What an NIJ rating is
The National Institute of Justice is the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. It writes the standard that says how body armor is tested and what it has to stop. A rating is not a promise from a manufacturer. It is a list of rounds, at set velocities, that a panel or plate has to defeat under one test method.
For 15 years that standard was NIJ 0101.06, with its Levels IIA, II, IIIA, III, and IV. In November 2023 the NIJ published 0101.07 and retired the numerals. Handgun armor is now HG1 or HG2. Rifle plates are RF1, RF2, or RF3. The threat rounds moved into a companion document, NIJ Standard 0123.00, so they can be updated without rewriting the test method.
Most armor on the market is still labeled the old way. So are most search results. The table gives both names.
The 0101.07 levels, with their old names
Lightest to heaviest. Velocities are the NIJ 0123.00 reference velocities for new armor. Highlighted rows are the levels we build to.
| Level | Old name | Tested rounds | Armor type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HG1 | Level II | 9mm FMJ, 124 grain, at 1,305 ft/s. .357 Magnum JSP, 158 grain, at 1,430 ft/s. | Soft armor | Common in concealable duty vests. Not tested against .44 Magnum. |
| HG2 We sell this | Level IIIA | 9mm FMJ, 124 grain, at 1,470 ft/s. .44 Magnum JHP, 240 grain, at 1,430 ft/s. | Soft armor | The highest handgun rating. Our SHIELD IIIA panel sits here. |
| RF1 | Level III | 7.62x51 M80 ball at 2,780 ft/s. 7.62x39 mild steel core at 2,400 ft/s. 5.56 M193 at 3,250 ft/s. | Hard plate | The old Level III tested M80 only. RF1 adds the 7.62x39 and M193 rounds that Level III was never required to stop. |
| RF2 We sell this | Level III+ | Everything in RF1, plus 5.56 M855 green tip, 61.8 grain, at 3,115 ft/s. | Hard plate | The first official level to include M855. This is the threat set the industry meant by III+. Our SHIELD III+ plate is tested against the M80, M193, and M855 rounds in it. |
| RF3 We sell this | Level IV | .30-06 M2 armor piercing, 165.7 grain, at 2,880 ft/s. | Hard plate | Armor-piercing rifle. The heaviest plates. Our SHIELD IV plate. |
Level IIA was dropped in 0101.07. A vest sold as IIA today is rated to a retired standard.
Why Level III kept surprising people
Under 0101.06, Level III meant one thing. Six rounds of 7.62x51 M80 ball at 2,780 ft/s. Nothing in the test asked a plate to stop 5.56.
That mattered because M193 and M855 are the two most common rifle rounds in the United States. M193 is light and fast. At close range it can punch through a steel plate that passed the M80 test. M855 carries a steel penetrator. A buyer who read "rifle rated" and pictured an AR-15 was often buying a plate that had never been shot with one.
The industry's fix was a label with no definition. "Level III+" meant a plate the maker had also shot with 5.56. Which 5.56, at what velocity, how many rounds, the plus did not say. Two III+ plates could have passed very different tests.
0101.07 closed that gap. RF1 requires M193. RF2 requires M855. There is now an official level for what the plus was trying to say.
We test the SHIELD III+ against 7.62x51 M80, 5.56 M193, and 5.56 M855. That is the threat set that put the plus on III+, and it is the spine of RF2. We keep the III+ name because that is what buyers search for and what the plate was built to.
We do not call it RF2. That label belongs to armor that has been through the 0101.07 compliance program, and ours has not. More on that next.
"Tested to NIJ standards" and "NIJ certified" are different claims
NIJ certified means the maker submitted the armor to the NIJ Compliance Testing Program. An NIJ-approved lab shot it, it passed, and it is listed on the Compliant Products List. That is the strongest third-party check that exists for body armor in the United States.
Tested to NIJ standards means the armor was shot with the standard's rounds, at the standard's velocities, against the standard's pass/fail limits, by someone other than an NIJ lab.
Our armor is the second kind. We test it ourselves, following the 0101.06 method and the 0101.07 framework, and we say so on every product page. Certification costs money and takes time, and until 0101.07 there was no pathway for a III+ plate at all. There is one now, RF2. We have not gone through it.
What we do instead is let you shoot it. The Test It Yourself program puts the plate on your range. If it stops the round, you know. If it does not, we refund you.
If your agency requires CPL-listed armor, ours will not qualify. We would rather tell you here than after checkout.
Which level you need
Three questions settle it. What you are worried about, how much weight you will carry every day, and where the armor will live.
- Handgun threats. HG2, the old IIIA. Soft, flexible, and the lightest option. It stops .44 Magnum. For most people this is the whole answer.
- Rifle threats. RF2, the old III+. Stops M80, M193, and M855. Rifle protection without the weight of an armor-piercing plate.
- Armor-piercing rifle. RF3, the old Level IV. Stops .30-06 M2 AP. Heavy, rated for one hit, and built for places where nothing lighter will do.
- Protection that stays in the bag. Start with a IIIA panel in your daily pack. Add a hard plate on the days that call for one.
Weight, in our own numbers
Weight decides whether armor gets carried or left at home. The SHIELD IIIA panel weighs 1.5 lb. The SHIELD III+ plate weighs 3.5 lb. The SHIELD IV plate weighs 5.7 lb. A IIIA panel and a III+ plate together add 5 lb to a pack. Armor that stays home weighs nothing and stops nothing.
The CARGO was designed around these three. The SHIELD IIIA panel slides into its own compartment across the full back of the pack. A hard plate drops into a separate height-adjustable pocket in front of it, so it sits where you set it, between the shoulder blades and the bottom of the sternum. Neither takes space from the 48 liters.
Questions we get
Is Level III+ an official NIJ rating?
No, and it never was. It is an industry label for a Level III plate that was also tested against 5.56. The official level for that threat set is RF2 under NIJ 0101.07.
What replaced Level IIIA?
HG2. It tests 9mm FMJ at 1,470 ft/s and .44 Magnum JHP at 1,430 ft/s.
Does a Level III plate stop green tip?
Not necessarily. The Level III test used 7.62x51 M80 only. M855 green tip was first required at RF2 in 0101.07.
Is Silent Valor armor NIJ certified?
No. It is self-tested to the NIJ rounds, velocities, and pass/fail limits, and the Test It Yourself program lets you confirm that on your own range. It is not on the Compliant Products List.
Will the plates fit the CARGO?
Yes. The SHIELD IIIA panel has its own back compartment, and the SHIELD III+ and SHIELD IV plates share a height-adjustable pocket in front of it.