Pistol Caliber Carbines

After last week's post about rifles for preppers, a reader asked if I could talk about pistol caliber carbines. I'm more than happy to oblige!



Lokidude

Ballistic Armor: Levels of Protection

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

Last week, I covered the legalities of owning and wearing ballistic armor. This week I will talk about levels of protection, but first I need to address a semantic point:

Erin, why do you call it "ballistic armor" when everyone else calls it "body armor"?

What you need to understand is that "body armor" is a legal term which, according to 18 USC § 921(a)(35), states The term “body armor” means any product sold or offered for sale, in interstate or foreign commerce, as personal protective body covering intended to protect against gunfire, regardless of whether the product is to be worn alone or is sold as a complement to another product or garment.

The problem with legal terms is that they are often semantically incorrect, which is why laws go to pains to define them. As an example, the legal definition of a "machine gun" works out to mean "anything that fires more than once with a single pull of the trigger". This is of course garbage terminology, as this would mean any select-fire M4 carbine used by the US military is a "machine gun", and yet that same US military  -- who ought to know the proper definitions, as they actually buy, use, and fight with them -- defines a machine gun as a weapon that fires small arms ammunition, caliber .60 or 15.24 millimeters or under, automatically and is capable of sustained rapid fire. The salient point here is "sustained rapid fire"; good luck sustaining any rapid fire through a magazine! No, they need to be belt- or link-fed for that. The lightest machine gun in the US arsenal today is the M249 LMG, which looks and acts completely differently from the M4 carbine.

Similarly, "body armor" is anything which protects your body from protection. Yes, ballistic plates are body armor, but so are riding leathers which protect your body against road rash if you fall off your motorcycle, as is the hard plastic shell called a "riot control suit" that police use to protect against blades and blunt trauma. Neither of these things will protect against a bullet, but ballistic plates will (it's in their name!) and so I make the differentiation between ballistic armor and other types of armor.

Levels of Protection

We've all seen some version of this "pick two" graphic before, and when it comes to ballistic armor the same principle applies, only your choices are Protection, Mobility, and Quality.

If you want Protection and Mobility at the cost of Quality, you end up paying too much for "protection" that won't protect you, usually because they skirt the rigorous NIJ (National Institute of Justice) certification. Don't ever do this.

If you want Protection and Quality, you will lose Mobility. The armor will be difficult to move and shoot in, and so heavy that it will fatigue you quickly.

If you want Mobility and Quality, then you sacrifice Protection. This sounds like a terrible idea but it's not as bad as you think, and this is because there are different NIJ levels of protection which give us a sliding scale between Protection and Mobility. To reverse the statement in the previous paragraph, if you lighten the armor to regain Mobility you lose Protection.

The trick is finding your personal "sweet spot" of Protection and Mobility at a Quality you can afford, and you do that picking your level. Ballistic armor comes in five levels:  IIa, II, IIIa, III, and IV. (Level I armor is no longer made.*) As the numbers increase so does the protection they give, but you pay for that with weight and with cost. Somewhat counter-intuitively, IIa and IIIa are actually a step below levels II and III respectively, and I have no idea why.

There are a few points I want to make before I continue:

• The following data comes from the most recent NIJ certification PDF. Go there if you want more information. 
• Each panel or plate is shot 6 times in different locations. In real life, multiple hits in the same location are possible and may produce a higher failure rate. 
• Some tests (see below) are performed with non-expanding full metal jacket (FMJ) ammunition, which is more likely to penetrate armor than the expanding jacketed hollow point (JHP) ammunition found in most pistols in the US. 
• Armor levels IIa, II, and IIIa are shot using handguns. There is no NIJ data for handgun rounds shot from carbine or rifle-length barrels. 
• The physiological effects of being shot while wearing ballistic armor are a subject for another blog post.

Level IIa Armor
Made from ballistic fibers, this lightweight (less than 10 pounds) soft armor has largely fallen out of favor due to the fact that advances in materials science has made higher levels of protection more cost-effective. The only people likely to still use IIa armor are undercover agents who need protection that is difficult to detect. It is rated to withstand up to 6 shots of 180 gr .40 S&W FMJ without penetration at a distance of 5 meters (16.4 feet).

