So I'm seriously considering grabbing some body armor in the near future.
As someone who doesn't really know much about the topic and currently doesn't own anything, I have been looking at the Mayflower Low-Profile Assault Armor Carrier sense it seems like a pretty good vest, able to hold front, back and side plates, and provide IIIa protection even without armor to help fill gaps and protect from spalling
Seem like a good choice or should I look after something else? Probably for a prepping or militia type use, but being able to add some more stuff to it, like those AR500 abdominal plate pouches or something from bugging in would be neat as well.
What kind of plates are good to get as a civilian? AR500's III+ look pretty nice, I understand that steel will last longer than ceramic, yeah? Even if ceramic offers better protection.
Why do people still fall for this ar500 meme? Why would you buy this shit? Steel plates are at all levels pure retardism. Get ceramic plates if you don`t store them like a retard they will last a decade atleast. Just consider the weight of the ar500 garbage.
Joseph Bennett
Milfag here, I don't actually know that much about armor other than you can fuck ceramic plates up by dropping them, and non-steel body armor has an expiration date. I would never buy that shit for personal use unless I knew I would need it very, very soon. The government can handle supplying that and rotating things out as they expire and replacing what's damaged, but it probably would not be worth it for a private citizen to do that unless they had fuck you money and really couldn't think of a single other thing they'd like to spend wads of cash on instead. I'd buy more ammo, or an ATV, or some land, or almost anything.
I'm also a medfag (and I teach it for a living) and the way these plate carriers protect is designed to reduce the chance of you being fatally wounded in a gun fight when you have medics around to treat you and an elaborate evacuation and treatment system in place to get you to surgery. If you don't have those things, a lot of wounds that could otherwise be treated will just kill you anyway.
What I'm getting at is that either you shouldn't waste your time and money, or you should go full Ned Kelly and buy as much steel armor as you can realistically wear, hit the gym, and make sure you can run 5 miles in it, because if shit ever goes down there won't be a MEDEVAC coming for you if you get shot in the shoulder and start bleeding out.
>Just consider the weight of the ar500 garbage Like a pound and a half heavier than a level IV ceramic plate if you use the lightweight III+ AR500 plates? Sure that's a pretty big difference, 30% weight increase, a whole 3 lbs when you have a front and back panel, and obviously III+ instead of IV level protection, but it's also much thinner, able to take multiple hits and you don't have to worry about it breaking if you take a hard fall or dive into cover. Unless that shattering thing is just an unfounded myth, but that body armor wouldn't have "handle with care" on it for no reason.
Isaac Cox
>non-steel body armor has an expiration date Does that apply to helmet too? Like buying an old PASGT or something would it provide compromised protection?
To be fair I like the idea of level IV protection, being in a rural area where lots of people have hunting rifles and long range firepower, including the law enforcement, but III+ is good enough to stop non-AP .308 and such, huh?
Nolan Myers
III+ gets fucked by almost everything IV doesn't, especially modern rounds (as M193 is the "+" of III+) You shouldn't get shot multiple times in the chest as plates are a fail-safe You probably won't fall on your plate and diving to cover won't make it unusable I'll take something that will protect me from more threats than something that's okay
Jordan Powell
buy armor first. then buy a carrier that will carry the armor. not the other way around.
choose between Sapi cut or Swimmers cut, and side plates or no side plates. doing it the other way around means you're clearly more concerned with how you imagine yourself appearing, in which case give your money to whoever you think deserves to profit off of your frivolous spending.
Austin Russell
>doing it the other way around means you're clearly more concerned with how you imagine yourself appearing Nah, I was looking at the mayflower vest because it fits both shooters/swimmers cut and ESAPI shaped plates, has provisions for side plates and is IIIa rated all over
Connor Scott
That also applies to helmets, although the storage and use effects how well it will hold up. I shot up a Polish kevlar helmet that was at least about 20 years old and had definitely seen service, and it stood up to about 20 rounds of .45, 20 rounds of 9mm ball, 20 rounds of 9mm HSTs, and finally caught a 3 inch slug but the backface deformation was akin to punching a plastic bag. So the blatant "it goes bad after x years" is wrong and more of a way of ensuring the plates will perform in the worst conditions and jewwing the government. However, being that kevlar is plastic, I would assume two decades of use innasandbox would cause significant degredation, and I cant say for certain that my helmet wasnt partly degraded, or if it was still in perfect condition.
