NIJ Standards of Body armor clothing

If you do not know yet, there are types of body armor clothing that is organized by the National Institute of Body armor clothing – this is the arm organization of the Department of Defense in the United States. Here are the types of body armor clothing.

Soft Body armor clothing

NIJ LEVEL I: his armor protects against .22 caliber Long Rifle Lead Round Nose (LR LRN) bullets with nominal masses of 2.6 g (40 gr) impacting at a minimum velocity of 320 m/s (1050 ft/s) or less and 380 ACP Full Metal Jacketed Round Nose (FMJ RN) bullets with nominal masses of 6.2 g (95 gr) impacting at a minimum velocity of 312 m/s (1025 ft/s) or less.

NIJ LEVEL IIA: (Lower Velocity 9mm, .40 S&W). Level IIA body armor clothing is well suited for full-time use by police departments, particularly those seeking protection for their officers from lower velocity .40 S&W and 9mm ammunition.

NIJ LEVEL II: (Higher Velocity 9mm, .357 Magnum). Level II body armor clothing is heavier and more bulky than either Levels I or IIA. It is worn full time by officers seeking protection against higher velocity .357 Magnum and 9mm ammunition.

NIJ LEVEL IIIA: (.44 Magnum; Submachine Gun 9mm). Level IIIA body armor clothing provides the highest level of protection currently available from concealable body armor clothing and is generally suitable for routine wear in many situations. However, departments located in hot, humid climates may need to evaluate the use of Level IIIA armor carefully.

Hard Body armor clothing

NIJ LEVEL III:  (High-powered rifle). Level III body armor clothing is clearly intended only for tactical situations when the threat warrants such protection, such as barricade confrontations involving sporting rifles.

NIJ LEVEL IV: (Armor-piercing rifle). Level IV body armor clothing provides the highest level of protection currently available. Because this armor is intended to resist “armor piercing” bullets, it often uses ceramic materials. Such materials are brittle in nature and may provide only single-shot protection since the ceramic tends to break up when struck. As with Level III armor, Level IV armor is clearly intended only for tactical situations when the threat warrants such protection.

Other body armor clothing manufactures also sell Armor Panel.