A few of my thoughts on personal armor:
1) If you are going to get armor, do not skimp on it. It is used to protect you. Do you really want the cheap stuff?
2) Just like almost everything else prep-related, it is extremely unlikely you will know ahead of time when you will need armor unless you are already in a protected place. Therefore, during times when you might be at risk wear the armor.
3) As above, if you are at risk, how are you going to know if you might/will be shot with a small-caliber handgun, a powerful handgun, a magnum handgun, a shotgun, a small-caliber rifle, a large caliber rifle, a magnum rifle, shot with a regular arrow, shot with a broadhead arrow, shot with a crossbow bolt, hit with some type of bludgeon, stabbed with a small knife, stabbed with a large knife, stabbed with spike type instrument, have acid thrown on you, be targeted with a flame thrower, or one of many more types of attacks? Will it be at contact range, short-range, medium-range, or long-range?
Many of that list are highly unlikely, but some of them, if you are attacked, are very likely to be used. Sometimes in combination, especially if there are other people. A few of the weapons listed standard types of armor are not going to protect you at all. For the rest, the probability of injury, type of injury, and severity of injury are going to be dependent on the particular weapon, the range, the type of armor, the rating of the armor, and the completeness of the armor.
So, if you do not know if it will be a handgun, and there is a high likelihood it could be a rifle, then it seems to me that having quality armor that will help protect one against rifle rounds, including armor-piercing rounds, is the most logical choice.
4) However, as was stated by others, body armor does not do much to protect you against shots that impact outside the area of the armor coverage, intentionally or by accident. With that being the fact, it would seem that having at least armor protection for the head would also be logical. Armor for the groin falls into the same category. Shots to the groin and head can be fatal. Less so the shoulders, arms, legs below the upper thigh, and feet. They can be fatal, of course, due to circumstances and complications of the wound.
While I do not know of any civilian available armor for the head capable of stopping major caliber armor-piercing rounds, helmets are available in Level IIIA (be aware that Level IIA is less effective than Level II and Level IIIA is less effective than Level III). I am not sure if this includes helmet face shields, though it might.
Groin armor up to Level III is available. Level IV armor is pretty much restricted to the chest, upper back, and the sides of the torso. The standard thinking about body armor, by the DIJ, military, and law enforcement is that rounds taken outside of the areas that can be protected by Level IV armor, other than the head, are less life-threatening and can be treated by modern medical procedures applied quickly after the injury takes place.
For preppers, this scenario is not that likely. If a person is shot outside the coverage of the Level IV plates, if they are being worn, the likelihood dying can be very high.
What this means to me is that the maximum amount of protection is needed, if any is needed at all. This includes helmets with face shields with the maximum protection available to civilian versions of head protection. Also, groin protection, and if the armor manufacturer offers it, upper thigh protection to protect the large artery in the thighs.
5) Due to the limitations of the standard body armor systems, having additional protecten to enhance those systems, plus help protect areas not otherwise protected, the use of ancillary armor devices can be used. Police/military ‘riot’ shields, up to higher levels of protection available in some of the military shields designed for actual protection from firearms.
There are also the riot armor the police use that do not provide all that much protection from firearms, but do protect against blows from various types of weapons, and attacks with various types of bladed weapons.
Now, if a person is equipped with all of this gear, for maximum protection, she/he is not going to be very agile. Plus, when this amount of armor is being worn it is almost always worn when there are other officers in the same gear, all protecting each other against the dangers that a lone person is subject in the gear.
6) Therefore, which armor a prepper chooses to obtain must be chosen in light of the above factors. With the first three of prime importance. Get the best armor you can, against as many threats as possible, and wear it whenever you are not otherwise protected.
7) Now, if there are others in a group that might be exposed to the same threats, armor for them must be considered. With budget limitations it could come down to protecting them at one’s own risk, or the primary defender in armor to try and defeat any attackers, thereby preventing harm to the others. Hard choices.
8) Since the armor might need to be worn in warm to hot conditions, which can cause heat-related injuries to the wearer, consideration for wearing cooling vests and other devices under the armor need to be considered.
9) As stated by another poster, consideration must be given to the psychological effect of making the wearer feel invincible, therefore willing to take risks far above what is reasonable, considering the actual amount of protection offered by the armor being worn. There was an episode of the Barney Miller television show in which the officers were issued body armor. In this episode, one of the officers decided to not wear it after the first time because he felt that invincibility and it caused him to take risks that were ill-advised.
I do not think that a decision to not wear armor should be based on that possibility. Better, I think, to be aware of the possibility, even to the point of having something with the armor when not worn that states that the wearer should be aware of the possibility and make sure they do not fall under that mistaken idea.
10) How the choice of obtaining armor can affect the prepper are dependent on the financial status of the prepper, the particulars of the individual prepper and any family members or group members, the ability of the person of actually being able to wear the armor and still be effective mentally and physically, and the likelihood of a person needing to wear armor considering their location and other specifics of how they prep.
Personally, if I could afford it, I would have Level IV body armor for every part of my person for which it is available; head protection at the maximum level it is available to civilians; plus some type of armor for the rest of my body, though probably not full riot gear armor. More likely something along the lines of sports armor, paint gun event armor, or DIY armor as often used by reenactors or LARP enthusiasts.
As to the best suppliers, I am not willing to offer any suggestions for liability reasons. Armor, like many other subjects, must be chosen by the person involved after doing extensive due diligence research and in consideration of not only their budget but their mental stress levels that could be affected, as well as any family or members of a group.
Just my opinion.