TL;DR Surplus kevlars are probably fine, but could possibly be just a heavy hat.
Jacob Harris
I can't say with complete certainty, but I believe that it does. All of these compounds degrade over time and in heat and moisture. It's worth doing more research on it. I don't know if a helmet would realistically make a difference if someone shot you in the head with a rifle anyway. It certainly would for a pistol, shotgun, or shrapnel, though, and I don't know if it would degrade enough that it would no longer protect from those things. It might not matter that much.
Speaking of shit that would be more worthwhile to buy than ceramic armor, night vision and a good magnified optic and more ammo to practice with would probably be a great choice if you live somewhere like that.
If you're deciding whether or not to buy side plates, buy side plates. Buy abdominal plates. If they make something that protects your shoulders and your femoral arteries, get that too.
Ian Powell
AR500 is a poorfag meme, take it from someone who fell for it. The anti spall coating is a gamble at best, it is significantly heavier than comparible SAPIs, not all that much cheaper, and infinitely less comfortable due to the shape. There is a reason no one, not even the Russians, ever used steel ballistic armor in a war beyond ww1 machinegunners.
Colton Flores
>fits both shooters/swimmers cut and ESAPI shaped plates
You're only ever going to use one type of plate in it, so you're wearing more material and weight for no added benefit.
>has provisions for side plates
which serves no purpose if you don't have any side plates. Almost all plate carriers have the ability to add side plate pouches these days anyway and
> is IIIa rated all over
If you buy the proprietary soft armor package to go with it.
There's a reason no one but non-sof military uses soft armor in conjunction with plates- it's bulky, heavy and 15 years behind the power curve.
Asher Stewart
The new ECH helmets being fielded by the US are rated for 7.62x39 at point-blank.
>There's a reason no one but non-sof military uses soft armor in conjunction with plates- it's bulky, heavy and 15 years behind the power curve The IOTV currently issued to the US Army is soft armor all over with SAPI inserts, retard
>a good magnified optic What do you think of getting a magnifier you can flip to the side vs a variable zoom optic? I already have a pretty nice red dot I've been using but it's only a 1x, but I've been looking at getting a magnifier to go with it.
Are civilians able to buy those at all?
Daniel Jackson
Speaking of Russians, is it even possible to get your hands on the titanium plates they use as a burger civilian?
Xavier Adams
Spall will absolutely fuck you. The anti spall coating is truck bed liner and will likely fail, how badly depends in the angle at which the bullet hits the plate. Go watch the dozens of videos of people testing steel plates surrounded by cardboard and look at the holes spalling tears regardless of spall coating. The ONLY thing that protects you from spall is ballistically rated sleeves. And ifyou get those you have negated any price advantage steel has over ceramic.
Ceramic does not degrade and it any reputable plate will not be damaged if dropped. There are numerous videos of people intentionally dropping ceramic plates or smashing them with sledgehammers.
AR500 is the century arms of armor plates.
Charles Lee
Great, the bullet will turn soldiers who get shot wearing them into vegetables instead of corpses.
Angel Howard
>magnifier I've never used one so I don't know. It would probably be fine, but a lot of actual scopes have reticules that you would probably find more helpful than a red dot with a magnifier.
Jace Rogers
I did a boat load of research on plates when I was in the market for them. Came to the conclusion that Highcom "AR1000" are the best steelies and Hesco are the best ceramics. Cost effectiveness was a consideration in these opinions. There are a handful of better plates out there but they're all way more expensive.
I'm getting a IIIa helmet next, and have done 0 research so far. Any recommendations on that would be appreciated.
I recently sold an IOTV that I had and bought a 6b46 plate carrier w/ pouches and ar500 level 3 plates with trauma pads with the money. Even had about 120 bux left over. Waiting for the mail very excitedly. What do you fellas think about this plate carrier and ar500 plates?
