Our Process

The armor industry is saturated with manufacturers and resellers of all sorts. Sorting through all of the information and finally deciding on armor plates can be a daunting task. As a manufacturer, we always ask ourselves - which challenges are we solving in the armor world and how are we making it better?

Whether they admit it or not, everyone is sort of doing the same things: offering lighter armor with no drop protection. To make matters worse, most manufacturers are not disclosing the lack of drop protection in their products.

Problem 1: Lack of NIJ 0101.07 drop protection and failure to disclose the lack of drop protection when it exists

We solve this problem by refusing to offer normal production plates that cannot be dropped. It is not in the customer's best interest to offer them an armor plate with no mention (not even on the ballistic tag) that the armor has not achieved NIJ drop testing. Some of these same manufacturers complain about Chinese armor not disclosing the 1" foam around the edges of the plate. Yet, these same manufacturers are intentionally failing to disclose the lack of drop protection on their armor. We refuse to follow along with this practice.

Problem 2: Lack of crown shots on NIJ lab ballistics test reports

The armor crown (highest point) is the most vulnerable location on an armor plate. If your manufacturer has not tested the armor crown, then the true strength of the armor is not known. Ballistics testing that does not include crown shots is not an accurate representation of armor effectiveness. GTS Armor NIJ ballistic lab testing includes crown shots.

Problem 3: Lack of effectiveness for single-piece monolithic ceramic armor as compared to the mosaic ceramic tile array

Hands down the mosaic design is the best set-up for strength and multiple-hit performance. Our ballistic tile arrays are manufactured from 2" individual tile pieces similar to battlefield and space-based vehicle armor. We also use monolithics for some multi-curved designs. However, mosaic tile arrays in a single curved format will always perform better than monolithic tiles (in the same material and thickness).

Problem 4: Lack of transparency regarding ballistics lab reports

The reason the other guys don't want to share their ballistics lab reports is that they know the performance will be "average". Super well built designs like our Model 9969 (Adept Armor strike face), are lightweight armor but also show low backface deformation in testing reports. We post all of our NIJ certified lab testing reports in the testing tab of our main navigational menu. We also try to provide video where possible.

You would be surprised to discover that many well-known armor brands do not publish their ballistics reports. Even with NIJ certified armor, it's important to see what type of performance you're purchasing and wearing.

Problem 5: Lack of transparency regarding "Made in USA" claims

The FTC has published regulations regarding "Made in USA" claims. Most manufacturers do not purchase their ceramic from American manufacturers, but do assemble the armor in the USA. Much of the tile comes from Italy, South Africa and China. This does not satisfy the FTC rules regarding unqualified Made in the USA claims and a qualified product claim must be advertised when "all" or "virtually all" of the product does not originate inside of the USA. A foreign ceramic armor strike face being used in an armor product assembled in the USA is not allowed to be advertised without a qualified claim. Failing to follow the FTC rules gives customers the impression that all components of the manufacturer's product originate inside of the USA when they don't.

We comply with the FTC's rules regarding "Made in USA" claims. For more information, please read the entire regulation here.

Problem 6: Most manufacturers do not use 100% American-made adhesives that are specifically formulated for armor use

Our ARMORFILM adhesives have elevated elongation with high breaking strength and are tuned into our plate energy and designed to work with both monolithic and ceramic tile arrays. Our adhesives are low VOC. This makes for safer working conditions (and environment).

Most armor touted as "100% made in the USA" utilizes foreign-made adhesives. Bonding armor materials is the most important step in manufacturing... and we take it seriously.

Our adhesives were designed with heat activation limits in mind. Polyethylene (PE) (used for backing materials) does not like heat. Molecular realignments can occur at temperatures less than PE melting points. In order to avoid damaging our PE backing during manufacturing, we have designed our heat-activated adhesives to activate at temperatures well below PE melting points and only after a period of time at those temperatures.

For more information about our adhesives, click ARMORFILM.

Summary

Our performance wins... simply ask your provider for an NIJ test report and compare with ours (see testing tab).

Performance matters. In some cases, our armor may be designed to be light and compliant. Other models can be custom built with trauma reduction layering. Custom builds are not NIJ "certified" due to differences in building materials and techniques. There are times when we may choose to video a shot comparison between our plates and other manufacturers - especially when a competitor makes false claims about our product(s). Remember to look for crown shots on ballistic test reports.