Projectile Protectors – Half I: Armor Plates

According to the Small Arms Survey, American civilians owned an estimated 393 million firearms in 2018 — that quantity has undoubtedly grown significantly in post-COVID years. The overwhelming majority of these firearms won’t ever be used maliciously towards one other human being, however as with all device, some will inevitably be misused to hurt the harmless. If you happen to contemplate your self a ready particular person, are involved with defending your loved ones from violence, have an lively shooter plan, or are only a firearms fanatic — and I think about you’re one or all these items if you happen to’re studying this journal — you must critically contemplate proudly owning a set of physique armor, or “plates” as they’re usually referred to.

Above: Ideally, your entrance armor plate needs to be positioned slightly below the notch on the high of your sternum and needs to be not less than vast sufficient to cowl each nipples.

With advances in ballistic expertise, rumblings about laws banning civilian physique armor possession, and up to date violent crimes across the nation, accountable and discerning residents are contemplating their want for physique armor greater than ever. As with most large purchases and aggressive industries although, there’s a litany of misinformation, snake-oil, and rankings that frankly confuse the buyer. Right this moment, I’d like to chop via the advertising and marketing jargon and discuss real-world efficiency and purposes of physique armor. I’ll additionally define the completely different supplies that plates are produced from and their trade-offs and clarify the completely different score techniques related to physique armor.

Whereas researching this text, I spoke with a number of completely different corporations to get diverse views on this historic expertise, which dates again to the Mycenaean space round 1400 BCE.

Sorts of Armor

Jeremy Grey, former president of HESCO, gave essentially the most concise rationalization of physique armor I’ve ever heard: “Armor is a mechanical system designed to fail.” It defeats ballistic threats (primarily bullets) by doing considered one of two issues: abrading the projectile or shattering it.

Metal armor basically shatters the bullet. However as all of us (ought to) have discovered in highschool physics, a pair issues occur consequently. Power is rarely created or destroyed; on this state of affairs, it’s transferred. A few of that power is the punch you’d really feel when the armor takes successful, however most of that power makes the spherical explode on impression, sending spall — tiny lead, copper, or metal fragments — in every single place. “In all places” can embrace your face, head, neck, or different less-than-ideal areas. Secondly, for each response there’s an equal however reverse response. So, for the power to be absorbed, it should go someplace. Hopefully, most of it’s transferred into the plate and never your physique cavity.

Director of Particular Tasks at Survival Armor Gary Hughes defined:

“AR500 Metal plates have turn out to be well-liked due to their low price and their relative thinness and, most of all, probably due to their availability to the mass client market. This is similar heat-treated metal that’s utilized in various thicknesses for metal targets. Your common ¼-inch-thick, AR500 metal rifle plate will move an NIJ Degree III certification, and lots of producers have chosen to take action.

“As talked about above, nevertheless, that can’t be the one consideration, as a result of metal private protecting inserts have a few main downsides.

“For my part, the largest of those is that it has a horrible Achilles’ heel. It won’t cease 5.56 M193 55-grain FMJBT [full metal jacket boat tail] ammo out of a 20-inch rifle barrel. Oftentimes, it’s going to cease it out of a carbine, SBR or pistol-length barrel, however a rifle-length-
barrel AR-15 will eat [through] it. We’re speaking holes that appear like they have been professionally put there.”

Above: U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Sean M. Dempsey exhibits off the outlet within the armor plate that saved his life. He was shot within the again by an rebel in Iraq and walked away with solely a bruise. (Photograph by way of U.S. Division of Protection)

Primarily, Hughes commented, some savvy gun guys or Eugene Stoner purists maintain 20-inch AR rifles round, and people can simply defeat AR500 plates along with your customary 55-grain plinking spherical. Moreover, and extra pointedly, bullets shatter on metal. Consequently, many producers coat their plates in aramid — the identical compound used to line truck beds — to attempt to seize the spall. There are particular metal plates, Hughes defined, which might be designed particularly to mitigate a M193 cartridge touring at 3,250 ft per second. Nevertheless, these will not be the run-of-the-mill, low-budget metal plates you’ll discover at most retailers. Hughes doesn’t usually advocate metal plates in any respect, however if you happen to insist on shopping for some, he says you “needs to be taking a look at AR1000 or 647 hardness plates.”