Crye Jpc that's a size bigger than what you need. Add side 8x6 pockets. Add IIIA backers to front back and sides. The add UHMLWPE or however it's spelled, plates
The JPC is light years more lightweight, versatile and strong. You can have your IIIA protection and plates and then some room to mess around with. Their MBITR pouchs are GOAT Get the second version so you can swap out the mag pouches on a whim. Buying a whole new chest rig, to go over you PC, gets costly.
UH-1 AMG with aimpoint 6x magnifier. Literally the only optic set you will need
Nathan Bell
Excessively heavy
I used to think the steel plates were "fine" too. I encourage you to wear your PC with plates and loaded mags in pouches for 1 hour, standing.
Jack Butler
Airsoft is a good tester for this Protip: theres literally nothing wrong with M16s and anyone who complains of weight is legit Lucas boykins level skinny thot desk jocky weak
Thomas Gonzalez
I mean how much heavier could it be than the IOTV with esapi plates in it? I could stand with that almost indefinitely and well pretty much have before. I mean they weigh only 3 more lbs a plate than ceramic. I really don't think 6 more lbs is going to immobilize me.
Leo Rogers
I've got several plate carriers, but this is my goto. Crye JPC with Level IV ceramic plates and a IIIA helmet.
That only reason I have ar500 is for training purposes. I can beat it up, throw it in my truck, really whatever I want to it and it won't break. Added bonus of getting used to carrying heavier shit, so endurance is better. In my actual rig I have esapi.
Samuel Gomez
Civilians are "allowed" to, as in there is no law prohibiting it, but they are still a pretty new thing and no one is openly selling to civvies yet.
Same here. If you find the right russian to "loose" a set and accidentally send them here, sure.
John Turner
You can test it by tapping for tone. If you were mil you would already know this surely and not be spasticing up this thread with garbage? If old ceramic lvl IVs ring true they are fine, don't listen to this yard. Ceramics don't 'go off'.
Kayden Wilson
Ceramics don't defeated like UV and water effected fibres and ballistic plastics. That being said they last fine to unless they get wet or UVd or are not stored flat
Dominic Martinez
Swimming with ar500 steel plates, swimmers cut. Faggotry.
Isaac Baker
>There's a reason no one but non-sof military uses soft armor in conjunction with plates-
You're a fucking idiot larpy YouTube watching spaz. If you don't need soft armour you don't need plates. If you need ates you need soft armour. What is explosive fragments? What is a fucking grenade, mortar, IED, pipe bomb, handgun, shotgun pellets, .22. I fucking hate you douchebg larper cunts. Bet you even have a faggoty beard
Xavier Carter
This. The IOTV is also pretty good. Turtle up.
Carter Rivera
Literal autism. Show me a plate carrier that takes 12x10 plates that doesn't accept 12x10 plates.
Robert Ramirez
You swapped something decent for junk
Jace Roberts
He's not wrong though. Yeah, a PC will protect your vitals but without proper and immediate medical care even a gsw to your extremities could by fatal. People on this board buy an AR and a PC and act like they're ready for anything.
Jordan Young
Sure, I'm going to check and see if this life saving equipment is good by tapping it to see how it sounds instead of following the recommendations of the organization that issued it to me and paying attention to the dates. Have fun with that one, retard.
Michael Hughes
It's fucking nothing then.
Joshua Morris
PCs are a psyop to get people to believe they are adequately protected for when the glow in the dark niggers start kicking in doors.
Andrew Watson
The mil actually teaches you the tap test.Sorry you are a larp
Isaac Foster
spotted the 4 year peacetime infantryman.
Adam Gonzalez
Wars may be fought in places that are not hot and shitty against illiterates
Ryan Wright
I hate plate carriers.
I really don't like how much is exposed by all these "high speed low drag" set ups.
For aesthetics I prefer heavy looking shit like pic related, because honestly I'll most likely larp my whole life.
BUT realistically I want an armor system that's basically the IMTV trimmed down. I want side plates, front plates with Kevlar, and a yoke, but with a pair of scissors taken to it. Does this exist?
