Stab Resistant Armour
Hellweg stab resistant armour is tested to and meets the requirements of US National Institute of Justice standard 0115 Stab Resistance of Personal Body Armor. While there are other relevant (and some not so relevant) stab resistance standards, this is the one used by police forces and other government departments in Australia and the USA.
NIJ 0115 rates stab resistant body armour according to two criteria - the threat type and energy level.
Stab Threat Type
NIJ 0115 Stab Resistance of Personal Body Armor has two classes of stab threats:
Edge blade: this class is intended to test armour's ability to withstand knife type threats of the type seen on 'the street'.
It is divided into two sub-classes:
- S1 blade: this represents a thick, double edge hunting style knife
- P1 blade: this represents a thin, single edge knife similar to kitchen knife. This is typically the hardest edge blade threat to defeat and the most likely to be encountered in the field. Panels designed to defeat the P1 threat are typically quite stiff, which reduces flexibility and comfort.
If the sub-class is not specified, our armour is capable of defeating both edge blades to the prescribed energy.
Spike: this threat class is intended to represent ice picks and improvised shivs. It was developed largely for corrections type environments, but spike type threats are not uncommon on the 'street' and in hospital settings in Australia.
Spike only panels tend to be lightweight and very flexible.
Energy Level
NIJ 0115 has three energy levels to which armour can be tested:
- Level 1 represents the stab energy that can be delivered by an 85th percentile male (24J). Level 1 armour is the lightest and most flexible. It is suitable for everyday extended wear in lower risk settings, such as shopping centre security, where comfort and concealment are important.
- Level 2 represents the stab energy that can be delivered by a 90th percentile male. Level 2 armour is typically fairly stiff and somewhat heavy, at around 2.5kg (panels only, excluding vest), so while still OK for everyday extended wear, is best suited to higher risk settings such as hospital security.
- Level 3 represents the stab energy that can be delivered by a 96th percentile male and is heavy and stiff. It is not ideal for everyday wear.
It should be noted that NIJ 0115 tests the worst case - a stab perpendicular to the armour with a very sharp weapon. In reality, slashes or angled strikes with a less than perfectly sharp blade are likely, and are easier to defeat.
Which Should I Choose?
While it's tempting to default to a more-is-more approach to protection, armour systems need to be seen as a tradeoff between protection and comfort. If wearers experience excessive discomfort for their level of risk, armour is less likely to be worn when most needed.
In general, where stab attack is a risk, we recommend level 2 edge blade and spike panels, but most of our clients are in fairly high risk settings such as hospitals. For lower risk settings, level 1 edge blade may be the optimum tradeoff between comfort and protection. For settings where comfort and flexibility are critical, such as paramedics, level 2 spike may be the optimum tradeoff, as spike panels are highly flexible.
If you're unsure, feel free to contact us to discuss your requirements.
Ballistic (Bullet Resistant) Armour
There are broadly two types of ballistic armour - soft (ie flexible) armour panels and hard armour plates. Soft armour panels are capable of defeating prescribed handgun rounds, whereas hard armour plates are designed to defeat prescribed higher velocity rifle rounds and/or armour piercing rounds.
Hellweg armour is tested to and meets the requirements of NIJ 0101 Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor. This is the standard used by police forces in Australia and the USA.
Soft Armour Panels
NIJ 0101 Level II is the protection level almost universally used in general duty police armour in Australia.
Hard Armour Plates
NIJ 0101 level III is the most common protection level used by general duties police against rifle rounds.