To start you need to understand the body armor grades as defined by the NIJ.
I, II, and IIIA are pistol-grade armors. Usually these are soft armors, which means they are easy to conceal. IIIA can also involve a plate, which means you need some sort of plate carrier which makes it harder to conceal.
III and IV are rifle-grade armors. NOTE III AND IIIA are NOT related. These armors always require a plate so are hard to conceal.
Armors which have passed standardized testing for this model will have the on the back (non-strike) face. Now this is a double-edged sword, it means the government has certified it for service as it has been independently been proven in a lab. But it's the government saying that so take that as you will.
Note that companies that AREN'T NIJ-certified will say things like "tested to NIJ standards" or somesuch. The NIJ website actually has a list of all certified plates so you can double check. I don't have a link handy.
Now the armor industry has identified several gaps in the NIJ scheme, so they invented IIIA+ (improved pistol grade) and III+ (improved rifle grade). Since these grades aren't official NIJ grades, there's no standard test and no independent testing done by the government. So caveat emptor.
If you're looking for protection against feral niggers, they usually just use handguns. Buy a pistol grade vest.
If you're worried about humans with rifles, you need plates. Note that plate carriers are sized to the PLATE, and the cummerbund is sized to the WEARER.
As far as companies, anything NIJ certified should be trustworthy enough to buy. Specifically, Hoplite Armor is based (they made a Zuckerbook post this year remembering the USS Liberty attack). RMA and Hesco also are generally trustworthy.
EDIT:
Finally NEVER EVER EVER buy fucking steel plates. Two reasons. 1. They're much heavier than ceramic plates of equivalent protection, and 2. When bullets impact a steel plate the break apart and form spall. So instead of getting shot in the chest you get bullet fragments in your neck, arms, and chin. Ceramic plates actually capture all the fragments so they prevent you from becoming a casualty.
Excellent post, but I will point out good steel plates will have anti-spalling coating to contain the shrapnel.
That coating doesn't do shit. Watch the Nokia video in this thread. The spall spreads out from point of impact and travels parallel to the plate surface. On a coated steel plate all the spall does is delaminate the coating, and exits at the edge of the plate. You'll fuck up your arms, neck, and chin. Great way to become a casualty.
As mentioned elsewhere in the thread, buying extra-thick coating moves AR500 steel plates into budget ceramic territory, so just fucking buy ceramics.
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