It is important to understand something of how a vest is tested and might work in an operational scenario in order to assess the product that offers the best balance of protection and wearability.

Before we look at the body armors themselves we need to determine the local risk factors. A risk assessment for ballistic and edge blade and spike threat is straight forwards:

1. As about 50% of injuries and deaths involving officers are caused by their own or a colleagues fire arm, what are the most powerful ammunitions used by your officers? The vests you purchase should be of a category that will stop the most powerful ammunitions carried or used by any officer.
2. What ammunitions are being found in use by local and transient criminals? The vests you purchase should be of a category that will stop the most powerful ammunitions carried or used by any officer.
3. When was an officer last confronted by a threat from an edged, bladed or spiked weapon? If there is any risk of an officer being stabbed or slashed a vest properly certified as NIJ 0015.01 against Edged Blade and Spike threats as well as ballistic certification, should be considered.

Now, knowing the potential and anticipated threat levels, we can examine the processes by which armors are certified and the processes in their design and manufacture.

Testing

When a vest is tested by an NIJ certified laboratory each panel is laid flat onto a rectangular block of clay and is attached with four wide nylon belts. The test laboratory fires a shot into the panel. The panel is then flattened back out, the straps are reattached and the second shot is fired. The panel is flattened out, the straps are reattached and the process is repeated until all six shots have been fired into that one panel.

The panel is removed. If no rounds have penetrated the vest, the clay block surface is planed flat and the depressions from the 1 st, 2 nd and 3 rd positions are measured. The depth at the 1 st and the deeper of shots 2 and 3 are recorded for the test results.

All Hawk Protection ballistic vests are V50 tested. This test determines the mean average velocity at which 50% of the rounds are stopped from penetrating the vest.

The test conditions allow for uniform and easily applied testing to be carried out at reasonable cost.

There are important differences between the test environment and the operational situations in which a vest is worn by an officer.

A vest used operationally is secured by its carrier, and is worn on a contoured human torso.

Operationally if the vest bunches the coverage and protection from any further ammunition is reduced or removed.

Operational Wear

When tested manufacturers submit large panels as the total mass of protective material absorbs the force of impact and this reduces the measured back face signature or rear deformation.

An officer may wear a panel that is a close fit (most manufacturers) or a custom manufactured vest (such as manufactured by Hawk Protection).

At NIJ II a 0.357" Magnum JSP 158 Grains at 1,400 feet per second has a Kinetic Energy of 687 ft lbs f And a Force of 4,759 lbs (2 Tons)

At NIJ IIIA a 0.44" Magnum JHP 240 Grains at 1,400 feet per second has a Kinetic Energy of 1,043 ft lbs f And a force of 7,225 lbs (3.3 Tons)

Many panels are shaped to minimize weight. This often achieved by reducing the area of torso covered thus making the panel smaller and reducing the overall protective properties of the vest.

For example the Hawk Vest pattern reaches up to the shoulder and the side wrap protection has an effective overlap. The diagram shows a typical front panel on the right and the Hawk Protection front panel on the left.

Hawk "Force Protection"
A typical front panel

For example the Hawk Vest pattern reaches up to the shoulder and the side wrap protection has an effective overlap. The diagram shows a typical front panel on the right and the Hawk Protection front panel on the left.

As it is the total mass of the panel, combined with the effectiveness with which its carrier retains its integrity that acts to redistribute the Kinetic Energy released on impact. The smaller the panel the less effectively this energy is redistributed.

The question for the client department is:

"Are we confident a panel and its carrier will hold the panel in shape when it is hit by a bullet?" At NIJ Level II, the 357 Magnum, has a Force of 4,759 lbs and delivers 687 ft lb f of Kinetic Energy At NIJ Level IIIA, the 44 Magnum, has a Force of 7,225 lbs a nd delivers 1,043 ft lb f of Kinetic Energy

When the round strikes the vest two factors are critical in determining its potential effectiveness:

1. Is the panels total mass enough to absorb and distribute the Kinetic Energy on impact?
2. Will the carrier and the vest panel ‘remain in place’ when the round strikes?

