The NIJ is Changing How You Buy Body Armor

Hey baby, nice non-planar area.

Problem is even if you stop a .300 winmag from penetrating, the brute force from a round that hot will shatter the bones behind it and cause internal bleeding or organ damage at the least. If you get hit mid sternum, that much force on your heart in an instant can actually cause it to stop. Yes, you can stop it from going into your body, but the thousands of pounds of energy from a round that hot still has to go somewhere, right?

Love how they have not tested M855A1 which you can get via Army surplus already

Great overview, thanks. I find it quite weird that larger handgun calibers, like .50AE are still not in there somewhere. Just as I find the rifle rating very strange. I would have expected RF1 to go mainly for the so called "Assault Rifle" calibers (7.62x39, 5.56 Nato, 300 Blackout, etc.), RF2 for the full rifle cartridges (308 Win, 300 WinMag, 7.62x51, etc) and finally have RF3 "upgraded" for all the high power calibers (30.06AP/30MK2 AP, 338 LM, 375 SwissP, etc.)

May not get killed directly by backface deformation but I'd imagine its pretty hard to shoot back with a rib through your lung.

Look bossman 5.7 was designed for operators to shoot other more Russian operators. If anybody designs soft armor that stops it especially proper AP quite frankly the material patent will be the next big thing since Kevlar.

police are your enemy

This is excellent information and thank you for the video. Pardon my skeptic nature, but the FED's have a nasty tendency to avoid posting information above Level IV ~ RF 3. Why, I can only speculate. From my perspective it would be relevant for industry standardization and marketing for safety construction. People (let's assume affluent) want safety rooms, resistant vehicle, etc etc etc. They tend to be focused on data and finance. How do you assure them if you don't have the facts to back up your claims?

great vid! wear Hyperline also

Thanks for the information man, and thanks for your service to your community!

I agree I and IIa are useless.

Good explanation

Nice, as with everything change occurs with time - been a long time since Rich Davis was shooting himself to sell his product.

Weren't the I and II designed for primary threat of a knife?

Thanks for information

Great info Thanks! Being involved with the academy, I get quite a few questions about what ballistic vest to buy.

My very first test was in 1989, and it was a level 3 A with titanium striker plates front and rear. I do remember that vest being a little heavy. In 1995, I got a new vest, also level 3 A with Composite striker plates front and rear. The last best I ended up with was in 2000, and it was still level 3 A.

Make Roman chest armor plates great again!

What about all that Chinese-surplus steel-cored 7.62x39? What's it going to take to defeat that?

I would think that 300 BLK would be an easy test process, especially to include 5.7 (.22 cal spicier cousin) to be linked in with the new NIJ ballistic testing. Especially, with some of the popular hunting/anti-material cartridges .338 Lapua, .300 WIN MAG, and of course 6.5 CMR. If they switched their studies to pistol carbines for some of their testing, then they should have testing additional calibers as well. The other part of this would be grabbing the heads and sitting at the round table spit-balling ideas to include, but I wonder if that might be the reason. Not to include too much data so that it won't give "evil people" ideas perhaps. Unless most agencies are sporting IIIA or IV for everyday carry in uniform, I'm sure their plain clothes aren't sporting that (IMHO). But if they need testers to go through these rigorous procedures, I would be more than gladly fire their ammunition and firearms for empirical data. Just saying..... just provide room, board, drinking money, and internet. That's all I ask lol. I got some free time.

Would have been nice to show the different types

I imagine some of the lag is just testing. It takes a while to develop and then certify a new product

I have three levels of body armor.
1. Soft Kevlar that can be worn under shirt, tie, and suit.
2. Thicker, soft Kevlar that is worn over clothing. Also has a small pocket for a small steel or ceramic chest plate.
3. Front, back, and side ¼ inch AR500 heavy steel plate armor that is worn over clothing.

I have no idea how my armor fits into the new standards.

interesting that they've standardised the III+ that was heavily advertised as a manufacturer spec now.

Had several shootings from 300blk where I work. We caught the guy and he had a mag full of 5 7 rounds. No gun in the car but at some point he did have it. First time seeing that round in the wild

i didnt know what m855 was, but now i learned! its 5.56 AP, and im a semantic asshole so i gotta say, 7.62x51mm is essentially .308, so things like your grandpas hunting rifle; the FAL, etc

all in all a great video! im more of a gun newbie than anything, and i learned a bunch! i like that the new standards simplify it to HG- Handgun and RF- Rifle instead of those numbered plates, its easier to remember

I and IIA are the manifestation of DBZ Abridged Vegeta yelling "Why are you even here!"

