Bought my first body armor

[TTv2]

Midway has a good sale on a plate carrier that is advertised as lightweight (1.5 lbs) and it does look comfortable. It's not gonna cover every bit of my torso, but it's going to cover the most important spots, plus it's better than nothing.

For $50 it was a good entry level option, same for the steel plate I bought to go with it. I was going to get a swimmer cut plate for the lighter weight and increased mobility, but saw there was a shooter's cut plate on sale and figured if I don't like the mobility of that for a front plate, it'll be a good back plate.

I decided to go with steel because it's thinner than other options, durable, cheap, and proven. Didn't bother considering ceramic, I don't like how thick those plates are and I don't feel I'll ever find myself taking fire from a .30-06 using AP bullets.

I do think I will buy a pair of soft 3A plates at some point for a lightweight loadout or maybe even a concealed vest I could wear under a big hoodie in winter. Even tho it can't stop rifles, the added protection from edged weapons or blunt objects is nice.

But, I do think if anyone is looking to get their first set of armor who isn't LEO or military, it's hard to beat steel. It's not something I'm ever going to wear for 8 hours a day, but insurance for a really bad day.

 

[magyars4]

Makes sense...always consider ways to create force multipliers..... armour, night vision, silencer, etc.
Anything to give you an edge

 

[CapnMac]

It's not something I'm ever going to wear for 8 hours a day, but insurance for a really bad day.

Only issue is that, on a really bad day, you may be in the rig all 24 hours of it.
And, you want to have already learned habits related to armor. Which include callous where it raises blisters or the like.
Familiarity is pretty important in armor. Rolling over a low garden wall is completely different. That "chin up" maneuver to get over a 6' privacy fence is different. Going 3-4 hours in a vehicle is different.

Like much else "we" do, practice makes perfect.

 

[TTv2]

Only issue is that, on a really bad day, you may be in the rig all 24 hours of it.
And, you want to have already learned habits related to armor. Which include callous where it raises blisters or the like.
Familiarity is pretty important in armor. Rolling over a low garden wall is completely different. That "chin up" maneuver to get over a 6' privacy fence is different. Going 3-4 hours in a vehicle is different.

Like much else "we" do, practice makes perfect.

Sure, I'll obviously wear it at times to get the feel for it and maybe in 5 or 10 years some new plate material that's lighter and thinner will be developed. For now I think steel is the way to go and the lightest plates that cover the most critical part of the torso will do.

At least I feel I'm well ahead of the curve as most gun owners don't seem to own body armor or reload ammo.

 

[herrwalther]

I got my first (civilian) plate carrier and armor in September. Hopefully I never have to use it. It took me well over a year to get used to not wearing armor.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I used to wear a chain mail vest just for the exercise. It is made of 12 ga mild steel wire made into 9mm rings, unrivited.
It weighs in at 66 pounds.
After wearing that for a while, modern personal armor feels like wearing a t-shirt... .

 

[JERRY]

the carrier shoulder straps and proper adjustment can make a world of difference.

 

[TTv2]

I used to wear a chain mail vest just for the exercise. It is made of 12 ga mild steel wire made into 9mm rings, unrivited.
It weighs in at 66 pounds.
After wearing that for a while, modern personal armor feels like wearinf a t-shirt... .

I've been playing Medieval Total War on computer and they've got an armor level and it starts at padded leather, then to light mail, then heavy mail, then plate mail and I can't imagine how people could move wearing 100 pounds of armor. It's no wonder the two most common melee weapons of the time were the spear and the pollaxe, you needed something that could penetrate armor and/or trip the opposing fighter who himself is also weighted down in armor.

 

[CapnMac]

I can't imagine how people could move wearing 100 pounds of armor

They couldn't. The 100 pound plate was used, on horseback, for jousting only. It was very rigid and inflexible, too.
There was "walking plate" which was around 60# or so, not very mobile even with all the articulations.

Pole arms were popular because it was the best way for infantry to unhorse opponents (and mounted troops were largely nobility. Which was handy as you could ransom a noble. And you were making a C3I impact on the enemy by taking away a battle leader.

Foot troops needed overhead, shoulder and torso protection, as that was where most mounted forces could reach from horseback. Especially if you were making them get inside the reach of an eleven-foot pike or spear.

 

[theotherwaldo]

Most later tourney armor had lofting rings on the back or shoulders so that they could use a block and tackle to lift their knight high enough to slide a horse under him.
Often the armor weighed more than the man wearing it.
-Not something that you could wear to march into battle.
BTW, I've had much lighter riveted ring-and washer armor that was also much tougher, but it was original 15th century stuff.
It weighed about 22 pounds but was too valuable to wear casually.