Many traditionalists will declare that metal is the usual, and trendy supplies like polyethylene (“poly”) plates or ceramic plates are merely fads. Nevertheless, with improvements in ballistic expertise, these plates have their advantages over their steel-clad brethren; they’re lighter, for one, and cease a wider array of threats, particularly a number of hits. In fact, lots of the diehard metal followers would be the first to level out that with poly or ceramic plates you’ll be able to’t stack rounds on high of each other.
Whereas this can be true, if you happen to’re standing there letting somebody shoot you in the identical place repeatedly, one thing, someplace, has gone horribly flawed. It’s clever to think about the probably eventualities underneath which your armor will probably be shot in the actual world and select armor accordingly.

Above: These plate carriers from Tyr Tactical show two variations in armor integration. The minimalist PICO-DS (left, additionally pictured on this article’s lead picture) solely carries laborious ceramic plates, whereas the EPIC (heart) options ceramic plates plus a layer of soppy armor that encircles the torso.

Ceramic and poly plates, in contrast, abrade or shear incoming bullets over a really, very fast time frame.

“The ceramic portion of a ceramic plate shears that bullet, and the armor itself shatters a bit (it’s meant to) after which the backer materials captures these fragments in order that it doesn’t undergo the armor and clearly go into you. It acts like a catcher’s mitt. These fibers pull aside, and so they create a lump on the again of the plate. That’s that ‘backface signature’ that you simply discuss once you’re speaking about NIJ certification the place they need a most of 44 millimeters backface,” defined Jeremy Grey of HESCO.

However what about poly plates? Certainly, they aren’t making a bullet shatter. Appropriate, they’re shearing and abrading it and doing so very quick with little or no weight. “When you have a pure polyethylene plate, you clearly don’t have that strike face to shatter the bullet. It’s a distinct methodology, however fibers additionally truly pull the bullet aside. The polyethylene supplies which might be used include fibers — actually lengthy chains of carbon and hydrogen — in addition to some type of resin system that holds these fibers collectively. Once you consolidate these with warmth, that’s what’s doing the work of defeating the spherical,” Grey elaborated.

Above: We spoke to Jeremy Grey, former president of HESCO, one of many largest names within the armor enterprise. HESCO plates have been worn every day by members of the army and regulation enforcement companies for greater than 20 years.

If you wish to geek out on this a bit extra, that is referred to as the Van der Waals impact. The supplies and chemical processes to make ceramic and poly armor are so sturdy that they actually pull the bullet aside in milliseconds because it contacts the strike face. Simply take into consideration how small a M193 55-grain bullet is, for instance, and how briskly it strikes (as much as 3,250 fps). These techniques must do an entire lot of labor in an extremely brief time frame. On high of that, many Degree III plates are multi-hit rated. That’s nothing wanting wonderful once you cease and give it some thought.

“The most important draw back to an all poly, light-weight NIJ-certified Degree III rifle plate? A 16-inch AR-15 with M855 ammo will shoot proper via it. When individuals brag to me about their costly tremendous light-weight Extremely-Excessive-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) plates, I usually inform them that’s nice, it’s going to make it simpler to tug your corpse,” Hughes commented.

“I’d put on metal plates earlier than I wore an all-poly plate,” he continued. “The rationale for that’s easy, I do know the American firearms market and group. I do know the percentages of encountering a 20-inch AR-15 firing M193 ammo is considerably decrease than encountering a 16-inch one firing M855. We’re speaking about the preferred rifle within the nation, and one which’s firing roughly 50 % of accessible industrial ammo that may be capable of render it ineffective. We don’t like 50/50 odds in physique armor. I wouldn’t put on one, no matter how good and lightweight they’re. I’d put on metal first … and that’s saying one thing, as a result of I usually solely advocate metal in very slim circumstances, similar to horrific storage situations, laborious use, impacts, drops, and many others.,” Hughes continued. This, for context, is why we see the designation Degree III+. Extra on that subsequent.

Above: Armor may be worn covertly or overtly. HighCom affords a Rescue variant of its Trooper ACAP plate provider that features high-vis reflective materials. It’s designed to be worn by hearth/EMS personnel throughout lively shooter and important incident responses.

