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Body Armor: Full Ballistic Protection vs. Partial Ballistic Protection

Reposted from the original ShotStop Article HERE.


We recently had someone reach out to us as he was researching his options for Level IV body armor protection. As he was digging deep to find the best body armor for his needs, he ran across a plate online claiming to be a 10” x 12” Level IV plate weighing just 4.4 pounds. (Our Duritium IV+HS plate offers armor-piercing protection at about 5.8 pounds.)

When he looked into it further, he realized that this other 10” x 12” plate he was considering actually only had 8” x 10” of ballistic (ceramic) coverage – meaning the plate offers 8” x 10” of armor-piercing protection but is being portrayed as a 10” x 12” Level IV plate.

What this means is that only 67% of the plate truly offers protection from armor-piercing rounds. We can’t comment on what the remaining 33% of the 10” x 12” plate is made of, but it’s clear there is only “partial” ballistic coverage for the wearer of this plate.

You Need To Be Informed

If you have read any of our articles or watch any of our videos, you know we do our best to educate. One of our goals is to be the most trusted body armor company on the planet. This seemed like a prime opportunity to educate those who are in the market to buy body armor.

We feel strongly that an educated consumer is the best consumer. That doesn’t mean we expect that everyone will buy our products; what it does mean is that if we can help someone to make an informed decision – whether it ends up that our product is the right one or not – then we’ve helped someone make the best choice for their situation.

Please be sure to read the fine print, ask the questions, explore your options, and don’t settle for just what you see on the surface. We have a great resource we created to help people like you make the best possible decision for your body armor needs. It’s called “Body Armor Buyer’s Guide: 17 Essential Questions to Ask When Buying Ballistic Plates”

Download the Free Guide HERE

MVT is a Dealer for ShotStop Plates. HERE for the Store.