To 'look after' or to be responsible for the personal security and safety of another human being is truly one of the very best professions one can be part of.

But let us ignore the potential highlights of your future career within Personal Security Details (PSD) and allow me to focus this article about you and your own personal safety.

If you really understand how to gather all available information and how to analyse that information and how to turn it into real intelligence, then you will have already done a brilliant job in looking after your own personal safety, as good intelligence will allow you to plan ahead and put effective 'safety nets' in place.

However, sometimes things don't go to plan, and sometimes there are unforeseen circumstances, where you really have to 'shine', create quick 'dynamic risk assessments', and often rely on the gear you have invested in, prior to your assignment.

A good quality concealable bullet proof vest must be part of this gear and this article will hopefully provide you with information, which will allow you to choose the right one.

Please be aware that beside your weapon... your concealable bullet proof vest will be the only piece of equipment that really can make all the difference between your life and death.

Ballistic Protection Standards

To start with please let me clarify that concealable bullet proof vests are always designed as soft body armour. Very rarely do they feature front and rear pockets for additional hard trauma plates... that' something you will find in overtly worn body armour, best sweat vest plus size primarily in use in conflict and hostile environments, such as. war zones or politically unrest countries.

Subject to their stated protection level, covert bullet proof vests can offer excellent protection from even the most handguns and ammunition. Protection can be offered from 22mm up to 9mm parabellum, 357 Mag, 44 Mag, 45 Mag and other ammunition.

Many countries around the world have their own ballistic protection standard. However, the best known and most respected is known as National Institute of Justice (NIJ) standard. The NIJ standard is recognised and respected all over the world, in comparison to the British, German or other standards, which in most cases are more dominant within homeland security services in their country or region.

Looking at the most recognised standard, what would be the best possible protection level you should be looking for? Well, the answer is rather simple. Go with the highest possible protection level for 'soft' concealable bullet proof vests, the NIJ IIIA protection level.

This type of concealable bullet proof vest protects you against 9 mm Full Metal Jacketed Round Nose (FMJ RN) bullets, with nominal masses of 8. 0 g (124 gr) at a reference velocity of 436 m/s (1430 ft/s ± 30 ft/s) and. 44 Magnum Semi Jacketed Hollow Point (SJHP) bullets, with nominal masses of 15. 6 g (240 gr) at a reference velocity of 436 m/s (1430 ft/s ± 30 ft/s).

Only a very few concealable bullet proof vests have taken protection even to another level and offer additional protection from Tokarev Ball 7. 62 x 25mm and Makarov 9 x 18mm, which is of great benefits when being operational in Eastern European countries or the Russian Federation.