Armor Scores – What Do They Imply?

One of many largest hang-ups and puzzles that encompass shopping for plates are the rankings. There are 5 NIJ rankings you ought to be conscious of: IIA, II, IIIA, III, and IV. These armor rankings are written as Roman numerals however learn as numbers (e.g., 2A). The primary three relate to handgun calibers, whereas the final two apply to rifle calibers.

Let’s be clear on one thing proper out of the gate. There isn’t any “+” designation from the Nationwide Institute of Justice (NIJ). They’re the governing physique that does most — if not all — of the armor certifications within the U.S. Particularly, physique armor has to achieve the NIJ 0101.06 customary. Nevertheless, a brand new system (0101.07 — received to like the federal government and their easy-to-remember designations) is allegedly on the way in which.

“The NIJ Customary 0101.06 is the newest customary revealed by the Nationwide Institute of Justice and units minimal resistance necessities for tender physique armor in addition to laborious rifle armor. Merchandise which might be licensed compliant by NIJ may be discovered on the NIJ CPL record. We clarify it a bit extra on our NIJ net web page and on our weblog,” Kelly Gordon, advertising and marketing and artistic director from HighCom Armor defined.

Above: Oregon Ballistic Laboratories (OBL) is a full-service armor testing facility that’s licensed by the Nationwide Institute of Justice and the U.S. Army Aberdeen Take a look at Heart.

“Typically, handguns and assault rifles can hearth comparatively quickly, and there’s a probability the armor will probably be hit greater than as soon as, so having multi-hit efficiency with armor is essential when the operator is available in contact with these risk ranges. Although our Degree IV plate is a single hit for that degree of safety, there may be nonetheless multi-hit safety at decrease risk ranges,” Gordon defined additional. The plus (+) — within the case of HighCom armor and lots of different producers — signifies that they’ve carried out extra testing above the usual necessities, which we are going to focus on shortly.

Tender armor rankings, from “weakest” to “strongest,” are organized as follows: IIA – II – IIIA. One factor we glossed over to this point is handgun rounds, since a lot of the laborious armor has rifle threats in thoughts. Degree IIA tender physique armor can cease most traditional handgun rounds (9mm, 40 S&W, .38 Particular, and many others.) apart from magnum rounds or maybe a 9mm from a PCC the place it’s going to acquire much more velocity in a 16-inch barrel than a 4-inch handgun. Degree II will increase safety to defeat a 9mm doing over 1,100 fps or a .357 Magnum jacketed tender level; IIIA can defeat all the earlier rounds in addition to a sooner shifting 9mm (about 1,400 fps) and a .44 Magnum. Briefly, IIIA tender physique armor can defeat just about any handgun spherical.

Arduous armor rankings get a bit extra sophisticated. Degree III plates are designed to take a number of hits from a wide range of calibers as a rule (all producers differ, so please, please, please have a look at their tech sheets and perceive what they are saying). For essentially the most half, Degree III plates which might be NIJ licensed can take six hits from the frequent risk rifle calibers — XM193 (5.56 55-grain ball ammo), M80 (7.62×51 or .308 civilian) and seven.62×39 (frequent AK rounds, though this will get bizarre on account of qc with this kind of ammo coming from abroad factories). All the opposite rounds which might be outdoors of these essential rifle threats are why you see the + or ++ designations — they fall out of the NIJ bubble and producers wish to denote that their plates could defeat extra frequent calibers that aren’t on the record (for instance, .300BLK).

Above: OBL offered these behind-the-scenes photographs of one of many ranges the place they carry out rigorous NIJ armor exams.

Degree IV plates can take a single hit from 30-06 M2AP (armor piercing) ammunition. “For Degree IV, the one spherical that NIJ acknowledges is 7.62×63 — or 30-06 because it’s generally identified — M2AP. That’s a hardened metal core spherical touring at roughly 2,880 fps. The attention-grabbing factor for all of the velocities for the NIJ is that they’re above the muzzle velocity for many of your customary rounds. And when NIJ is speaking about velocity, it’s hanging velocity, not muzzle velocity,” Grey of HESCO humored me and defined. I discovered extra from our dialog about muzzle versus hanging velocity and ballistics than I did in hours of studying.