If you're going to wear armor as a civilian LARPer, you may as well wear steel armor. I wore steel plates in the military and I'm a borderline skeleton. You get used to them easily.
Brody Williams
Military euro fag here why wuld you nead armor as a civilian
Eli Davis
*breaks neck*
Brody Baker
As an American I'm honestly worried that China and Russia will get sick of our shit.
Joshua Harris
Just to add on. I believe a militarized populace is the best way to secure a safe and sovereign state, no matter the size of the state. Just look at Switzerland and Israel.
Ryan Hernandez
I firmly believe the anti-gun movement in the second half of the 20th century was a move to pave way to a coastal invasion. Particularly on the pacific side where it was pushed the hardest.
Colton Martinez
I mean both coasts in general are especially susceptible to that bullshit.
I think you might be on to something
Jayden Lee
The US has more aircraft carriers than the rest of the world combined. The US Air Force is the largest air force in the world. The 2nd largest is the US Navy.
Invasion is not going to happen.
Asher Parker
nearly every "weird" aspect of our society today could probably be traced back to some marxist subversive roots.
Stared with Boomer hippies and the anti-war movement to lead to the US's withdrawl from Vietnam, then lead to so much more after it was realized how easy it was to subvert Americans.
Gun control (((General equality))) Militant LGBTQ+ Anarchist Demonstrations University think tanks
But Cultural Marxism is just a conspiracy dude.
Carson Allen
Some blame the Russians, some blame the Jews, some blame the interdimensional vampires, but in the end China is the only entity that actually benefits from having your country disarmed and weak.
Josiah Nelson
Russia started it though, back during the Cold War, China is just the last true holdout from that era
Brandon Ramirez
SHALL NOT
Tyler Lopez
Got a good place to grab one?
Julian Reed
>how much is exposed by all these "high speed low drag" set ups. fucking this. you're gonna regret such little coverage when your brachial gets clipped
Michael Martinez
You can find them on Ebay at varying prices. Also surplus stores seem to carry them fairly often. I still have yet to find one in good shape in my size at an acceptable price though. Fuck paying $300 for a set of moonpat body armor.
Lucas Martin
Please by all means explain why they want us disarmed and weak? They were selling civilians guns by the boatload until US gunmakers lobbied to have them banned.
Isaac Walker
lmao you think that big ass flak vest is high speed?
Jacob Wright
Just get a cold war bundeswhere flak and layer it under the plate carrier. Cover in all terrain 3d camo and you have a poor mans gear.
Jace Edwards
Pic related when combined minus 3d all weather cammo
Also, you can put hard plates in the neck like I did.
Alexander Scott
This may be probably local thing, but you don't use anti-spall pouches for your steel plates in Freedomland? The plate is coated and put in thicc kevlar/twaron/any other (para)aramid. pouch. That way you are safe from spalling even considering multihit.
We use them regularly here (Czech). Of course, ceramics are preferable, but when you are stocking something for long-term/shtf scenario, you want steel. Same applies for training, only utter bozos train with ceramic plates.
I add this to the outside and sit the assembly on a trauma plate.
Jacob Parker
Ceramic plates don’t last as long. Sure, they’ll stop ap rounds and some really powerful high velocity stuff but ar500 3+ will stop most rounds, especially at range and won’t degrade like ceramic. If you want it to last years or decades in shtf then ar500 is better. If you can afford both, great get both but steel has its advantages:
Anthony Ortiz
I wish there was more advanced body armor and that was actually cheap too. Like dragon scale using a tungsten alloy of sorts that could cover the entire body.
Ethan Lee
What armor level is the flak vest rated for? Where the hell did you get hard plates that small
Samuel Hughes
Did spalling do that to that soldier's face?
Luis Evans
3a I think
Zachary Williams
Bunch of boats controlled by women that run into tanker boats and shit all the time.
Bunch of outdated aircraft btfo by anything made in the rest of the world. Also controlled by women that can't fly into anything but the ground.
Literally thousands of uniformed trannies.