Level II Armor
Thicker and heavier than IIa armor but still soft and very flexible, level II armor is somewhat comfortable, at least in comparison to heavier armors.

It is rated to withstand up to 6 shots of 158 gr .357 Magnum JSP (jacketed soft point), not FMJ without penetration at a distance of 5 meters (16.4 feet).

Level IIIa Armor
This is usually soft armor, although some IIIa plates (known as "speed plates") do exist. It is of course heavier, bulkier, and more expensive than previous levels, although it is still somewhat flexible (plates notwithstanding).

It is rated to withstand up to 6 shots of 240 gr .44 Magnum SJHP (semi jacketed hollow point) without penetration at a distance of 5 meters (16.4 feet).

Level III Armor
No longer soft, this armor and above are known as rifle plates because they are rigid plates of steel or polyethylene and are rated to withstand rifle shots. They are heavy, bulky, tiring to wear, and the good ones are expensive unless you can get a screaming deal on them.

Level III armor is rated to withstand up to 6 shots of 147 gr 7.62 NATO M80 FMJ without penetration at a distance of 15 meters (49.2 feet).

As a point of interest, the velocity of this round is 2780 fps, whereas the .44 Magnum in the previous test only achieved 1340 fps and the velocity of a 300 gr .50 Action Express is 1550 fps. In other words, level III armor ought to protect against anything shot from a pistol.

Some armors bill themselves as "Level III+" but there is no NIJ certification for such a level. This is because some types of 5.56mm ammunition can penetrate regular level III armor, like M855 “Green Tip" versus  polyethylene plates or M193 against AR500 steel armor. Level III+ claims to protect against both M855 and M193, but there is no way of certifying such a claim and unscrupulous sorts might make the claim in order to convince you to pay more for a level III plate. If this is your concern, I would suggest you look at level IV plates instead.

Level IV Armor
These plates are made from either ceramic or metal. The difference between ceramic and metal plates is the subject for a later blog post, but the short version is that metal plates last longer and withstand more shots but feel much heavier and there is risk of injury from spalling, whereas ceramic plates have a shorter lifespan and frequently cannot withstand more than one hit, but are more comfortable to wear and there is no risk of spalling.

Level IV steel armor is rated to withstand up to 6 shots of 166 gr .30 M2 AP (armor piercing) without penetration at a distance of 15 meters (49.2 feet).

Level IV ceramic armor has the same rating up only up to 1 shot. 

Level IV steel plates are everything I said about level III and then some. I have worn level III steel and within 5 minutes my shoulders hurt; after 15 minutes I was in such discomfort that the only thing which would make me keep them on is being shot at.

I also own level IV ceramic armor. While it weighs about the same as level III steel, because it is larger it feels lighter due to the larger dispersion of weight. I was able to wear my level IV for 15 minutes before feeling a stiffness in my neck and shoulders (that "I need to stretch it and make it go pop" feeling) but I was able to wear it for an hour before I started to cramp up.

There is no such thing as level IVa armor.

* For the curious, I discovered that Level I armor is rated up to 5 hits of 158 gr .38 Special ammunition. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/099859.pdf

Next week: Materials

Car Keys

I've written about locks before, but I've run into a few issues with keys in particular and want to share what I've learned so someone else might avoid the hassles.

I recently bought a used Range Rover SUV that only came with one key. This is a problem for several reasons, the most important of which being my wife will drive it occasionally and my desire to have a back-up for everything important. Since this was a newer car, it came with an electronic key fob containing a “laser cut” key blade. The dealership (commonly referred to as the stealership for this make of vehicle) wanted $850 to make a duplicate key, so I started looking for less expensive options. The programmable key fob was easy to find on eBay and Amazon, but finding someone who could or would cut the blade to the right shape was more of a challenge.

