Body Armor
- Thread starter azmjs
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26 years was long enough to wear body armor.....glad to be rid of it!!!! Now I do have an old packet of Kwik Clot that I "forgot" to turn in when I retired. If I need it, it'll plug the hole until the medic arrives.........
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IcemanUnlimited
Member
I misvoted.. I don't own my own vest yet but plan on getting one since I retail them anyway.
My usual customers are just LEOs buying a duty vest. I wouldn't recommend buying a Just-In-Case vest that stays in your closet as a civilian, considering they break down after five or so years. If you wear it often, then it'll probably be worth your while. I DO carry some thinner more comfortable models but you'll be spending an extra few hundred dollars.
My usual customers are just LEOs buying a duty vest. I wouldn't recommend buying a Just-In-Case vest that stays in your closet as a civilian, considering they break down after five or so years. If you wear it often, then it'll probably be worth your while. I DO carry some thinner more comfortable models but you'll be spending an extra few hundred dollars.
aryfrosty
Member
An unfortunate "other" consideration of wearing soft armor is that it is now illegal in many of the areas where it would be most needed. Get caught wearing it and you may face an "enhanced" charge. That may be wrong but it is just the way it is. In Chattanooga, Tennessee recently a veteran Police Sergeant was murdered on the job by an armed robber who had been struck by a patrol car and shot. The career criminal/bad guy turned out to be wearing armor. (1*)
I am retired from law enforcement and I see both sides of the issue. I have an older issued armor hanging in my closet and it hasn't been off the hook in years. It is good to have friends who can pass down a set to you if their agency replaces armor but there is a serious reason for the reissue...soft armor panels DO deteriorate as they are worn...cycles of being worn and sweated in and drying hamper the ability of armor to stop rounds. Many officers won't do what is needed to protect the armor that protects them. It should be taken out of the carrier and hung in a dry and cool place on off days. The carrier should be laundered and dried properly while the panels are airing out. Many officers would take the time and do it right but they may not KNOW what is required. If it's important to you to wear armor spend the shekels and buy a good set for yourself. And you will spend some serious shekels, $500.00-$1,000.00 or more for a decent armor.
For the poster who mentioned that he would wear armor in the woods during hunting season: don't waste your time on the weight and discomfort. If you could get a set that would stop deer hunting sized rounds you'd have to have a gunbearer to wear it for you.
In a funny, (ironic), twist to this: I was shot on the job about 31 years ago and armor would not have helped me if I had been wearing it. I was shot in the hip/thigh.
(1*) Rest in peace, Sergeant Tim Chapin, Chattanooga, Tennessee Police Department.
I am retired from law enforcement and I see both sides of the issue. I have an older issued armor hanging in my closet and it hasn't been off the hook in years. It is good to have friends who can pass down a set to you if their agency replaces armor but there is a serious reason for the reissue...soft armor panels DO deteriorate as they are worn...cycles of being worn and sweated in and drying hamper the ability of armor to stop rounds. Many officers won't do what is needed to protect the armor that protects them. It should be taken out of the carrier and hung in a dry and cool place on off days. The carrier should be laundered and dried properly while the panels are airing out. Many officers would take the time and do it right but they may not KNOW what is required. If it's important to you to wear armor spend the shekels and buy a good set for yourself. And you will spend some serious shekels, $500.00-$1,000.00 or more for a decent armor.
For the poster who mentioned that he would wear armor in the woods during hunting season: don't waste your time on the weight and discomfort. If you could get a set that would stop deer hunting sized rounds you'd have to have a gunbearer to wear it for you.
In a funny, (ironic), twist to this: I was shot on the job about 31 years ago and armor would not have helped me if I had been wearing it. I was shot in the hip/thigh.
(1*) Rest in peace, Sergeant Tim Chapin, Chattanooga, Tennessee Police Department.
The Lone Haranguer
Member
An on duty LEO? Sure. A soldier in a war zone? Absolutely. Since I am neither, I will save my money for more guns. 
Got deployed to Desert Shield/Storm (dating myself) and thought it made sense to get a vest with ballistic chest plate to wear under my flak vest (paid $300). I do believe that combination would've stopped 7.62x39mm (certainly felt like it). Of course, most of my unit thought I was going a little overboard--how was I supposed to know we'd mostly be playing cards and GameBoy over there?! Anyway, it got stolen by one of my fellow enlisted men on the way back. I would like to get another, even though the likelihood of my having it on--even in the case of a home invasion--seems exceedingly small.
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altitude_19
Member
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2008
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- 650
I have some "surplus" laying around. It's old, but the 5 year thing is not chiseled in stone. One cannot possibly believe a vest exposed to harsh field conditions (sweat, heat, and abrasion) will expire in the exact same timeframe as one that is in a climate controlled house. I've seen old kevlar shot on a couple occasions. The "never issued" stuff always takes the hit as designed, even if it's expired. As for owning IBA being overboard...well, I doubt any one of us would have objected to having good body armor during saaaaaay, Hurricane Katrina. The Missouri river about to burst its banks less than one mile from where I sit serves as the latest reminder that large scale disaster is possible anywhere, anytime and may easily result in civil disorder. I won't say anybody is crazy for having it or electing not to. Arguments both ways... But the OVER prepared guy has rarely been caught wishing he had been the under-prepared guy.
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woerm
Member
threat environment
I was working 150' from an international border w/ a civil war going on on the other side of the line.
I'm blase about rifle fire, if my number is up, it's up.
I am more irked about grenades and ordnance addressed 'to whom it may concern'
kevlar works fine for that and it was cheap insurance.
Job is over but I kept the armor, hey it was paid for already.
r
I was working 150' from an international border w/ a civil war going on on the other side of the line.
