Firearms remain a dangerous threat to law enforcement and security officers alike. Thousands of lives are saved, however, thanks to ballistic-resistant body armor.
Body armor is a critical piece of equipment for personal protection, but the different types and styles of armor can be confusing to choose from.
Understanding the difference in NIJ ballistic levels is vital to selecting the right piece of body armor for protection needs.
The National Institute of Justice has set the minimum performance standards for body armor in America since 1972.
The NIJ ballistic level is the most important thing to look for when purchasing body armor because it indicates what type of threat the armor will protect you from.
The most recent standard, NIJ Standard 0101.06, has five levels of protection – Level IIA, Level II, Level IIIA, Level III, and Level IV.
Body armor must pass a strict set of guidelines and testing to meet the NIJ standard.
Level IIA contains soft body armor composed of layers of high-strength woven fibers that offer the lowest level of protection on the list.
Light, flexible, and easy to conceal, this armor used to be ideal for undercover work, however, modern armor technology has made Level IIA largely outdated. Higher-level armor that offers more protection is now just as easy to conceal.
Level IIA Protects Against:
A step up from IIA, Level II body armor is still light, flexible, and easily concealed under clothing but provides improved protection against blunt force trauma and a wider range of ammunition.
Most modern body armor meets the Level II standard.
Level II Protects Against:
Level IIIA armor is the most recommended soft body armor for its versatility and level of protection. This armor level can be found in everything from vests to bulletproof backpacks and is an excellent option if you’re looking for something lightweight and concealable but with ample protection.
Level IIIA Protects Against:
Level III armor is the first level of hard body armor that protects against rifle rounds. Heavier than soft armor, Level III uses hard plates rather than woven fibers.
The heavier plates are not concealable but offer far greater protection against various threats.
Level III Protects Against:
Level IV armor is the highest-rated level of protection under the current NIJ standards.
Level IV consists of heavy ballistic plates that can stop one shot of armor-piercing ammunition. Because it’s designed to take only one shot from high-powered rounds compared to the six rounds Level III plates are tested for, Level IV armor is not always a better option for protection. The weight and lack of flexibility also make this level of armor uncomfortable for everyday wear.
Level IV Protects Against:
Deciding what NIJ Level is right for you depends on a few factors:
These questions are essential to answer before purchasing body armor. People often buy the heaviest or strongest armor they can find, which then goes unused because it’s uncomfortable to wear for long periods or severely limits mobility.
Consider the trade-off between protection, cost, comfort, and concealability – higher protection will be heavier and more uncomfortable; lighter and more flexible armor will offer less protection.
Ultimately, the best body armor is a body armor that you will actually wear.
Interested in learning more about our NIJ Ballistic Level body armor? Browse through our Armor products and other equipment or contact us today.
All customers have access to their rep during business hours, or an emergency line at 866.845.3012 any other time. We are here when you need us.
Emails, phone calls and texts will be returned within one business day.
Over a quarter of our employees are Veterans. We have first-hand knowledge of the challenges you face and how important it is to be available and responsive when you need us.
Not only is ADS headquartered in a military town, but most of our staff have a military family. Because of that, customer satisfaction feels personal. That’s why we are committed to doing what we say we’re going to do.
We understand you have a choice when deciding where to buy what you need. Our goal is to provide service that is second-to-none—so you don’t think twice about calling us first.
We will only commit when we are 100% confident we can follow through. This means, we'll provide a quote only if we know we can meet your time constraints.
We commit to meeting or exceeding our customers’ delivery requirements.
Our site uses various cookies to improve your experience. Cookies may collect your personal information, such as IP address or device identifier, which we may share with our analytics and advertising partners. You may opt out of certain cookies if you wish, and doing so may limit some features of the site.
Cookie usage
Our site uses cookies to ensure the basic functionalities of the website and to enhance your online experience. The types of cookies this site uses are listed below.
Personal information, such as IP address or device identifier, collected from some cookies may be shared with our analytics and marketing partners. You may opt-in or opt-out of certain categories of cookies by using the opt-in/opt-out toggle below. Opting out of some categories may impact your experience on the website.
Strictly necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences.
Active
Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like remembering your preferences and settings.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website, which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Personal information obtained from these cookies may be shared with third party analytics partners.
Advertisement and Targeting cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns. Personal information obtained from these cookies may be shared with third party advertising partners.