“Not all Degree III plates will cease inexperienced tip however all Degree IV plates will. It’s a more durable risk to cease and well-liked. We provide a number of Degree III plates that each one cease inexperienced tip — 3s14m, 3s9, 3s9m, RSTP, RSTPSA+, RSTPG2. The brand new NIJ 07 Customary, nevertheless, will record inexperienced tip as a required risk for Degree III plates,” Gordon of HighCom safety defined additional about their choices. To be clear, “inexperienced tip” is the frequent time period for rounds which might be M855 American designation or SS109 in every single place else — gentle metal core penetrator rounds. HESCO additionally calls any of their Degree III plates that may defeat a M855 spherical a Degree III+, as you’ll be able to see on their tech sheets. For instance, additionally they record 7.62×39 HSP (M43) and seven.62x54R — that are generally fired from AKs and Mosin Nagants respectively — as able to being defeated by Degree III+ plates, however these once more will not be inside the NIJ 06 certification bubble.

Above: OBL testing tools.

There are additionally merchandise which might be DEA or Rifle Particular Threats rated. These don’t match inside the guardrails of the NIJ 06 score, and thus can’t be licensed as such, however that doesn’t essentially imply they will’t cease rounds or are in any other case unsafe. The DEA, the truth is, has some fairly excessive round-stopping requirements, and you may see a few of this on HESCO’s tech sheets.

The most important takeaway in relation to rankings is the next: determine what you’re attempting to cease, your probably use case, your possible threats, weight, and funds. If you happen to’re carrying armor all day or utilizing it in an expert setting, you’ll want to give cautious consideration to how a lot weight versus safety you need, however you most likely wish to cease rifle rounds and fairly a number of of them. Personally, I’d decide to have a bit extra weight and be higher protected, however that’s simply me. If you happen to’re a civilian and can probably solely must throw your plates on in a SHTF state of affairs, that’s a distinct story. In that case, chances are you’ll be utilizing armor extra to defend a static place (e.g. your house) and it might be wiser to go along with essentially the most safety you’ll be able to afford whereas contemplating weight a decrease precedence. It’s all about trade-offs.

Above: OBL testing tools.

How is Armor Examined by the NIJ?

NIJ certification testing, as you’ll be able to think about, is a sturdy, brutal, and really particular collection of exams that armor should move to earn the NIJ seal. The brand new customary, NIJ 07, has been promised since 2016, however proper now they’re abiding by the NIJ 06 customary.

“The method to get a plate licensed is sort of prolonged. Final time we received a plate licensed it took about 4 months,” Grey of HESCO mentioned. “There are plenty of issues the NIJ does. As a producer, it’s important to submit 9 plates for a Degree III certification — eight for testing and an additional. The brand new customary [0101.07] will enhance the variety of plates for RF1 and RF2 considerably. The unique draft referred to as for 27 plates for testing (9 for every risk), however the rumblings in regards to the revision to the draft is that there will probably be twice that quantity as a result of NIJ now needs to check obliquity. So, that’s 54 plates, which is rather a lot. The Degree IV or RF3 will name for 37 plates for V0 and V50 and one other 37 for obliquity,” he continued.

These plates will go right into a conditioning chamber for 11 days and are subjected to numerous temperatures, humidity, and the like. Then comes the drop check.

The plate is hooked up to a 4-foot-tall arm with a weighted again, and every plate is then slammed down twice. And don’t overlook, that’s after 11 days of being subjected to all the variations in temperature and humidity.

If a plate survives up to now, then and solely then does it get shot. For a Degree III, it must get shot six occasions. After it takes rounds, they carry out what’s referred to as a V0 check — mainly, is there a penetration or not? 4 plates undergo this course of.

Above: It’s clever to think about the calibers and weapon configurations you is likely to be up towards. Understanding armor rankings — together with the unofficial “+” designations — may also help you identify what you really want.

Then, there’s a V50 check. This check is wild in that they enhance the speed of the risk projectile till you get 50 % of the rounds passing via the plates. Typically to attain this V50 failure velocity, the case is maxed out to the purpose that no extra powder may be crammed in, or the barrel/weapon system merely can’t take it. That is extra theoretical, versus being one thing that may ever occur in actual life. It’s merely establishing what the security issue is for that plate. One other 4 plates undergo this course of.