I'm blase about rifle fire, if my number is up, it's up.
I am more irked about grenades and ordnance addressed 'to whom it may concern'
kevlar works fine for that and it was cheap insurance.
Job is over but I kept the armor, hey it was paid for already.
r
geekWithA.45
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Tactical wheelbarrow = gunkid, whose real world identity is known.
Gecko.45 is a sock puppet in jest for another person to support the gag. This person's real world identity is also known, and it is not gunkid.
GeekWithA.45 has nothing to do with either.
Gecko.45 is a sock puppet in jest for another person to support the gag. This person's real world identity is also known, and it is not gunkid.
GeekWithA.45 has nothing to do with either.
pikid89
Member
be careful with that powdered stuff...use it in the wrong kind of wound and youve got a dangerous blood clot floating around your innards waiting to stop up something important...everyday people would probably be better off "plugging holes" with a tampon or the newer Kwik Clot bandages.
Erik M
Member
I have a Vietnam era flak jacket, but its only made of what i assume is a poly/cotton shell over ballistic nylon. I wouldn't trust it to stop a .22lr round. Did wonders back in my paint balling days though. I was playing with a guy that used to deck out in full body shielding like superbike motorcycle racers do, only to see him look up in the air and get shot in the throat from less than 10 feet away. yes, he was driven to the ER with a serious injury.
Edit: I do have a pair of slash/needle proof gloves given to me from a sheriff deputy friend, don't know if that counts as armor.
Edit: I do have a pair of slash/needle proof gloves given to me from a sheriff deputy friend, don't know if that counts as armor.
EmGeeGeorge
Member
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- Aug 24, 2005
- Messages
- 806
Forttthhh Feeld for thuth guy!
Ramone
Member
Hmmmmm. I notice I never see you posting at the same time...
Vern Humphrey
Member
Body armor is like a gun -- if you don't wear it all the time, you won't have it when you need it. Since I know I won't wear it 24/7, I haven't considered buying it.
dprice3844444
member
dusty,why just ya mark where the plate goes on the carrier in the back and have somebody sew a pocket in it
Travis McGee
Member
I am simply amazed by the number of folks on this thread who think, "I'm not a LEO or soldier in combat, so I'm not ever going to buy a vest."
This is extremely myopic thinking. When the time comes that you WILL want to own body armor, is exactly when you WON'T be able to buy it: when the economy "goes Argentina" and crime goes exponential when folks are terrified and starving. You will still have to go out to find food, go to work etc, but your chances of being carjacked or otherwise bushwacked will be 100X greater than it is today. At that point, with no vest, you will be wishing you had bought one back in 2011 when you could get one delivered with just a few clicks of your mouse.
Of course, if you think it's absurd to even contemplate the American economy doing an Argentina, then you won't buy a vest. And I hope, sincerely, that America's economy never does go through such convulsions leading to social explosions.
But if it does, I'll want a vest. So I purchased one, just in case.
This is extremely myopic thinking. When the time comes that you WILL want to own body armor, is exactly when you WON'T be able to buy it: when the economy "goes Argentina" and crime goes exponential when folks are terrified and starving. You will still have to go out to find food, go to work etc, but your chances of being carjacked or otherwise bushwacked will be 100X greater than it is today. At that point, with no vest, you will be wishing you had bought one back in 2011 when you could get one delivered with just a few clicks of your mouse.
Of course, if you think it's absurd to even contemplate the American economy doing an Argentina, then you won't buy a vest. And I hope, sincerely, that America's economy never does go through such convulsions leading to social explosions.
But if it does, I'll want a vest. So I purchased one, just in case.
the chance of america going into full on chaos for an extended period of time where a ballistic vest might possibly come in handy
VS.
having a spare $400-700 in case of a real world emergency.......like your car breaking down, or unexpected bills...
my moneys on the later.
84B20
Member
That's why I'm keeping the one I was issued.
Then why even have a gun, you'll probably never need one either? Just think about another Katrina or even another LA Riot taking place some place other than LA. Society may not be as stable as some think.
mortablunt
Member
I don't really see the appeal of getting body armor. It's far more practical and doable just to CC or OC a gun. Carrying a gun is somewhat understandable even to the most anti people, but wearing armor comes across as just plain paranoid.
84B20
Member
You miss the point. It is not something most people other than LEOs or military wear every day. Re-read the last line of my previous post.
mortablunt
Member
^ Okay, post read. I remember seeing something a few years back about some rather nice coats and jackets that had class IIa armor integrated into them. They're a tad pricey (~$1150 IIRC), but definitely not uncomfortable.
mljdeckard
Member
I have ab IBA with plates due to a clerical error in my favor.
Having said that, no, I would never have bought a vest otherwise. I do not live a lifestyle or live in an area where I consider violence to be likely, and even if it were, vests only offer marginal protection. They have gaps, your head is still out, and remember, they are bullet RESISTANT, not bullet proof. The protection they offer is not worth the day to day discomfort of wearing one 24-7.
Having said that, no, I would never have bought a vest otherwise. I do not live a lifestyle or live in an area where I consider violence to be likely, and even if it were, vests only offer marginal protection. They have gaps, your head is still out, and remember, they are bullet RESISTANT, not bullet proof. The protection they offer is not worth the day to day discomfort of wearing one 24-7.
ny32182
Member
The only time I could ever foresee possibly (not probably) wanting it is if I worked at a gun range, surrounded by newbies with loaded guns for 8+ hours a day, to protect against AD.
MikeNice
Member
My wife has considerred buying me a level II because of the work I do. I haven't refused it, I just haven't encouraged her. I know the risk is out there. I also know I'm not going to wear it on every shift. So, what is the point of spending $400 on it?
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