Anyone heard about this body armor before?

[Tburkes]

I've never heard of it and it's reference to AR500 and being soft has me questioning it. A friend asked me about it and since I have no experience with body armor figured I'd get some real feedback from you guys.

AR500 Armor Carbon Nanotube IIIA 10" x 12" ASC Body Armor

 

[Triad]

Be sure you read every word. Looks like the company name is AR500 and they use that in many of the product descriptions. To most of us AR500 is material for rifle plates that get shot a lot. Some of the armor products here have the AR500 in the name but are only rated as being 3A protection (non-rifle).

As of today(I called 5-2-2014) the Nanotube armor has NOT been submitted for NIJ testing. It has seen third-party (I guess that counts Youtube) testing... The Nanotubes are backed with a woven material, I asked Kevlar or Twaron, but they would not confirm what.

The product linked, NOT AR500 plate:
AR500 Armor 10" x 12" ASC Carbon Nanotube IIIA Soft Body Armor


May be off your question a little Tony, but many will look at this site an be confused.

 

[fdkay]

I looked quickly.
I didn't see any NIJ certification, only inhouse testing and certs.

 

[Strykervet]

As far as I know, nobody has worked out how to use carbon nano tubes to make armor. I'm under the impression they are working on replacing the adjuncts used in ceramic plate manufacture with the carbon fiber. Total carbon fiber armor is a ways off, but when it's real it'll be the shit for sure. Not that they can't use it for some stuff now --I have a carbon fiber 3A helmet, the Crye Airframe. It's hard and light. I'm not aware of any true lvl.4 carbon fiber plates. I'm aware of plastic rifle plates, polyethylene? They work against some lvl.4 threats, but not others. Hence, they don't have NIJ ratings.

If you want good armor, if you need it, Paraclete/MSA makes some of the best 3A, and you can get decent rifle plates from a major manufacturer from Bulletproofme.com. They'll be your typical ceramic plates, work great for the price. SAPI cut stand alone plates are best. They'll be rated.

If you just want shit to hang in the closet and hope you never need it, the OTV and IOTV can be had online cheap and with all the extras, and you can throw some AR500 plates in there if you don't plan on ever needing it (a just-in-case sort of thing).

 

[Graham]

Anyone heard about this body armor before?

$140 per plate? That's the cost of straight steel. But it's rated 'up to IIIA', which is pistol only. And each one weighs but a single pound. Yikes!!!

 

[Tburkes]

The concerns you all list were pretty much what I thought would come out of this.

Like Steve said, the way they use the term AR500 I think is misleading since someone may see that term alone and have expectations that this product can't deliver.

I'm very familiar with what AR500 plate is when used in targets and is offered as body armor. When I read the company name and the way they're trying to sell it makes me leery about anything they offer.