How often does body armor fail?

There's been 7 recalls, 3 for products failing in independent testing to stop what they're rated for, 4 for them completely fabricating NIJ certifications.

There's also been 2 lawsuits, one of which went to trial and they lost and the other was settled out of court.

A small-town police officer died when his department issued AR500 "level III+" plate was penetrated by a fucking .22mag rifle (something even NIJ lvl II soft armor reliably stops). That was the one settled out of court. The other was a piggyback case from a different department who had purchased a large number of their plates that fell under 2 different recalls (one for failing the independent testing and the other for fabricating their NIJ certification). That was the one they lost.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.22_Accelerator

aim for the throat

The Level III plates will get cleared by M193 all day long. Level III+ plates from AR500 are less vulnerable however against such a low threat. The Wound Channel on YouTube has videos of both. The big issue with AR500 is that Level III+ plates are in the same weight bracket as Level III/IV ICW (or even standalone) dual-rated ceramics that outperform them vastly in the threat level department and are not completely dependent on how fast the opposing bullet is going. I also like not having to worry about rare threats that appear in SHTF like M995. M995, in super basic lingo, is a tungsten penetrator 5.56x45mm round that is M193 on two gallons of liquid steroids. It will have no issue penetrating AR500 of typical 3/8" thickness and may penetrate up to 1/2" thickness up close. However, some Level IV and Level III/IV ceramics can stop M995 from some distance. Even RMA (a low-grade company put on the shitlist) has the Model 1189 that can stop M995 from some distance - but some distance nonetheless. AR500 is completely vulnerable to M995. Ceramics of high grade are still vulnerable, but not nearly as much. M993 however will pen both unless you have a top-shelf plate like the ATT Model 4520.

I see you've done your research. Well done.

Soft armor? Replace after 5 years. Plates? Very extremely rarely if ever fail, usually will only fail if shot by a caliber it's level is not rated for. The spall and frag coating might wear down after a decade though.

What brand would yall recommend?
I can put it on my Christmas list.

>NIJ lvl 4 or equivalent (DoD doesn't use NIJ)
Stolen ESAPI (Ceradyne)
HESCO
SKD
Velocity Systems
>not NIJ lvl 4 or equivalent
Paraclete hybrid plates

Be warned about the pitfalls of Level IV. Consider a III/IV dual-rated plate.

Everytime you get shot in the face

Companies that legitimately meet industry/government standard requirements have an allowable failure rate several decimal places less frequent than the pharmaceutical industry.

Bump.

when its hit with something bigger than what its expected to stop

or hit too many times over a long period

Daily reminder that AR500 is crap unless you need armor on the cheap.

Pitfalls?

As per NIJ 0101.06, a Level IV plate is only required to withstand one impact of .30-06 M2AP. It is not required to pass the Level III rating. This means that a Level III plate, which is required to withstand six impacts of 7.62x51mm M80, is automatically a multi-hit plate while a Level IV only has to be a single-hit plate. In other words, going from Level III to Level IV you will often sacrifice multi-hit capacity for protection from a single stronger hit.

Many Level III plates will fail the Level IV test (well duh) but many Level IV plates will fail the Level III test. A Level III/IV plate is rated for both standards, although not both on the exact same plate. Consider a Level III/IV dual-rated plate to be able to handle the entire range of threats from III to IV, and often IV+ too.

Since I never hear it brought up, what's the verdict on polyethylene body armor? It seems to have a lot of advantages compared to steel or ceramic.

Pros:
>weighs just over 3 pounds per plate
>can offer NIJ lvl III, "III+" (I know this isn't a real NIJ rating), and IV protection levels
>drop/fall resistant
>multi-hit capability
>buoyant
>completely standalone

Cons:
>Might degrade under prolonged exposure to temperatures that would kill a human
>Maybe expensive? (but there seems to be a wide variety of prices depending on the manufacturer)

Are these bestpl8s??

Attached: snqQgDPzvexZHddccSJQraoYqFs8lj7A-24.jpg (500x500, 29K)

UHMWPEs lack the robustness of ceramics, but the current top-range plates like the ATT Model 4520 are Ceramic-UHMWPE hybrids capable of stopping M993 and M995 as well as whatever threat the XSAPI is rated for. That gives the idea of a ceramic-polyethylene plate great credibility.

Besides, LIBA was ceramic-polyethylene in a way too and that stuff is legendary.

>but the current top-range plates like the ATT Model 4520 are Ceramic-UHMWPE hybrids capable of stopping M993 and M995 as well as whatever threat the XSAPI is rated for.
4520s could stop a jdam and it would still be irrelevant because they are cucks who wont sell to anyone

The FBI E-SWAT and HRT units are believed to use them but I have not seen one in surplus yet, which indicates they run a tight destruction code with the plates. A shame, I know, but that's the nature of a Spook Plate.

How do they lack the robustness of ceramics when they don't fracture from being dropped or fallen on, but ceramics can? Do you mean they can't stop the variety of rounds that ceramics can?

>The FBI E-SWAT and HRT units are believed to use them but I have not seen one in surplus yet
Oh yeah let me head on over to the surplus shop outside quantico and ill grab that shit.