“The NIJ needs a calculated failure fee of under 5 % for a given plate. Most of our [HESCO] plates are lower than 0.1 % failure fee,” Grey talked about in a matter-of-fact method. That’s 50x higher than the NIJ customary. You possibly can double test my math.

From a laboratory perspective, you’ll want to reproduce dependable outcomes each single time with these plates. The NIJ takes it critically, and rightfully so — there are lives on the road. If a producer is ISO licensed, they inform the NIJ they will check their plates each 24 months, off the road, on the producer’s expense, to make sure their qc are as much as par. If not ISO licensed, this occurs each 12 months. For much more context, they ship the plates out to considered one of a handful of corporations to examine and check them, and the producer can go and watch the exams to be a witness.

Above: Physique armor has many purposes for quite a few vocations (Photograph by Joey Skibel).

That is the distinction between NIJ licensed and NIJ compliant. Clearly, certification is way extra rigorous, expensive, and time-consuming.

After we discuss the usual a Degree IV plate must move — defeating a 30-caliber M2AP spherical — we’re actually speaking a couple of .30-06 spherical with a hardened metal core that was made within the Fifties. There aren’t a lot of them floating round. Even for testing within the manufacturing unit, many of those rounds have been pulled from outdated ammunition stockpiles. Every spherical is loaded individually, they measure the quantity of powder that’s poured into it, and many others. There are strict lab requirements, and moreover, in testing they upcharge these rounds to acquire a hanging velocity of two,880 fps — roughly 5 % sooner than a typical spherical would produce on the muzzle. Stated one other approach, they’re testing in a worst-case state of affairs kind of approach. However for that reason, Degree IV plates are solely examined to be hit one time by M2AP rounds. That may not sound like an excellent stat, however a typical M2AP spherical is able to penetrating half an inch of metal from almost 100 yards.

The exams are completely brutal earlier than they’re even shot, after which throughout.

Subsequent Technology Armor Scores

The brand new NIJ 0101.07 customary will probably be a lot simpler to navigate than present armor rankings, because it’s supposed to interrupt down what armor can defeat a risk degree from HG (handgun) 1-3, with 3 being essentially the most sturdy, and the identical for rifle. The chart under outlines the brand new designations, check risk ammo and reference velocities for NIJ 07. As soon as extra, this score system hasn’t formally been put in place but.

So … What Plates Ought to I Purchase?

Like just about everything, there’s no straightforward button. You should take into consideration your use, how a lot weight you wish to carry, and what you wish to cease. Whereas funds is and needs to be a priority, you need to ask your self: how a lot is your life, or your beloved’s life value? Would you actually wish to go to all the difficulty of shopping for and carrying armor, solely to finish up laying on the bottom with holes in you wishing you sprang for higher plates with high-velocity hit capabilities?

As I discussed on the outset, the buying determination is all about you and your private use, but additionally about trade-offs. Metal is cheaper and has multi-hit capabilities, however is heavy, there’s a spall issue, and if not completed proper, the metal turns into brittle. Additionally, as lots of the trade consultants on this article have identified, 20-inch barrels capturing XM193 can bore via a number of the metal plates simply. With poly plates, in fact, they’re lighter, however traditionally don’t deal with a number of hits from inexperienced tip except you go the costlier route.

Ceramic is a superb do-all plate. Throughout the trade with all the professionals I spoke to for this text, it appears to be one of the best ways to stability efficiency and weight whereas having a watch towards price. Everybody thinks of ceramic and thinks of dinner plates that crack in the event that they’re set down on the counter too laborious — they’re nowhere close to that fragile. Not even shut. You would hit a lot of them full-force with a sledgehammer, and they might nonetheless be operational. There are some formulation which might be extra brittle than others, however all of them will stand as much as regular put on and tear simply high-quality. You principally should be cautious if you happen to work in a high-tempo, high-speed operational setting like a QRF or army unit, as ceramic can break or turn out to be brittle with years of heavy use. Many plates are marked with a 5- to 10-year shelf life, however that’s extra for legal responsibility functions than something — your plates can final rather a lot longer in the event that they’re saved appropriately and never abused.

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Written by Alexander Castiglione