I'm American too but you gotta admit our military has gotten flat out embarassing.
China is practicing eugenics, meanwhile we pump out autists and trannies like it's going out of style. Future doesn't look good, bud.
Logan Reyes
Yes thank you!
Jacob Collins
... What do you know of these interdimensional vampires
Luis Green
No his hummer took an RPG. He took a face full of shrapnel I also think he is TACP airman. >pic related Prolly what the dudes felt like after taking an RPG to the vehicle
The marines have long switched to all PC, I was IT in afghanistan in 2012 and had a PC. I find it hard to believe the army is that far behind.
Chase Hall
>Highcom "AR1000" I'm looking at their armor and it says DEA compliant threats. Does that mean if the DEA uses those bullets on the plates they will go through?
Jordan Diaz
Gen IV IOTV is pretty much the same as the USMC PC
Julian Murphy
Are you fucking kidding me? If you're this retarded, I bet Binkov's Battlegrounds would seem like next level tactical analysis, so just go there... If people thought Germany could give the world a run for its money, the US poses a terrifying and real threat. Look at every other country's capability for mid air refueling, for sea refueling, and compare that to other countries. Compare some of the largest navies in the world compared to the US and you see some huge numbers to compete with the good old US of A, and then you need to remember that there are literally Dinghies with an old Korean war recoilless rifle bolted to it and are calling it a combat vessel. Even the more modernized one's that the Norks supposedly control, their magic missile boats, they're wire guided AT munitions that have been strapped to little inflatables, and aluminum, dinghies. I'm not fucking kidding. The US had shit like MGs strapped to Zodiaks that aren't even considered to add to their fleets because they are considered part of a different hull as equipment. I seriously wonder about people like you, it's like facts don't matter. Are you a Flat Earth Army guy too? China is the largest and most delicate paper tiger the world has ever seen. Do you think a country with millions of people cooking over campfires matters in global affairs, a country that needs to literally make islands with civillian industry to retain sovreignty over an ocean they have no hope of controlling? They can't even refuel planes or ships to attack Western Europe for more than a month, not to mention their incapability of competing with the USA.
I've dumbed all that shit down as much as possible for your retarded $.50 army ass.
Nolan Ortiz
Compare that to the US* wow I should have gone over this before posting, there's a bunch of errors, and I blame for making me seem like a retard. I got too enthusiastic in my effort to lower myself to the same intellectual level, that of an ape. Gotta remember to proof read. Didn't proof read again.
Landon Harris
The Bolsheviks and their hellish minions want to prohibit honest citizens from defending themselves and want to ban armor. Buy high quality while you can. After they get all or some their way concerning firearms in the legislatures or in Congress you can bet they'll come after the passive means of personal defense as well. Look no further than Corrupticutt after Sandy Vagina.
Nicholas Anderson
Based.
Nicholas Butler
Because we can
Isaiah Sanchez
Because it gives a reason for the government to come shoot us.
You are a taxpayer just as I am. You shoot me then the government cant tax me and then pay you. The citizens will look as militant as they like and the gov will be caught in a catch 22
Joseph Hill
So just what is considered gucci SAPI plates nowdays?
Liam Smith
Because this country is going down the tubes rapidly and civil unrest is in the cards
Whatever you decide, make sure you actually wear and move with the thing. You'll find out how obnoxious a stupid ass setup is after a two or three day camping trip with your get up and go gear on.
If I had a dollar for every "prepper" I've met with a dumb ass plate carrier that either does nothing or is overloaded with crap, I'd be able to eat for a week.
Also, ceramic plates definitely crack. Seen it a few times. Don't manhandle ceramics unless you need to, they get brittle after a while.
Or, for more practical and comprehensive coverage for commonly encountered threats, get soft body armor first. Even if shit goes south, you'll realize after a year of not encountering a dedicated, rifle wielding adversary that plate armor isn't necessary in most circumstances. Good to have, but start with your 90% threat and then move up.
Luis Anderson
How do the soft plates handle their job? If im gonna run these with steel plates in my vest, will they be a good catcher in front of the plates?