I found exactly two locksmith shops in the nearest city (population ~500k) that had the equipment to cut the “laser cut” or “sidewinder” keys. One was a small, veteran-owned shop so I decided to give him my business. The owner/operator's name is Tony and he was very helpful and friendly. I learned more than a few things in the hour or so it took to get the key cut and the new key fob programmed to my car (for a grand total of $180).

• The blade of the key will open the driver's door, but won't start the car without the electronic key fob. I had a spare blade cut so I can have a way to get into the car if/when my wife locks the keys in the car. This is a recurring issue with her, so I have to plan around it.
• My particular anti-theft system is rather robust in that it disables the engine computer if the key fob isn't near the ignition switch. There's no remote-start option available, but it's pretty much impossible to “hot-wire” such a car.
• Each key fob has a programmable chip in it that communicates with the computer in the car. This chip is designed to be programmed once and only once, so I needed a “virgin” key fob. The stealership might be able to reprogram a used key fob, but the available references weren't clear on that matter.
• Vehicle manufacturers are getting serious about security on the higher-priced cars and trucks, which  was part of the reason most locksmiths wouldn't touch the type of key I needed made. Tony had to use a couple of electronic tools plugged into my car's diagnostic port to get the key fob programmed, but some brands are easier. There are several of the really expensive brands (Jaguar, BMW, Mercedes, etc.) that you have to go to the dealership for, since they won't share the information needed. Mine is old enough (12 years) that some information is available, but not freely given.
• The locksmithing trade is still fairly locked down. Information is tightly controlled, and nothing is free. Even a licensed locksmith who cuts keys for a living will have to pay to access some of the information needed to cut vehicle keys and program key fobs.

While chatting with Tony, I mentioned my wife's ability to lock the keys in a car at least once a year. This is a major problem due to her health issues and the fact that she seems to do it when she's an hour away from home. He laughed and handed me a couple of business cards to give to her, then explained how to avoid having to use them.

40-50 years ago, most cars came with two different keys. One was for the doors and trunk lock, and the other was for the ignition switch. Chevrolet used a round head on the door keys and a squared head for the ignition keys, if I recall correctly; Ford did something similar. It was easy to have a spare “door” key made and hide it behind the license plate or in a magnetic key box somewhere under the car.

My wife's car is a early 2000's Oldsmobile. Tony was able to look up that model and told me that the (single) key it used had a neat feature: the door locks only use the back half of the key, while the ignition switch uses the whole length. This will let a locksmith cut a key that can open the door but won't turn the ignition switch, which is something that is more secure to hide on the outside of the car than a fully cut key since anyone who finds it won't be able to start the car and drive it away. Talk to your locksmith about your particular car, since this information is not readily available to the public. I'm good at researching things and I can't find it, so it's probably on sites that are subscription-only for licensed locksmiths.

Tony also recommended having a spare set of house keys under the seat of the car, for the times she locks her house keys inside (not as frequent as locking her cars keys, but it has happened a few times). This is more secure than the “key under the welcome mat” or fake rock key hiders.

Find a local locksmith and get to know them. Everyone is going to need one at some time in their life for keys locked in a car, changing the locks on a house, or upgrading the locks on your doors. Most of them are small businesses, which I prefer, and if you find a good one they can offer good advice along with their services.

Prudent Prepping: State Shutdowns

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping. 

California, or at least the urban portion I live in, is being shut down midnight tonight after many businesses were open a week, with salons and barber shops in San Francisco opening only yesterday. Other areas are less affected with reports (unverified) of rural counties telling Sacramento they are not complying with yo-yoing regulations. What does this have to do with me?



Recreational Area Closures
I was planning on taking a camping trip this coming weekend. I've uncovered most of my camping gear, since it is stored in separate totes from my tools and books; my sleeping bag, pad, tent and cooking supplies are together and ready to load. The last thing I needed was to buy several spools of new fishing line and pick up a license, and I was ready to go.

