Safariland has released two additional armor models that satisfy the requirements of the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ) new Voluntary Body Armor Compliance Testing Program under NIJ Standard-0101.06 (NIJ-06). 

The SM01 Type II and Type IIIA are part of the Second Chance, Summit Series for concealable armor. Additionally, Protech Tactical will be featuring the SM01 Type IIIA as the primary armor model available across its full range of side-opening style tactical vests.

"The SM01 offers the perfect addition to our existing family of armor solutions, and presents new opportunities in concealable and tactical," says Scott O'Brien, president of Safariland. "Many officers search to find the perfect balance between comfort and performance. The combination of these product attributes makes the SM01 II and IIIA two of the most suitable armor models available for law enforcement today."

The NIJ introduced the Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor NIJ Standard-0101.06 to establish minimum performance requirements and test methods for the ballistic resistance of personal body armor. The standard provides improved performance of body armor so that officers receive adequate protection against those threats likely faced over the next decade. According to the new NIJ-06 standard, body armor must now be able to defend against increased velocities of ammunition calibers to better reflect current street threats and law enforcement duty weapons. These new performance requirements are critical components to improving the life-protecting equipment being used by law enforcement today.

All Safariland armor models are certified using NIJ-approved size templates C1 and C5, which offer law enforcement the widest range of production sizes available. In addition to these models, the following Safariland products are available and posted to the NIJ Compliant Products List (CPL) -at https://cjtec.org/:

Monarch Series

• MN01 Type IIA-Tested against the 9mm and .40 caliber threats, this model provides optimum affordability and performance.

Prism Series

• MT01 Type IIIA, Spike 3-Multi-threat armor model tested against the .357 SIG and .44 Magnum for ballistic protection and against a spike instrument with a strike energy of 31.7 ft-lbs (43 Joules) for stab protection.

Also featured as part of the Second Chance Prism Series are its spike-only vests. These armor models are tested against NIJ Standard-0115.00 and include:

• PS-1.0-For spike 1 protection.

• PS-2.2-For spike 2 protection.

• PS-3.0-For spike 3 protection.

Xtreme Series

• FC01 Type II-Tested against the 9mm and .357 Magnum threats, this model provides advanced ballistic protection in a lightweight, hybrid design.

• FC01 Type IIIA-Tested against the .357 SIG and .44 Magnum threats, this model provides advanced ballistic protection in a lightweight, hybrid design.

• BR01 Type IIA-Tested against the 9mm & .40 cal. threats, this model provides optimum ballistic performance in a durable, robust design.

• BR01 Type II-Tested against the 9mm and .357 Magnum threats, this model provides optimum ballistic performance in a durable, robust design.

• BR01 Type IIIA-Tested against the .357 SIG and .44 Magnum threats, this model provides optimum ballistic performance in a durable, robust design. The BR01 will also be offered as part of the Protech Tactical series.

Safariland's body armor brands include American Body Armor, Second Chance, Savvy, and Protech.