Factors 1st and 2nd affect the back face signature (rear face deformation) and the survivability of a round at the V50 limit velocity.

If the back face signature will be too high and the resulting injury serious or fatal.

If the panel is distorted by the impact it can either:

• Allow the round to pass over the panel edge into the officer or,
• All or a part of the panel struck can be forced into the officer's body cavity

The Hawk Protection panel's shapes, and extra coverage, together with the construction of the carrier, substantially reduce the risks. Ensuring that the panel is of sufficient mass and the panels retain their positional integrity when hit.

Look at the panel shape and the carrier of any vest. Will the elasticized straps and the carrier really stay in place when the forces involved are confronted, and if not will the panel stay in place if the carrier straps are stretched or torn?

And using the V50 test results, if a round that is far above the certified protection level hits this vest, at what velocities will the vest ultimately stop a round penetrating, and will the carrier and panel stay in place and in shape should this happen?

Hawk Protection vests are designed to be light weight, flexible and to have high inherent V50 scores.

Please examine our product specification pages for details.

Degradation

The current failure of a number of vests, in use, to meet their original certification criteria has rightly shaken confidence in the ballistic vest market.

Several factors have a probable role in the degradation of some body armors:

1. Some Ballistic fabrics, are affected by the absorption of fluids and vapors
2. By extremes of heat and possibly of cold

The liquid most absorbed by any vest will the officer's perspiration. Keeping a vest comfortable in wear involves effective management of perspiration as well as ensuring a vest is as light and flexible as design and providing proper protection will allow.

Most manufactured vests use a permeable cover for the panel itself. These hold out the water sprayed onto panels during the few minutes needed to pass the NIJ certification process only. However an officer wears the vest every day and perspires every day, add exposure to atmospheric moisture and vapors, both natural and man made, and the threat to the integrity of the panel inner material can be significant.

The only way in which the durability of the protection provided can be ensured is to ensure that the panels cannot be degraded by vapor and moisture penetration, and to use materials within the panels that are stable throughout an extended temperature range.

Whilst manufacturers recommended care procedures state that vests are to be protected from extremes of temperature and from other potential threats to their integrity, these instructions are not always followed.

Temperatures in a parked vehicle passenger compartment can reach 170° Fahrenheit and in a trunk, with a radio power pack, exhaust underneath and high ambient temperature, can reach as much as 200° Fahrenheit. Add to this penetration by perspiration carrying water, soluble salts, organic waste and fungal and bacterial spores, atmospheric moisture and man made contaminants such as petro chemicals. An unprotected panel presents an unquantifiable risk to the intended and certified protection.

Hawk Protection uses stable Aramid Micro fiber Unidirectional and 90/90 Weave fabrics and Laminates as these products have proven temperature stability and longevity.

Aramid materials used in manufacture are examined to determine the threat count and density are perfect on each piece of material used in every vest we manufacture.

Our panels are sealed in a vapor and liquid penetration proof polymer to ensure that degradation due to moisture penetration, fungal and bacterial growth and penetration by petrochemical and other vapors cannot affect the vests integrity throughout its five year life.

Our carriers incorporate perspiration wicking ‘spacer’ linings which allow for the management of perspiration through evaporation and capillary action.

Hawk Protection "Force Protection" Integrity in Research and Development, Design and Manufacture

Our products use reliable and time tested products.

Our products will always put effectiveness and reliability above profit and the risk of any officer.

Our manufacture and design technologies, at our ISO 9001 factory, including the provision of extended torso coverage and wrap around side protection, ensure that the officer is properly protected over the greatest possible body area, from the threat he, or she, may encounter on the streets.

Each vest is custom manufactured for the individual officer.

This extra coverage is enhanced by the sealed panel shape and carrier pattern, holding the panel in place and in shape.

High V50 velocities maximize protection and provide a substantial safe margin of critical performance for officers.