Types of Body Armor

Body Armor Protection Levels It is vital when choosing body armor to make sure that it adheres to the proper protection levels. While there are many different standards for ballistics protection levels, the two most commonly recognized standards for body armor come from the US National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the UK Centre for Applied Science and Technology (CAST, formerly HOSDB).

Hard body armor consists of a soft armor shell situated with metal plates, typically made of ballistic steel or ceramic. The plates are integrated into functional apparel of some kind such as a Hugger vest or other bulletproof garment.

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Body armors designed to offer protection against edged blade attacks are therefore very different from armors designed to offer protection against spike attacks. As a matter of fact a sharp object can still penetrate body armor that is designed to protect against edged blade attacks.