[VelociMorte]

Originally Posted by Karl.Masters

VM,

You seem to have been misled on the actual NIJ compliance status of your armor.

The National Institute of Justice/National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NIJ/NLECTC) maintains a consumer products list (CPL) of body armor models that have been tested under the NIJ compliance testing program (CTP) and found to comply with threat specific performance requirements detailed in NIJ-Standard 0101.04, Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armor.

The NIJ/NLECTC CPL can be found at:
http://www.justnet.org/BatPro/Reports/rptCPL2005.asp

The CPL lists models of armor that have obtained the status of NIJ/NLECTC "Compliance", defined by the standard as "NIJ approval, AFTER SUCCESSFUL BALLISTIC PERFORMANCE TESTING TO THIS STANDARD, of a body armor model submitted to the NIJ compliance testing program CTP."

After NIJ grants compliance status for a particular model of armor, the manufacturer is authorized to apply the "Certification of Compliance", defined by the standard as the "Manufacturer's affadavit (certification) that a production unit of body armor meets (complies with) all of the requirements of this standard for the labeled protection classification."

NIJ-Standard 0101.04 also attempts to maintain the integrity of the CTP with the proviso that: "THE COMPLIANCE STATEMENT ABOVE SHALL NOT APPEAR ON ARMOR THAT HAS FAILED NIJ COMPLIANCE TESTING, OR ON ARMOR THAT HAS NOT BEEN TESTED FOR COMPLIANCE AS SPECIFIED BY THIS STANDARD. ONCE AUTHORIZED TO PLACE THIS STATEMENT ON A MODEL OF ARMOR, THE MANUFACTURER SHALL NOT ALTER OR MODIFY THIS STATEMENT IN ANY WAY."

There are three ways to verify the compliance status of an armor that has been labeled with the NIJ Type III compliance statement:

1) Ask the manufacturer for a copy of the NIJ Type III compliance certification.

2) Check the NIJ/NLECTC CPL at http://www.justnet.org/BatPro/Reports/rptCPL2005.asp[/url] to determine if the model is certified for NIJ Type III performance.

3) E-mail or call the NIJ/NLECTC directly with an inquiry. E-mail to kmerlo@nlectc.org or call 301 519-5119.

In the case of a conflict between the Type III compliance statement on the armor label and the CPL, as we seem to have in this case, I recommend that you contact the NIJ directly for an explanation of this unfortunate situation.

Karl

Karl,

The site http://www.justnet.org/BatPro/Reports/rptCPL2005.asp provides a list of products that are certified to the NIJ 2005 Interim Requirements for Bullet-Resistant Body Armor, effective September 26, 2005, not NIJ-Standard 0101.04. On August 24, 2005, NIJ introduced the NIJ 2005 Interim Requirements for Bullet-Resistant Body Armor. These requirements modify and supplement NIJ's Standard-0101.04, Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armor. They are promulgated on an interim basis to address recent NIJ research findings that indicate that certain body armor models previously found by NIJ to be compliant with earlier NIJ requirements for ballistic resistance of new body armor (including NIJ Standard-0101.04) may not adequately maintain ballistic performance during their service life (specifically those made of Zylon). The report does not lists products which conform to NIJ-Standard 0101.04. NIJ Standard 0101.04, “Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armor,” document NCJ 183651, was originally published in September 2000.

I'll email kmerlo@nlectc.org and see what's up. I'll also email Pinnacle and ask for a copy of the compliance certification.