>he doesn't know about fiberglass body armor

lol never gonna make it
you can buy this shit in bulk

Indeed. Additionally, the threat of ceramics cracking and suddenly losing effectiveness has been mitigated by 0101.06's drop test. Most street-level UHMWPE plates are not capable of stopping M855 from point-blank distance and begin to falter against progressively stronger AP projectiles much faster than Ceramics do.

Besides, where can you find a Level III/IV UHMWPE plate with no ceramic components?

>Massive backface deformation and an overwhelming need for thickness before it actually stops anything because fiberglass is only suitable for reinforcing buildings as per the UL 752 standard.

$1,088 a plate for all sizes besides XL. XLs are $1,244 a plate. You got the dosh?

>$1,088 a plate for all sizes besides XL. XLs are $1,244 a plate. You got the dosh?
Yeah I actually do

Okay then moneybags, go buy us all a plate!

You know what would be cool as shit? If someone could figure out a cheap way to make titanium. titanium body armor would be neat as shit, that stuff is so goddamn tough.

From where? AFAIK they dont give a shit about peon civilians
>titanium body armor would be neat as shit, that stuff is so goddamn tough.
Russia already did this. Its a dumb memes.

Both the US and the Soviet Union used some types of Titanium body armor as early as Vietnam and plates of the type continued production until the present day. Steel-titanium hybrid plates are some of the finest options around provided you don't get a fast one pulled on you... but that's a problem with all kinds of plates.

You need to talk to the ATT salesman in perfect Enochian.

Is there a good company that makes such plates today? How expensive are they?

Im going to make an armor company, claim I can stop 105mm howitzer shells but you just cant buy it and no I wont post any photos of it doing so.
Enjoy spalding

Tamiami made some impressive ones a while ago. Bulldog makes some now but I cannot comment on their quality. There are a few others here and there. Ratings generally are in the Level III to Level III+ range, with protection from M855 and M193 standard and the plates only failing against .30-06 M2AP. Regular .30-06 however should not be an issue.

>He doesn't know how anything works and is relying off of youtube.

The problem with that is it's expensive to produce Titanium in general. But if you made a Vanadium-Titanium-Steel alloy you end up with incredibly durable and super long lasting metal that is slightly lighter and denser than normal steel. But this is expensive as fuck to make (but is still made in small quantities for specialized industrial applications) and much rarer than Titanium-Vanadium-Aluminum alloys which would not be suitable for armor plates but is commonly used in the aircraft industry.

jesus christ that was fast, who are you man? youseem like a walking encyclopedia of knowledge about body armor, you work in the industry?

It's just me.

how much would it cost to develop our own type of armor plating?

I was thinking ceramic plating shaped into hexagons and overlapping. Very much like the Dragon skin but instead of one layer multiple; overlapping. The hexagons would interlock with each other. In between the layers we could fill it with Liquid armor that could harden and seize up when being hit. Maybe have a back plate with a titanium plate with infused with carbon nano tubes. maybe encase it in aramid fibers and carbon fiber. finally being coated with a polyurethane hybrid of some kind just to add the roughness and durability overall. Not to mention you could recycle the ceramic plates since they are separate and multiple pieces instead of one solid piece. keeping a decent weight to strength ratio.

,but I'm just an electrician.

>jerks off to PDFs like they are the word of God
>has never been outside

There is some autist who sucks off sales reps for spec sheets as of late

>we just take all of the armor technology that exists and put it together
>What do you mean its 30lbs per plate?

patents.justia.com/patent/6112635

Read up on this process. It might be interesting for you.

Awww, it's that guy who lost the argument and is salty and can only ad hominem.

Prove you do anything with this "knowledge" other than repeat spec sheets online to people. I dare you.

hey man, I'm an electrician not a military engineer

Behold, what I actually do in my free time with this knowledge.
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1153383362

>see someone doing something other than shitposting
>flip out
Classic.

>stick it on a passive load bearing exoskeleton
>use those LMG support antennas that carry the gun
>become a walking bunker invulnerable to small arms fire
>killdozer 2; daddy's little girl(male)

Somebody call PolyCom, we have a LIBA!

This is crippling ponyfag autism
Unironically kys

>He can't handle true power.

Big Kek.

2018 Jow Forums begins progress on Power armor/ Spartan II's

Mjolnir mark1. Spartan 1's were just regular dudes on drugs.

This has now become the Advanced Armor Plate Mod thread. You play Arma? You go on Jow Forums? You show up on body armor threads?

Here's the mod for you sucka! More armor than the eyes can see.
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1153383362

Before I switched my college major to Mech engineering I was in chemical engineering, and I remember studying complex and simple carbon bonds, and I believe the strongest is Carbynes and Graphene. They are multiple times harder than diamonds and lighter than Titanium molecules. But IIRC the problem is that these molecules only form single molecule chains and are currently not able to be arranged in a structural format that would support making a large structure out of these materials. But if we are able to someday then I could guess that some applications for them might be in chemically bonding them to the surface of various compatible metals and maybe even be used as a sort of armor plating if this is achieved. I'm not 100% sure about them, but I think they would probably make wicked strong and ultra light armors in the future if other chem engineering keep studying and working with them.

It is likely that Berlioz will launch a /body armor general/ later today. I addition to the other companies recommended, I would add Highcom and Personal Protection Ent.

You are indeed correct.