Body armor is one of the most confusing industries to understand if you’re coming in with no prior knowledge. There are dozens of regulations and laws that we have to learn, and that’s just how we label and produce our body armor. 

There are also a lot of guidelines that the NIJ asks us to follow. For example, they’ve asked us to always speak of our armor as “NIJ-Listed” instead of “NIJ-Certified”.

Semantics aside, it's an important distinction to make for the authenticity of our products. 

What Makes an Armor Plate Universal to All People?

There are 5 features I look for in body armor to determine if we can use the armor for my wife, myself, my children, and our parents. 

The armor plate needs to be lightweight, have a variety of size options, be a stand-alone plate, comfortably fit people of different sizes, and last for 15 years for level 3 plate. 

1. Lightweight Body Armor

As a 21 war-fighting American soldier, I was in good enough shape and health to carry 40 lbs of armor with front, back, side plates, all inside an Interceptor vest.

However, we can’t expect thousands of American civilians, from children to the elderly, to carry heavy AR500 steel plates. 

Lightweight body armor that can protect against rifle-caliber bullets is what we’d need.

I’d like to think there are many reasons we’ve had success, but I’m sure it’s because we have NIJ-Listed Level 3 plates under 2 lbs per plate. 

We always ask our customers to do their own research to check the specs on other body armor companies that sell steel, full ceramic, or even other polyethylene manufacturers. 

As weird as that sounds to send customers to other websites, we’re confident we have the lightest NIJ-Listed plates of any other material. 

The average size for an adult male and female uses 10” x 12” ballistic plates, which are 2.7 lbs for a Shooter’s Cut and 2.9 lbs for a SAPI Cut plate. 

As I research other companies, the average weight for steel is 6-9 lbs per plate for a 10” x 12” ballistic plate.

You’ll even see the steel that I love to shoot with my rifles, AR550 steel being sold as body armor.

Although I’m confident that it will stop both handgun and rifle caliber bullets, they start at 7 lbs per plate and are much more expensive over a 5-year period. 

2. Sizing Variety

If a plate is going to be universal, there needs to be different sizes to fit different people.

As we all know by now, we come in all shapes and sizes. I can order our Duritium® Level III+PA plate in 5 different sizes in 2 different plate cuts. 

SAPI Cut Level 3 Plate

Our SAPI Cut plates give the armor wearer more room than a Full Cut plate because the top corners are cut for easier arm movement.

Our SAPI Cut plate is perfect for civilians who just strictly need protection and the ability to stay mobile and light on their feet. 

Shooter’s Cut Level 3 Plate

To further cement our case, I bring you the shooter’s cut plate that has a more streamlined configuration to allow maxim arm movement and mobility.

The Shooter’s Cut plate is perfect for people who need to shoot ARs and shotguns. 

It’s perfect for having optimal arm space to handle rifles and shotguns because that extra cut in the front plate.

This is the plate you want if you need the flexibility for full crossbody movements while handling an AR. 

3. How Plates Fit Different People

One of the very obvious negative effects of wearing hard plate armor is that it can never be as soft as soft armor inserts.

This doesn’t mean that hard plate body armor has to be uncomfortable, though. 

As our engineers developed Duritium® technology, we knew we had to have a plate that both men and women could wear. 

Our multi-curve plate ensures that even if there is no NIJ testing requirement, (yet) for female body armor, the curves in the plate give women more space for their chest.

The female soldiers I served with in Iraq constantly had problems with the straight cut steel plates. 

Our Duritium® Level III+ plates aren’t as hard as steel, and we place the curve at chest level to give more breathing room.

4. Stand-Alone Ballistic Protection

For a plate to be universally accepted, it has to be a stand-alone plate with rifle-rated protection.

Our Level III+ plates are stand-alone, rifle-rated with at least 6 shots in succession, with edge-to-edge protection. 

Standing up to rifle caliber bullets is one thing, but doing it without kevlar backing and trauma pads is another. 

Our Duritium® Level III+ plates will stand up to an M80, but also a 7.62mm and 5.56mm bullet. 

5. The Warranty?

If anyone has ever had to use their warranty on a washer or dryer, know the importance of a warranty. 

We understand our customers who spend hundreds of dollars on our body armor expect it to last.

Just like any warranty, it’s never a bad thing to have and to make it even better, you get ours for free with purchase of a body armor plate.

ShotStop® offers the best warranty in the industry for level 3 plates with 15-year protection!

To be under warranty for 15 years is something that’s almost unheard of for any product. 

The average warranty for our competitors is 3-5 years for level 3 body armor. Even steel companies have 2-3 times lower warranties than us. 

A company’s warranty should matter in your decision to purchase body armor because it will give you an idea of how confident each company is in their equipment. 

Whether I’m right or wrong, I think of it as a poker game and we’re holding 3 As with one on the table.

Our competitors are holding pocket 8s… hoping nobody sees the bluff. 

Conclusion

Choosing body armor is an important decision, with hundreds of dollars on the line. Using body armor for multiple purposes turned out to be a great way to save money and storage space. 

Choosing body armor that is lightweight and comfortable should always be at the top of the list.

They have proven it many times over that people won’t wear body armor if it’s too uncomfortable or heavy. 

Our multi-curve plates ensure maximum comfort for men and women, while the 0.7” thickness provides an incredibly low-profile.  

We value our customers like our own family because we know how important our products are.

We know the upfront cost of our Duritium® body armor is high, but we will save you 2-3 times the cost of a 15-year period. 

If you’re interested in learning more about ShotStop® body armor or why you should give us a chance, reach out to our sales team at sales@shotstop.com.