PPSS Covert Bullet Proof Vests - Model CV1
Wearing covert bullet proof vests is not just something that is common practice within executive or diplomatic security. Many other professionals, such as sky marshals and under cover law enforcement officers are also known to take regular advantage of such piece of personal protective equipment.
Covert bullet proof vests allow security professionals to look after the personal security of dignitaries more effectively and become a significant ‘low profile part’ of their day to day life. This often is a key objective when looking after the personal security of high profile individuals and their families. Within executive protection is it often of great importance to ‘blend in’, become a part of the normal environment and not act as a noticeable security professional.
The personal safety of business executives, politicians and high profile individuals within the music and film industry is often compromised by criminals and other potentially hostile members of the public. However, convincing high profile professionals to wear bullet proof vests is often an impossible task. They just don’t want to alternate their life style or appearance, and this is why high performance covert bullet proof vests have become of such interest even for the rich and famous.
But what makes a covert body armour to a good or even excellent body armour? How light and thin can/should covert bullet proof vest be? Let us make sure your choice is based on up-to-date information and reflect a good understanding of this subject.
Standards
Covert ballistic vests are always designed as soft body armour. They do not feature hard trauma plates, which usually are made out of polyethylene, ceramic or steel.
Subject to their stated protection level, covert body armour can offer excellent protection from even the most handguns and ammunition. Protection can be offered from 22mm, 9mm, 357Mag, 44Mag, 45 Mag and other ammunition.
Many countries around the world have their own ballistic protection standard. However, the best known and most respected is known as National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Standard. The NIJ standard is recognised and respected all over the world, in comparison to the British and German standards, which are more dominant within homeland security services in their country or region.
Looking at the most recognised standard, what would be the best possible protection level you should be looking for? Well, there are a number of NIJ ballistic protection levels available. Please view the following chart:
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NIJ Protection Level |
Protects Against |
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Level IIA |
This body armour protects against 9 mm Full Metal Jacketed Round Nose (FMJ RN) bullets, with nominal masses of 8.0 g (124 gr) at a reference velocity of 341 m/s (1120 ft/s ± 30 ft/s) and .40 S&W calibre Full Metal Jacketed (FMJ) bullets, with nominal masses of 11.7 g (180 gr) at a reference velocity of 322 m/s (1055 ft/s ± 30 ft/s). It also provides protection against all of the threats mentioned in Level 1. |
|
Level II |
This body armour protects against 9 mm Full Metal Jacketed Round Nose (FMJ RN) bullets, with nominal masses of 8.0 g (124 gr) at a reference velocity of 367 m/s (1205 ft/s ± 30 ft/s) and 357 Magnum Jacketed Soft Point (JSP) bullets, with nominal masses of 10.2 g (158 gr) at a reference velocity of 436 m/s (1430 ft/s ± 30 ft/s). It also provides protection against all of the threats mentioned in Level I and IIA. |
|
Level IIIA |
This body armour protects against 9 mm Full Metal Jacketed Round Nose (FMJ RN) bullets, with nominal masses of 8.0 g (124 gr) at a reference velocity of 436 m/s (1430 ft/s ± 30 ft/s) and .44 Magnum Semi Jacketed Hollow Point (SJHP) bullets, with nominal masses of 15.6 g (240 gr) at a reference velocity of 436 m/s (1430 ft/s ± 30 ft/s). It also provides protection against the entire handgun threats mentioned in Level I, IIA and II. Please note Level IIIA is the highest ballistic protection levels for soft body armour. |
Due to major advancements within ballistic protection materials and the subsequent weight reduction I strongly recommend NIJ Level IIIA, which offers you the highest level of ballistic protection within soft body armour.
NIJ Level IIIA will offer you protection from the majority of handguns and ammunition which include high velocity 9mm FMJ (Full Metal Jacket), 44 Magnum and 45 Magnum. This will subsequently guarantee protection from any less powerful handgun. Only a very few covert bullet proof vests have taken protection even to another level and offer additional protection from Tokarev Ball 7.62 x 25mm and Makarov 9 x 18mm, which is of great benefits when being operational in Eastern European countries. UK based PPSS Body Armour have very recently developed ultra light, extremely thin, truly outstanding high performance covert bullet proof vests which offer also ballistic protection from the above mentioned Eastern European rounds.
