We are a factory distributor of body armor. Here are a few basics you should know when considering body armor.

1: There are several types of ballistics used in vests. The most common is Kevlar. It is a woven product with good all around protection, especially against point blank shots. Kevlar is generally soft and flexible. Spectra is a newer soft woven product  with very good ballistic and blunt trauma protection, but not as good against point blank shots. Goldflex is a laminated kevlar, excellent for all areas. It is less flexible but very light. Spectrashield (or HDPE or Dyneema or Polyethelyne or UHDPE are other brands) is excellent in most areas, decent in point blank shots, and is very light (will float). BUT it is NOT very flexible and an all spectrashield vest is not comfortable. The best products use a combination of materials, with Kevlar  and Goldflex or Kevlar and Spectra the best for a vest for protection and comfort. The best for for shoulders, groin, soft inserts and other areas where flexibility is not as important and high level of protection is Spectrashield mixed with one of the other materials. Again do not buy an all Spectrashield (Dyneema) vest if you have to wear it more than 15 minutes.

2 :  Military fragmentation vests such as PASGT should not be considered a serious bulletproof vest. A PASGT frag vest will stop  fragments and .22 and .25 and maybe a low velocity .38 at a reasonable distance. It is 14 layers of kevlar 29.  A CVC vest will stop .22 and low velocity 9mm, so although not rated is a close to a level IIa. It ia 20 layers of kevlar IF both sets of inserts are present.  Also no vest is actually "bulletproof" , they are bullet resistant. The amount of "resistance" is rated by the NIJ system ( level I  IIa  II  IIIa  III IV), I being able to stop a .22,  IV being able to stop high powered armor piercing rounds.

 3 : If kevlar is kept dry and out of sunlight (as in inside a bag in a carrier) it will NOT degrade for many years, far more than the common 5 years you hear. This number is given by lawsuit worried manufacturers who have no idea how you take care of your armor. They also want to sell you new armor every 5 years. Spectra is much less sunlight sensitive than kevlar (and also gives higher protection than kevlar). Spectrashield and Goldflex are the same characteristics as spectra and kevlar.

 4 : Comfort verses protection. Body armor is a compromise of how high a protection level verses how long you have to wear it. Most law enforcement officers wear level IIa or II, since they can be comfortable worn all day. Also this level of protection will stop rounds from the guns that are used in over 96% of all shootings in the U.S. If you are on a SWAT team or want a vest for home protection where you will only wear it a short time, you want all the protection you can get. A level IIIa with a trauma and/or rifle plate would ideal.  

 5 : Trauma or rifle plates. DO NOT ever use a metal only plate in your vest unless you also use a soft insert in front of it. Metal only plates will richocet a bullet into your throat. Metal plates with several layers of kevlar on the front will not richocet and will provide excellent ballistic, trauma, as well as knife protection. Soft plates DO increase ballistic protection as well as reduce blunt trauma even though most manufacturers don't say they will ( lawsuit worries again). So always use an insert, and preferable an 8x10 in concealed and 10x12" in tactical.  And about blunt trauma, the higher rating, especially with an insert, the less trauma. Your vest might stop the round and save your life, but you may still feel like you were hit by a truck and have severe internal injuries from the blunt trauma.  

For more information on the rating system (I  IIa  II  IIIa  III  IV) see the National Institutes of Justice website.  Also there is NO SUCH THING as a level III or higher soft armor, even though you sometimes see it advertised on ebay!!!  (Dragon Skin is considered hard armor even though it is somewhat flexible)

See our listings for all types of body armor and accessories. We are a Factory Distributor and sell direct to the public. If this guide was helpful PLEASE VOTE Yes below.