... Until this morning. The counties with 80% of the population are forced to take varying steps to try and contain the virus. The area I planned to visit is in a major county, but well away from the population centers affected by these regulations.
It doesn't really matter what your opinion is on what is or is not an effective virus control measure: the local rules stand and I'm home. Ah well, I'll make the best of the situation.

What's Next?
I'm using this week as a preparation/dry run for a Bug Out, if it comes to that. I have most of my gear stored here in my place and one other spot that is easy to get to and then back, and now I have to decide whether I will keep gear in both places or to only have everything here. I have duplicates of the most important items so I can actually follow the "Two Is One" rule for a change and not feel like I'm hurting my plans.

I also need to decide if it will be worth the investment to duplicate my longer term food supplies or not. After the recent smoke detector scare, I'm torn between the urge to carry even more supplies in my trunk and to keep things roomy and organize -- I believe I've confessed in the past to having a bit of a hoarding problem, and so I've made a conscious effort to keep things as small and compact as possible. Loading my trunk up with "Maybe, Sorta Useful" items that could be stored just as easily here violates my K.I.S.S. plans.

Recap And Takeaway

• I'll say it again: have a plan and practice it, and be sure to have Plans B, C, D or however many you think necessary.
• Nothing was purchased this week, but money is being set aside for future trips.

* * *

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Rifle Selection Basics

It's time to wrap up the weapon selection series by talking about rifles. As before, all firearms were cleared and verified by myself and my wife/camera operator.



Lokidude

Kitchen Cleaning Hacks

Kitchen cleaning hacks to save you some time and money.

Godspeed to you all.

Ballistic Armor: Legality

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

If you didn't own ballistic armor before the COVID-19 lockdown (with its commensurate reduction in police time) or the later urban unrest and rioting, I'm certain you've at least given thought to buying some. Much like a gun, a set of ballistic plates is something that a lot of preppers hope they never have to use but rest easier knowing they have it just in case SHTF.

However, just like buying a gun, shopping for armor is something that should not be done quickly. It requires research and forethought, as well as a fair bit of discretionary income, and your decision depends on what level of protection you want, how much weight you can tolerate/how much mobility you are willing to lose, and how much money you have to spend.

However, that is a topic which I will cover in a later post, because the first hurdle you must overcome is "Can I legally buy body armor?"

Please note that all answers are for the USA only.

No State or Federal Prohibition (Yet)
The answer to that is "At this moment in time, it is legal to buy, own and wear ballistic armor so long as you are not a convicted felon and you are not committing a crime." I specify this moment in time because it seems that every year there is an attempt, either state-level or locally, to ban the possession of ballistic armor by "civilians", which is usually interpreted as "people who are not current or retired law enforcement officers and perhaps current, licensed security guards." In fact, last year there was a bill before the US House or Representatives that attempted to do just that; fortunately, it seems to have died in committee, although we will have to wait until January 2021 and the end of the 116th Congress to be certain.

A Clean Criminal Record
At the federal level, you cannot own any sort of body armor (their terminology) if you have been convicted of a violent felony (18 U.S. Code § 931) unless you need it for a job, your employer gives you written certification that your job requires you to wear said armor, and that you only wear it while on the job.

At the state level, it depends. Most states prohibit ownership of ballistic armor if you have any felony convictions whatsoever; only Arizona, Connecticut, and Delaware do not. Maryland is more restrictive in that it prohibits anyone with a prior conviction for a "crime of violence, or a drug trafficking crime."

Can You Buy It Online?
At this time, only Connecticut prohibits online purchases of body armor to non-law enforcement. You may however buy it face-to-face.

Where Can You Wear It?
Most states treat body armor like a firearm in that if you wear it during the commission of a crime, that in itself is a felony. However, I am certain that my readers are law-abiding citizens who will not engage in criminal activity, so I won't detail which ones.

In the state of Louisiana, it is illegal to wear body armor while on school property.

In the city of Topeka, Kansas, it is illegal to possess, carry or wear a bulletproof vest during protests, parades, rallies, assemblies and demonstrations.

You cannot ship, take, bring, or send body armor outside the USA without Federal permission.


Next week: Levels of Protection.