[ShaiVong]

Every time I browse through the local milsurp store in my area, I always stop to try on a couple of their surplus flackjackets. I got to thinking; which I know is a bad habbit I'm trying to break; "I wonder if this would be usefull in a HD/SHTF situation. Why" I thought, "if i heard something in the night, I could slip this on and increase my chances of surviving a gunshot or knife strike, every little bit helps, right?"

Compaired to ballistic vests, they are pretty cheap; but are they worth the money? I know their not really designed to stop rifle rounds or anything like that, but just how much protection do they provide? Would they stop a handgun round at room ranges? Bird or buckshot? :confused:

[Pilgrim]

The "flak" jackets available in the military surplus market are for fragmentation and shell splinters, i.e. grenade and mortar fragments. They are not designed to stop bullets. If you are serious about bullet resistant vests, get one from a reputable manufacturer that lists the bullets it is designed to stop.

[schapman43]

There are guys on other boards that have fired .40, 9mm, and .45acp at the flack vests which stop all that I listed.

[ShaiVong]

One of my buddies reported that a USGI flakjacket stopped rounds from the MG mounted on his M1 tank, although stopped or not I imagine it would cause huge internal injuries.

Pilgrim; If I wanted a ballistic vest, then I would save up and buy one. I get shot at too seldom, and they are too expensive, for me to buy one. I'm looking for something to meet me half way. How much less energy does a grenade fragment have than a piece of buckshot or a 22LR/38spl/9mm have? I'm not looking for something to let me shrug off 10ga slugs, just something that would increase my chances of surviving an encounter that goes south.

[telomerase]

>There are guys on other boards that have fired .40, 9mm, and .45acp at the flack vests which stop all that I listed.

Flak vests are made out of Kevlar, rather than Spectra, and Kevlar ages fairly fast. Bullet construction makes a lot of difference, and things that will stop, e.g., subsonic hollow points, may not stop 9mm ball.

Pedantry: a "flack" is a PR guy. "Flak" is AA fire, what flak vests were originally for.

[telomerase]

>One of my buddies reported that a USGI flakjacket stopped rounds from the MG mounted on his M1 tank,

Not at less than 400 yards.

[telomerase]

>Bird or buckshot?

Here you are probably right. Even a very old vest should stop buckshot at any range where it has separated into individual pellets. .22 lr and other mouse-pistol rounds, too.

[ShaiVong]

I would hope that even with projectiles that can penetrate, the vest would absorb enough energy/velocity and maybe deform the round enough to make it less lethal. Would this be why US soldiers seem to get wounded more often than killed? And why we use M855 rather than SS109 now?

But back to the point, what do you guys think?

Aye, it might save your butt, and its cheap to boot, what have you got to loose?

Nay, its not ment to stop bullets, and it wouldnt really provide usefull protection against them, if your really that paranoid, save up for awhile and buy a vest with rifle plates.

[Pilgrim]

Pilgrim; If I wanted a ballistic vest, then I would save up and buy one. I get shot at too seldom, and they are too expensive, for me to buy one. I'm looking for something to meet me half way. How much less energy does a grenade fragment have than a piece of buckshot or a 22LR/38spl/9mm have? I'm not looking for something to let me shrug off 10ga slugs, just something that would increase my chances of surviving an encounter that goes south.

Now you are getting into the area of risk management. How much are you willing to pay for protection for an event that may never come?

When I started as a reserve deputy 21 years ago, the county did not buy vests for their deputies, fulltime or reserve. I decided that my life was worth the investment in a quality vest, so I bought a Second Chance vest. You know the one? The one where president and CEO of the company shoots himself in the chest while wearing his product. This was before the National Institute of Justice got into the act of rating vests. I couldn't think of a better testimonial to a product than the owner shooting himself to demonstrate how well his vests work.

Now, if you are willing to trust your life to some Internet posting by an unknown stranger who said he has shot military flak vests with his what not, perhaps you ought to ask that stranger first if he was wearing the vest at the time.

If you are dead set on owning a "vest" of unknown quality, may I suggest taking up skydiving with surplus parachutes that are also available from a number of sources, Internet or otherwise. These are the ones where the shroud lines are removed because they are not intended for parachute use. But what the hell, they are cheap and you can surely find someone who will sew the shroud lines back on and attach them to a harness and pack. While it is extremely unlikely you can get someone to shoot at you while you are wearing a surplus flak vest, it should be a piece of cake for you to hire a plane to take you up while you test out your surplus bargain basement parachute.

Let me know how your parachute jump works out.

Pilgrim

[FJC]

I think the important point to consider, given the original poster's comments, is Will using this flak jacket in the circumstances described be detrimental?

I don't think it would be. Would a new, rated, expensive vest from a reputable company be better? Heck yes it would. If I were going into harm's way (say, in a home defense situation) and I had the choice of:
A. Nothing
B. Flak Jacket
C. Second Chance body armor

Of course I'd pick C. But what if these are your choices:

A. Nothing
B. Flak Jacket

Wouldn't you choose the flak jacket? I sure would. No, I wouldn't assume it'd stop anything shot at me, but I wouldn't assume that with the high quality armor, either...no matter what, my goal would be to not be shot!

I'd rather have a .22 than a rock, and I'd rather have a 9mm/.45 than a .22. Same kind of argument...I'd rather have a flak jacket than a pajama top, and rather have a Level IV Second Chance vest than a flak jacket...

The only way it could hurt the situation is if it is so bulky that it is going to keep you from being able to defend yourself. So, I'd say get the flak jacket. Then in the future if you have more money, replace it with a high-quality vest.

:)

[ShaiVong]

Thanks FJC, you hit the nail on the head.