Bulletproof Vests, are they really bullet proof?

We use the term “Bulletproof” throughout our site. We think it is important when addressing the issues of school safety, classroom safety or any aspect of personal protection, that we define “bulletproof”. Bulletproof is the most recognizable term that describes anti-ballistic materials. Most professionals that deal with anti-ballistic materials, including law enforcement officers, military experts and gunsmiths, do not like the term “bulletproof”. No material is ever truly bullet proof. However, the general public has embraced the term, over decades of use, to describe body armor or bullet resistant vests. In fact, the best materials designed to be bullet resistant have to be tested to meet National Institute of Justice (NIJ) standards to claim specific levels of resistance to bullets. Each NIJ Threat Level Rating is intended to designate a test for a certain type and caliber of ammunition, with all lower levels of testing being included within that rating. In other words, Threat Level 3a is meant to meet or exceed levels 2, 2a, and 1. This is the basic description of the levels up to and including Threat Level 3a, which is the standard to which all BulletBlocker products have been tested and meet:
• Level I offers the most basic protection. It’s the same ballistic vest issued during the NIJ demonstration project of the 1970s.
• Level II-A offers greater protection, from lower velocity 9mm and 40 S&W ammunition.
• Level II offers even greater protection like higher velocity .357 Magnum and 9mm ammunition.
• Level III-A is the highest protection available for concealable, ballistic vests. Level III-A protects against most handguns and all the weapons from the previous three levels.

This is an overview of the bullet resistant capabilities of the different threat levels.

Most professional would like to use the term ballistic resistant. However, we discovered that the general public is not aware of this terminology. Our products were designed to make this type of personal protection available to real people. To use terms that do not have meaning to this consumer would keep our products in the dark. A simple assessment of our Google Adwords campaign illustrated this to be true. Over the course of 12 months, the MOST popular search term was “Bulletproof Vests”, followed by the group of similar terms, like bulletproof vest, bullet proof vests, etc. “Body Armor” received under 100 hits, while “anti-ballistic” received 0 hits. “Ballistic Resistant” had no hits. “Bullet resistant” had no hits.

So it’s a simple truth: In order to expose the real people to our product which is made for them, we need to use the most descriptive term possible. No material is really bullet PROOF! No one should have that expectation or accept that claim from any copycat products like ours. Be very careful and look for any retailer to make sure that this information is explained, like it is on the BulletBlocker site. Also beware of anyone that may use any old or used materials. Most ballistic resistant materials have a life span of about 5 years. Material degradation becomes too variable after 5 years. So be careful and be safe. Only buy “Bulletproof” vests, backpacks, notebooks etc from reputable and transparent dealers.