Seriously? Body armour at the gun range?
Yeah, it is a silly idea like those 4 silly rules of gun handling that are supposed to help keep lethal tools from being unintentionally used lethally, only the vest helps protect the wearer in spite of the inability of the potential shooter from adhering to the rules.
So having established that you and Timradcliffe345 share similar views and concerns - can you advise him as to current vendors and products, or alternate forums where he can learn more? That was the principal thrust of my comments in this thread (no forum searching necessary), and nobody seems to be taking that point up for elaboration.
I haven't actually purchased any new vests since 2004, so I am not up on current pricings. HOWEVER, in the past, Bulletproofme.com has tended to be higher than other places that I had found, but with a good variety of offerings. One place I have suggested folks use is
www.galls.com , although that isn't to say that they currently have the best prices.
In the past, the Gall's brand vest was actually a Gall's carrier containing a name brand set of ballistic inserts. In the past, that name brand was Safariland. So you could basically get a Safariland vest (same sizes, shapes, etc.) for $60-100 less if purchased as Gall's brand. The panels are actually labelled as Safariland, but the carrier was labelled as Gall's.
There are now numerous vest dealers on the internet, however, from a variety of companies. Personally, I would stick with the name brands such as Safariland, American Body Armor, Point Blank, etc., but not Second Chance. Second Chance always seemed to offer typical armor at premium prices and after the zylon fiasco where they insisted it was safe and continued to sell it in spite of known failures, I would not buy from them.
There may be several other very good brands. By and large, the brand isn't as important as the material. Kevlar is the workhorse dinosaur of the industry and it is still good stuff and long lasting (although only warranted for 5 years...like most of them). The thing about kevlar is that is seems to do well beyond its warranty life and appears less apt to failure after normal wear and tear abuses. As I recall, it does not work if saturated with fluid. So it isn't a great material for ballistic protection in the surf.
There are other materials that are stronger and hence are used in vests that are subsequently lighter and subsequently cooler. They also tend to cost more money (ironic...less product but more $).
I believe in staying away from anything "new" because of the zylon business where it took a few years before officers starting getting killed (Oceanside PD Officer Tony Zeppetella) and injured as a result of the vests failing. In other words, it took a few years for officers who wore the vests day in and day out to finally have their numbers punched and be involved in a shooting where they were shot.
Going with the notion of regulations, all NIJ certified vests should be fine for the NIJ standards for which they are rated in spite my feelings of going with certain known brands.
Probably the biggest differences between brands other that various fit and style issues come in the realm of the offerings of the different types of materials used for the ballistic panels and the attributes of the carriers (color, pockets, attachments, etc.).
If Tim has any specific questions, he can PM me.
