Tacticon currently holds NIJ CPL's for their steel, and stated that this model was submitted for NIJ 06 CPL. The construction of the plate overall was very well done. I would say at $360 it's a little out of it's price league, but at $175-200, this IMO is a better design than the RMA 1155.

https://tacticon.com/product/level-iv-8-lbs-multi-curve-armor-plate-taspiv/  

These got to be white label correct?  Who is making all these random branded plates?  It seems like everyone has them now, just like generic red dots.  I cant imagine Tacticon has the in-house capability to make these and continue to meet NIJ requirements.

I haven't dug open a level IV like this yet. TA's steel CPL # is the only listing for that model on the NIJ.
I've never seen an import plate from PAC-Rim built this good. Who's making it if not TA themselves would be hard to crack.

Interesting.  Thanks for the info.  I keep seeing more and more plates popping up and their seems to be little background info on them.  TA interests me because most of their products are imported or made through a partner/white label.  I am sure they make some stuff in-house but it doesnt seem like much.

It speaks more to the market, as I just dont see who is buying all this product.  Armor companies and companies selling armor has blown up in the last couple years.  It certainly doesnt seem like the market is big enough and making armor (specifically not steel armor) - even more so - armor that is NIJ cert - is not an easy or cheap thing to do.  I know plenty of people in recent years who bought armor - to stick in the closet - but they arent going to be buying more.

Covers look Hesco-esque.

Agreed.


Their steel armor is made by them, or at least appears to be. NIJ stopped allowing foreign-made plates on the CPL since it was too difficult to run FIT. That's what did in Acelink, because all their shit is made in China. Once this plate appears on the CPL we'll know who makes it based upon the model number. If it's white label it'll match another manufacturer's known pattern. They have to use the same model number as the manufacturer to qualify on the CPL.

To my knowledge Acelink never had any NIJ CPL models from China.  The NIJ doesn't allow foreign entities from submitting products for testing (well China and Russia), but there's nothing stopping a US vendor who imports said plates from sending their stuff in for validation. The question I can never get the NIJ to answer is whether or not that vendor could submit a plate they import for CPL since they are not the manufacturer. Maybe I need to ask them that question in a different way.

The cover is very Hesco like, but the backing material is not, and neither is the way the strike face is laminated. A lot of the ceramic cores come from only a few vendors, and since it's monolithic, it's likely from one of the major manufacturers, as I don't think any Chinese import plates other than Militech make monolithic strike faces. If indeed the plate becomes CPL listed (Tacticon's engineer said it was submitted for 06) we'll get a part # and can cross reference. If they're the only ones who carry that #, then they make it..

They did. They and Protection Group Denmark and a few others had plates made by BEIJING V-GREAT, located, well, in Beijing. Around 2020 they changed and disallowed those companies due to difficulties in FIT'ing foreign companies. Mostly affected that but there were a few that made plates in Mexico and IIRC Columbia.

EDIT: Wayback machine to the rescue. https://web.archive.org/web/20201112025816/https://www.justnet.org/app/tims/CPLReport.aspx. 2020 they're listed, might've been 21 or 22 when they changed. At least 5 different Beijing companies, at least one UK, one Mexico, and that's from a 15 second search.


Yes there is. They have to be the manufacturer to send a plate in for testing. If they don't make it they can't get it tested. That's why companies inherit the testing and certification of white label. Look at the CPL and see how many 3810s or 4S17s there are. Those are inherited from the Hesco and Highcom certification for those model plates. As long as the labels contain the same required information and the armor isn't modified it inherits the same certification and can be called NIJ certified..

To touch base on this a little bit, the United States Government revised 15 C.F.R   744.211 provisions related to Military End Uses and Military End Users, and it has its major effects in China, Russia, and Venezuela. Quoted from Body Armor News:



The NIJ does allow certs for other foreign companies such as MC Internacional S.A.S out of Columbia and Protective Materials Technology S.A. DE C.V. out of Mexico. I have heard a rumor, and it's just a rumor, that a lot of times FITs weren't done on foreign companies because of travel. I could see this during covid times.

To speak on white labeling certified products, the manufacturer that submitted for certification has to fill out a form and send to the NIJ. This form includes information about the company and a mock up label that the company will use. That is if it is being white labeled (example Shellback Tactical.) If it is not white labeled and the reseller is just using the original logo, then nothing needs to be done (example Top Armor with Highcom & LTC products)

I think we might be crossing the wires here. I was referring to having the Lab threat validate your plate, not certify it for CPL. You as an individual could pay to send XX plate in and have it shot confirm quality standards. Just as someone could spin up Gold Star Armor as a business, Import plates from wherever, and pay the labs to threat validate them.  Getting them listed on the CPL in that scenario is likely not to happen because they're not the actual manufacturer :D