How Is Body Armor Rated?
Many people think of body armor as something law enforcement wears like a bulletproof vest, but everyday body armor is becoming very common – even to the point of having body armor-type school bookbags. Body armor has specific ratings evaluated by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). They are in charge of setting, testing and enhancing ballistic protection standards that are tied to body armor consumers purchase. The standards are responsible for ensuring certain levels of safety and can assist when deciding the type of protection that works best. There are currently five basic NIJ ballistic protection ratings that are associated with the type of armor. These range from Level IIA to Level IV.
