Daily Concealable Body Armor?

[Iftrue]

I'm in the market for concealable daily body armor resistant to 9mm/45 handgun fire at >= 10 yards, likely. What brands/distributors are reputable? I've done some googling, and a number of different results turn up.

I'd be willing to consider armored coatwear, but I have need for lighter indoor usage as well. Can anyone give any recommendations? I'm unsure if III-A rated armor would make sense over II-rated, so are there any opinions on that?

I've also seen "GoldFlex" thrown around a lot over kevlar - is it really better/more comfortable? I'd like to keep the price <$1k, if possible.

 

[Trent]

Galls (http://www.galls.com/) has been in business a LONG time and is reputable.

We don't have concealed carry in Illinois. Whenever I'm in a particularly paranoid mood, or there's good reason to be paranoid, I wear a IIIA vest.

If you can afford IIIA, why wouldn't you just opt for the better protection?

Make sure you order from somewhere reputable, I've heard of knock-off body armor (specifically, Interceptor SAPI plates) that offer zero (or questionable) protection being sold as surplus.

 

[Trent]

PS also consider where you're going to be, and whether it's advisable to be there. If I think there's a good chance I'll get shot, I'll try to avoid that place.

However, occupational hazard "other than law enforcement" is perfectly understandable. When I had my gun shop open, I wore body armor every single day.

 

[rbernie]

Good inputs so far.

As a reminder to the group - let's please try to keep this thread focused on armor itself and not on the rationale for needing it (or not). It seems that folk often want to use these sorts of threads to comment on the whys/why not of body armor, and that involves value judgments that are just not appropriate for discussion in this forum.

 

[rscalzo]

Top body armor must be fitted. One size fits all doesn't cut it. Costs run near a thousand for the best and wearing it can be uncomfortable. During the colder months, we wore it over the uniform shirt under a jacket.

 

[Trent]

Here's a question to go with this.

How many years should pass before replacing body armor? All of my vests are going on 10 years old now. Time to give those a proper retirement (at the range, as a backstop) and buy new?

 

[rbernie]

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/technology/body-armor/research.htm

 

[Trent]

Thanks for the link. Looks like it's time to take these two old vests to the range and retire them. I own one (IIA) that's 10 years old, and another (IIIA) that's 6.

The 10 year old vest feels like so much cardboard - no longer soft and flexible, as it used to be. The IIIA vest is not much better off.