Body Armor Glossary

Body armor comes with its own language. Here are the terms you will see most often.

Terms

• Aramid: a family of strong synthetic fibers, including Kevlar, used in soft armor.
• Backface deformation (BFD): the dent pushed behind armor when it stops a round.
• Ceramic: a hard strike face material used in many rifle plates.
• Cummerbund: the side straps of a plate carrier.
• Cut: the shape of a plate, such as SAPI, shooters or swimmer.
• HG1, HG2: NIJ 0101.07 handgun levels.
• ICW (in conjunction with): a plate rated only when worn with a specific soft armor panel.
• Level IIIA, III, IV: older NIJ 0101.06 level names.
• Multi-curve: a plate curved in more than one direction to fit the body.
• NIJ: the National Institute of Justice, which writes US armor standards.
• RF1, RF2, RF3: NIJ 0101.07 rifle levels.
• SAPI and ESAPI: military plate designs that also set common plate sizes.
• Spall: fragments thrown off the face of a steel plate.
• Stand-alone: a plate rated on its own, with no soft armor needed.
• Strike face: the side of a plate meant to face the threat.
• UHMWPE: ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, used in light plates and soft armor.