plate carriers in front and back from Custom Armor Technologies....

My question, when the plates go in, does this make this vest a level IV?

I can't seem to get a straight answer from anyone.

Thanks,

Stay safe.

S2S

[Kahuna5150]

Depends on the type of plates... Ceramic will most likely give you the IV protection. Still or some other form might act more as a "trauma" plate. Might be the same thing, but when I asked (years ago) it was explained as follows:

Ceramic plate actually bumps up the protection level of your vest. Stops some long gun rounds, etc.

Steel "trauma" plate does not increase your ballistic protection (or if it does it is negligible), however will also protect your sternum from some of the blunt force trauma of a chest hit. As far as ballistics it will still be defeated by those level IV rounds, however the 9mm, .45, or other round you take will now dump some kinetic energy into the plate before giving you the huge bruise on your chest. Hopefully stops your sternum from breaking or heart from being bruised.

Best place to check for the info is on the plates themsevles or the vest. Usually will have a (Level IIIA vest, unless equipped with ceramic armor plates, then level IV protection afforded) or something similar.

Always go to the horses mouth if all else fails and speak to the company, or better yet (hopefully) never test out the claim of the vest...

:)

Kahuna

[Browning]

This site has some good info. I believe it is a commercial site so I'll leave out the hotlink:

bulletproofme.com/Ballistic_Protection_Levels.shtml

[outlawturtle]

What does the plate look like? If it is a very heavy approximately 1 inch thick item, it is likely made of 1/2 ceramic and 1/2 kevlar made to stop some rifle rounds, thus making it level IV. Anything other then that, it is likely not level IV. Any pics you can post links to so we can try to nail this down for you?
-OT

[Sandles2Sidearm]

Its a ceramic plate, and I am all but positive its a level IV...thanks again.

[jts]

I've done vast amounts of research on this topic for my agency and there are a lot of misinformed people out there, including the people that are in charge of purchasing these items. Your best bet is to call the manufacturer directly and ask for their testing data. The plate will have a serial number on it and they will be able to give you the info you need.

You also want to find out if the plate is multi-hit and if it is stand alone. Stand alones do not require IIIA soft armor but in general, it is very important to wear IIIA soft armor under any plate, stand alone or not. The reason for this is BFD (back face deformation), spalling, frag from IED's, etc. One other thing you should note is that NIJ testing is quite limited. If you are deploying to a region where 7.62x39 BZ (AK armor piercing) is prevalent (ie: Middle East), NIJ testing DOES NOT test for this round. Just about all III and IV plates will stop 7.62x39 steel core and mild lead core, both of which are very prevalent in the US. BZ is just about impossible to acquire CONUS. Also note that NIJ DOES NOT test for 5.56mm Greentip, which is the ammo you will encounter most overseas if deploying with the military.

You should understand that NIJ ratings are only a good baseline. For example, Level III plates in ceramic WILL STOP Greentip (5.56mm) usually, but the same Level III NIJ rated plate made of Polyethylene WILL NOT stop Greentip. Again, this does not come out in NIJ testing since they only test using 30.06 and .308WIN (forgot the exact velocities and weight of the bullets but can find out if you want it). Compare that with steel plates (yes, steel is still used and it's great for low profile missions), which will stop over 100 or more hits of Greentip all day, no matter where you hit it (including the edges) but won't stop 7.62x39 BZ at all. Most ceramic Level IV plates will.

As I said, your level of armor should at the minimum stop the ammo you and your buddies are carrying. Ideally it should also stop most rounds that the enemy is carrying as well. Do a threat analysis and determine from there what level of protection you need. Hope this helps.