Black Mandrake Defende is your top source for body armor and other NIJ-tested accessories trusted by law enforcement and the military. Your safety is our top priority. Browse our site for the best civilian body armor for sale at an affordable rate.

Black Mandrake Defense is a leading manufacturer and supplier of military-grade bulletproof vests. Shop with us for civilian access to the types of vests that police officers and military forces trust in combat situations. We develop concealable body armor using dependable materials like Kevlar, steel, ceramic and polyethylene (PE). Our lightweight vests offer mobility and ballistics protection spanning the National Institue of Justice’s highest standards.

We categorize our bulletproof vests for civilians based on their NIJ levels. NIJ standard 0101.06 has five levels for body armor. Each class offers greater bulletproof performance, stopping increasingly stronger and faster rounds before penetrating more than 44 mm.

At Black Mandrake Defense, we exclusively carry equipment within the top three NIJ categories. Our experts test each product at our facility in Fresno, California, to meet and exceed its target NIJ level.l, assault rifle or sniper rifle.

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Level IIIA is the highest for soft body armor. Our IIIA bulletproof vests feature Kevlar with PE backing. The NIJ requires new IIIA armor to stop .357 SIG FMJ Flat Nose and .44 Magnum Semi Jacketed Hollow Point rounds. We fire additional rounds from various handguns to ensure our IIIA gear is reliable against close-range weapons.

Level III steps into the hard armor category, featuring a combination of PE and ceramic materials capable of stopping rifle fire. Conditioned Level III armor must stop 7.62 mm FMJ, steel-jacketed bullets. Our Level III products outperform the NIJ’s standards, withstanding multiple hits from common rifles like the AK-47 and AR-15.

Level IV is the highest for body armor. Our PE-backed ceramic Level IV vests will meet the NIJ’s requirement of stopping .30 caliber armor-piercing (AP) rifle rounds. Level IV armor will withstand more than one shot from nearly any pistol, assault rifle or sniper rifle.

There are three main ways bulletproof vests protect the wearer. Some vests will implement more than one. Most ballistics materials stop bullets by:

• Altering the bullet’s shape.
• Reducing the bullet’s velocity.
• Dispersing energy from the collision with the shell.

Kevlar slows the bullet within its fibrous layers, which compress its tip into a less dangerous round shape. Steel plates are strong enough to fracture impacting bullets before compressing them and spreading the energy throughout the armor. Ceramic armor shatters upon impact, dispersing the force across each broken piece and away from the body. The material is strong enough to crack the bullet and direct the energy through the shards.

PE armor melts at the point of impact due to friction. The softened armor slows the bullet to a stop and then hardens. The bullet only affects the direct area of impact, preventing the armor from shattering.