For a civilian, what's the actual, practical amount of body armor for one to have? Like what's the cut off between a reasonable amount, and stuff that you just have out of fun or enthusiasm for collecting? Simple plate carrier and bump helmet? Full soft armor with plates and a ballistics rated helmet?
For the military what's more practical? I know for a long time that giving soldiers fully IIIa+ rated vests, with the ability to hold plates as well, but recently they've been moving more towards simple cordura carriers and plates alone with special forces and such, haven't they? And helmets are tending more towards smaller and lighter vs more protective and larger, though you still see things like those giant titanium helmets with the full visors that the Spetsnaz wear.
Personally, I don't own any armor yet, so sorry for the google images OP pic instead of anything I own, but I have been looking into buying some in the near future and have been doing research on the subject.
This, but unironically. Enough to catch any shrapnel or debris, maybe small caliber rounds that hit you. At the end of the day, how much are you moving? Are you bugging in? Bugging out? What's your environment like? I got caught in the "enthusiasm for collecting" category, honestly, I can say I understand people who exclusively use chest rigs without the armor. It's a lot of weight, and I'm skinnyfat and untrained.
Chase Rogers
Depends on you, I guess. I have Lvl4 standalone front, back and side plates plus full lvl3a inserts and shoulder pads. It’s heavy but I just went with plates + full soft because it’s pretty close to the IOTV I wore in combat. A single plate font and back just doesn’t give me a warm and fuzzy
Matthew Thompson
Elaborate, I'm interested. Pics too, if possible. I'm trying to put together some heavy ass armor for the memes, and your description fits the bill I'm looking for.
Blake Cooper
Are the training plates just weight so you don't ding up your normal armor needlessly?
Are they thicker/heavier than the normal plates? They look like they are thicker at least
Nicholas Garcia
Those are actual ESAPI plates with a training label slapped on. I use them to test fit the carriers that I make
Only pic of carrier at the moment. I wanted OD green so that made it a little tough. The carrier is KDH ATPC was new-old police stock from New Jersey (I think). I got it with some lvl2 soft inserts for $50. I got the lvl3 soft armor from England. It was police new-old stock that expired. You can find it very cheap that way, even with air mail cost. Around $45. Despite what many think, soft armor will breakdown from moisture and uv, not so much age. Kevlar is some tough stuff. I’m fine with it since I am using it in conjunction with plates. The plates are 10x12 lvl 4 standalone Hescos. They are pretty heavy. Got them for around $120 each on sale Side plates are 6x6 “Battle Steel” lvl4 stand-alone. I don’t know much about them, but they are lab tested and pretty light weight. I figure they are fine for side armor. I think they were $120 for the pair.
A lot of military "training plates" are just legit SAPIs that failed inspection.
Joshua Campbell
Training plates were once issued plates that are fucked beyond reliable use. ie to old. Been dropped and cracked and thrown around beat to shit kind of stuff.
Juan Butler
Bump!
Carter Hill
>elbow and knee pads >thigh and groin protection >neck protection >bulky vest with soft armor and plates
jesus.... have fun moving with all that shit
Bentley Flores
>ach is like 100 used on ebay >dumb retards still recommend 500 dollar bump helmets with rails taped on them
There is no reason to not have ballistic qualities to a helmet if you are going to wear one for some kind of operations.
Ryder Young
what sbp is that
Evan Smith
Probably one of those minimalist carriers you can wear under anything with level 3+ ceramic plates
Jack Watson
I think a basic PC with lvl 3+ plates would be fine for most non Mil/LE but it should be understood that if you need to bug out, that 15+ lbs or armor is 15+ lbs of water, food, ammo, etc less than you'll be carrying. Be willing to ditch all that shit if the risk of you dying of starvation, dehydration or exhaustion is greater than your risk of getting shot.
Parker Smith
Dipshit the aramid in those old ACHs has degraded to the point where their ballistic protection is somewhere between questionable and nonexistent.
Carter Gomez
Aramid is not pudding you fat fuck it doesn't go bad because X years passed unless it has structural, water or UV damage. Old as fuck PASGT helmets hold out 9mm perfectly even after all these years.
Ryder Morales
Soft armor vest like cops wear. Past helmet. Plate carrier with soft big level 3a and ar500 plates. Shoulder pads and groin flap.. I'm bugging in, don't give a Damn for running inna woods.
I haven’t weighed it, but it would guess around 30 lbs for just the armor and carrier. In the pic is an Uberti Walker, PSA 300BO pistol on an RL556v3 lower, and a 460Rowland G21
Isaac Young
>For a civilian, what's the actual, practical amount of body armor for one to have? as much as you want. i'm a tryhard neverserved with a full iba, two soft armor vest, a low profile plate carrier with ceramic plates, and three kevlar helmets.
Adam Young
that is nonsense.
Joshua Baker
if any of you georgia fags need a helmet i saw a psagt for $20 at the Sasser Flea Market. building on the right way in the back on a bench.
yeah i flipped it over and verified it was kevlar surp, medium i think, and a mouse may have lived in it for a short time, some rust on the fasteners but all liner, straps and cover were there. i would have bought it but i have a couple already.
Christian Wood
>that hair
Yikes. Can already tell me and him wouldn't get along
Gavin Walker
Don’t be racist
Sebastian Diaz
The vast, vast, majority of military movement is mechanized in some form, either ground based transports or helicopters.
Preppers and militia member's seem to be under some kind of delusion that in a SHTF situation/government gone rouge theyll have the freedom to drive around freely. It might scare lots of the out of shape LARPers here to realize a modern resistance would have to rely heavily on foot travel to maintain maximum stealth which in the world of drones, satellites and advance surveillance is = to survival. Plate carriers wont protect you from pic related.
i'm sure you wouldn't mind having plates if you were caught emplacing ieds
Tyler Martinez
if you get caught placing ieds no amount of Plates will protect you from the hail of bullets or hellfire missles that come with being caught. Speed and stealth are your absolute priority when it comes to laying IEDs plates dont fit into that profile at all.
Ryan Richardson
And you are fucking retarded if the .mil will be operating at 100% efficiency within US borders. Shit will be civil war or worse (foreign intervention) if "rouge" government scenario happens.
Charles Turner
>soft vest
What the fuck is the point? Literally everyone owns an ar15, even fat ass doughnut eating traffic pigs have them up in their cruisers. A soft vest hardly even slows down 556 at all. Plate isn't even that heavy or expensive.
Jacob Clark
Depends where you live. If you're in a state with heavy gun control you'll probably be more likely to encounter looters with pistols and shotguns.
Tyler Wilson
youre retarded if you think the US will break into full on civil war in the foreseeable future. The more likley scenario would be heavily militarized "policing actions" against active militia type groups and certain political groups.
I purchased Ar500 plates front with their 0.5 inch coating, back and a vest on their super sale day thing. I think it was $125 bucks. I also purchased some inserts.
: /
Isaac James
that's not what usually happened in iraq and afghanistan.
Cooper Murphy
You ignore that to control ANY territory, you need troops on the ground. Those troops can be shot with rifles.
Julian Jones
Criminals usually use handguns because they're concealable. But ARs will come out of the woodwork the second they're not concerned about concealability.
Lucas Rivera
yeah im not ignoring that, im simply saying that said troops job is easier when they have total air supremacy and the people with rifles trying to harm them drive around roads. Hence why any militia should be heavily focused on being light and foot-borne infantry.