PPSS covert bullet proof vests have in fact have also been tested for the protection of hypodermic needles and edged weapon, and all widely available test results conclude a previously unmatched protection from these real threats of today’s society.
Weight
Body armour technology, manufacturing capabilities and body armour design have evolved a lot over the past years. Body armour worn by the police and other enforcement agencies in most countries weight in excess of 5kg or even 6kg and are often thicker than 20 or even 25mm.
Please let me assure you that this is totally unnecessary, and it is a well documented fact that such weight will lead to stress, fatigue and subsequently to potentially fatal human errors. Innocent members of the public could get severely injured or loose their lives if an executive security professional suffers from fatigue due to the excessive high weight of his body armour.
Many body armour manufacturers are now capable of manufacturing and supplying body armour less than half of the above weight, leading to a noticeable reduction and stress, fatigue and any other negative side effect.
So what can we class as a ‘good weight’ or what could be classed as a ‘lightweight’ bullet proof vest? I strongly feel that a covert bullet proof vest should certainly not weigh any more than 2kg in today’s day in age. Manufacturers have been competing hard in order to develop the lightest body armour in the world. They have pushed each other to completely new levels, hence soft body armour weighing 1.7kg or even less are now on the market, offering extraordinary ballistic protection, which based on the recent CV1 bullet proof vests and EV1 bullet proof vests models of PPSS Body Armour goes far beyond the basic NIJ Level IIIA standard requirements.
Thickness & Blunt Forced Trauma
In order to be concealable or covert a bullet proof vest needs to be as thin as possible. Now this is not as easy as we all would like it to be. The reason behind is the extremely dangerous risk of blunt forced trauma injuries. All modern materials being used to manufacture bullet proof vests make it literately impossible for a bullet to penetrate. The much higher risk is the risk of blunt trauma injuries. The thinner the body armour, the more attention must be paid to protecting the wearer from such injury. I am sure you don’t want to see your body armour stop the bullet… but die later on in hospital from internal bleeding or other internal injuries.
So, how thick should a covert body armour be? Modern covert bullet proof vests can be less than 10mm thin. In fact, some covert high performance body armour are as thin as 6 or 7mm and with the assistance and backing of specially designed trauma liner they still outperform all existing body armour, which used to be heavy, bulky and thick.
Materials
Apart from Kevlar® there are now many new ballistic materials available. Many real high performance materials have been developed over the past very few years. Twaron®, Goldflex®, Spectra Shield® and especially DSM’s Dyneema® SB51 have taken body armour into a different world. Weight, thickness, blunt trauma, flexibility and comfort are just a few of the important factors which have been improved in order to protect those who serve more effectively.
Comfort
Comfort is about how you feel when you wear your covert ballistic vests. Weight, thickness and flexibility are three of the many aspects, which everyone should carefully consider before purchasing covert body armour.
Another rather important aspect is heat. Please let me assure you that wearing any body armour will always make you sweat more. However, the question is how much more?
In Middle Eastern countries, Australia, South America or Africa we have to accept the fact that temperatures can often exceed 40 degrees Celsius. For an executive/diplomatic security professional or a ‘at risk principal’ or VIP the wearing of a covert body armour must allow them to get on with the tasks on hand without excessive body heat implications or severe risks of dehydration.
Please note that PPSS high performance covert body armour models CV1 and EV1 include a groundbreaking new fabric which should take care of body heat management issues and effectively reduce the amount of sweating. Temperature regulating Outlast® space technology are a vital part integrated in both covert PPSS bullet proof vests models, making them the absolutely ideal choice for those protection specialists operating in hot and humid environments.
Robert Stirling is a widely renowned military expert and consultant, having joined the British SAS at a very young age and then having served with the Rhodesian Army and South African Special Forces. Please view his video:
If you have any questions in reference to covert bullet proof vests, please contact us by email info@ppss-group.com call +44 (0) 845 5193 953 or visit our website: www.ppss-group.com