Dude, I just saw your, "Law Enforcement only" green tip short video. And all I can do is laugh. I may or may not have a few myself. Not to mention "things" Law Enforcement can only wish they had.

You can get great deals on body armour. You can make your own using excellent everyday materials that stop bullets for those that have low to no income

Thanks for the info

I bought my first vest back in the Dark Ages--1978, a Second Chance Hardcorps II. I was a Marine avionics tech and wasn't issued armorer other than an M1 steel helmet. I used that vest for military duties (sometimes with the K-47 plate, sometimes without) and for security work until I replaced it in 1986. When I retired from the military in 2010 rifle-proof armor was almost universally issued.

Thanks for keeping me updated on the new protection standards. Second Chance started off making up its own standards for Model X and Model Y. Then NIJ had two generations of armor ratings. For me, armor was for when I fouled up selecting and using cover. Police have different work environments--mostly--and a patrol car is ALMOST protection from buckshot and pistol bullets. When rifles, belt-fed machine guns, and grenade launchers are in the mix (think drug cartels) the patrol cruiser is little more than a bullet magnet.

👍👍

Lmao dudes will still buy steel plates and Non-NIJ'd plates, lol most of them dont even realize you can just lookup companies on the NIJ CPL to see model status or if it even has one

They want to take this away from you.

No one uses round nose lead..however in 2008 we were required to still use round nose lead at brinks armored

I’ve been trying to educate myself on body armor and it was definitely more complicated than necessary under the old standards. Can’t see myself needing anything more than R1 under the new standards. Im not a cop or anything but don’t think most would need more than H1 normally and if you did H2 probably wouldn’t be enough

Have to agree especially about the rifle ratings at the top.

30-06AP is so rare, and so few people have access to both. Plus it's all Army surplus which is pretty mediocre in weight/velocity compared to more modern hunting loads. For sure have stuff rated for it, but if someone grabs their deer rifle to shoot at someone, there's a better chance it's 300WinMag than that it is 30-06AP/300WinMag and just because the armor can stop a 30-06AP from peneteration doesn't mean the 300WinMag won't potentially do severe blackface deformation.

There All useless. 30.06.

Keep it simple and get safelife... It covers the most and the best compared to "better" armor... The 3a+lvl4 plate can stop a 50bmg... You might die from the impact but the fact it can stop a 50

More alphabet agency bullshit

My first vest was a 1988 Safariland mass produced level 2. My newest one from Point blank custom fitted level 3 2019

Imagine being part of a profession that has abused people so much, that they have to wear body armor every day. Says an awful lot.

It starts from the top, and it will never change unless Law Enforcement makes the first step toward repairing their perception.

SWEDEN HAS REGULATED CERAMIC INCERTS AND STEEL.

What do people do with old armor? Donate it?

Will the new RF2 also stop m855A1?

Ok so i just bought level 111a+ and icw rifle plates the plates with 3a+ gets me level 4. But i still thing they could do better in testing to cover the more used ammo, 6.5, 338, 243, 6mm, 7mm, 300win mag. I hope what i just bought will last a while.

You'd think that the 5.7 and 300 blackout have been around long enough they'd have tested it by now.

Do you think you can do a inclement and extreme weather video? Natural disasters. Floods. Ice. Snow. Tornados

The 220 SWIFT and 22-250 ammo can reach 4150 FPS.

I had a vest stop (more accurately, a deflection) wearing a III+ vest during an attempted home invasion. The bullet and casing were never found but I have reason to believe it was 5.7 FN. I never saw the person who shot me but that appeared to be what their accomplices were carrying.
I had a very serious kidney injury. The kidney was minimally functional for quite some time. Took about 3 years to recover to the point it is now functioning at maybe 90% of its original flow rate.
Because of all this, I suspect they were using AP rounds and if I had been wearing a lighter vest, I probably would not be able to make this comment. While it couldn't be conclusively determined via inspection, I am fairly certain the bullet penetrated some of the layers of the vest.
Funny thing is, I didn't even notice I'd been hit until it was all over and took off the vest. I had a large bruise and a red streak across my side that looked just like rugburn.

2106 Schuppe Common