SafeLife Defense FRAS

[DocGKR]

I suggest we all re-read what Erick G and paherne wrote above....

[LittleLebowski]

What feds are buying this armor?

[A.T.Mahan]

Hi,I was curious what the consensus on this new armor is. I see that it supposedly meets Lvl3 NIJ 06 standards, however it doesn't list it being tested with. 308 fmj rounds. It also states "stops 7.62x39" and yet doesn't list a test for that either. It has a stated weight of 16 lbs. Thoughts? My brother is a city officer and was interested in this,he currently uses Safariland Hardwire soft armor for patrol. Thanks!

First, Safariland Hardwire is probably the best soft armor on the market at present. Hardwire 68, the thinner of the two variations, has been demonstrated to meet NIJ backface deformation requirements against 300gn .50AE at 1517fps, while being 0.18" thick and 0.68lb/ft^2. Hardwire 74 is slightly thicker and heavier, and even more protective. Your brother has extremely good soft armor and should keep using it.

Second, SafeLife's demonstrated knowledge of their marketspace is deeply concerning, their product is made in China (I've tracked down their suppliers, which are linked below), their products are excessively thick, heavy, and inflexible for their given protection, which is dubious due to the lack of NIJ listing, and their marketing statements are not realistically believable.

Also, the FRAS doesn't bend enough to actually provide NIJ-spec overlap. https://youtu.be/LOPFRY_ZFvk?t=59

Safelife's components are made in china:

SafeLife Concealable Armor Carrier

Chinese concealed vest

SafeLife Armor panels

China Xingxing Armor Panel

SafeLife FRC

Alibaba supplier for SafeLife FRC

SafeLife MOLLE outer carrier

Alibaba supplier for that carrier

[LittleLebowski]

First, Safariland Hardwire is probably the best soft armor on the market at present. Hardwire 68, the thinner of the two variations, has been demonstrated to meet NIJ backface deformation requirements against 300gn .50AE at 1517fps, while being 0.18" thick and 0.68lb/ft^2. Hardwire 74 is slightly thicker and heavier, and even more protective. Your brother has extremely good soft armor and should keep using it.

Second, SafeLife's demonstrated knowledge of their marketspace is deeply concerning, their product is made in China (I've tracked down their suppliers, which are linked below), their products are excessively thick, heavy, and inflexible for their given protection, which is dubious due to the lack of NIJ listing, and their marketing statements are not realistically believable.

Also, the FRAS doesn't bend enough to actually provide NIJ-spec overlap. https://youtu.be/LOPFRY_ZFvk?t=59

Safelife's components are made in china:

SafeLife Concealable Armor Carrier

Chinese concealed vest

SafeLife Armor panels

China Xingxing Armor Panel

SafeLife FRC

Alibaba supplier for SafeLife FRC

SafeLife MOLLE outer carrier

Alibaba supplier for that carrier

Excellent post, thank you!

@DocGKR

[witchking777]

After showing him this thread he has decided to stay with his Hardwire armor. I did however find some Lvl3+ ICW Hardwire hard plates that stop m193,m855,and 7.62x39. It shows stopping m855a1 on one part of their site,and m855 on another. Does anyone know if m855a1 can legitimately be stopped by this? I'm not too worried about a perp having this,seeing as how hard it is to get,I'd just like to be 100% sure before I recommend it to him. Here's a link,thanks!

https://hardwirellc.com/products/mul...evel-3plus-icw

[Erick Gelhaus]

Does anyone know if m855a1 can legitimately be stopped by this? I'm not too worried about a perp having this, seeing as how hard it is to get, I'd just like to be 100% sure before I recommend it to him. Here's a link, thanks!

You'll only know for sure if it has been tested against that load. And you can get the documentation of the testing.

While it probably isn't terribly common, I'd imagine the closer you are to a military installation the greater the likelihood of encountering M855A1 would be.

Knowing what my old org was and wasn't seizing in terms of calibers, and specific loads within those, did have an impact on my hard armor decisions and recommendation.

[TGS]

After showing him this thread he has decided to stay with his Hardwire armor. I did however find some Lvl3+ ICW Hardwire hard plates that stop m193,m855,and 7.62x39. It shows stopping m855a1 on one part of their site,and m855 on another. Does anyone know if m855a1 can legitimately be stopped by this? I'm not too worried about a perp having this,seeing as how hard it is to get,I'd just like to be 100% sure before I recommend it to him. Here's a link,thanks!

https://hardwirellc.com/products/mul...evel-3plus-icw

M855A1 isn't listed in the test document, so I wouldn't depend on it to stop M855A1.

There are plates that can stop M855A1, such as the Velocity Systems PBZ (or any of the same base material plates made by Tencate), but I think they're about a pound heavier per plate than what you linked here.

[paherne]

Looks like I was correct. Unit #4 is an unlucky number; they should have picked Unit #8 when importing Chinesium excrementa.

[witchking777]

Thank you everyone for your help,I was wrong,the ICW plate shows m855a1 on Safariland's website. I won't count on that round being stopped.