@S Jenks, are you always wearing soft armor?
@S Jenks, are you always wearing soft armor?
"It was the fuck aroundest of times, it was the find outest of times."- 45dotACP
It depends. I have three setups for different assignments:
If I’m in a patrol uniform then yes 100% of the time, IIIA in a Class B uniform-style carrier. We dress like we’re in the 1980s, only in the past few months have we finally ditched the covers and ties. We’re looking at authorizing overt load-bearing carriers for patrol this summer, although my back’s already shot.
If in plainclothes then no, but I have an overt IIIA carrier along with my old standalone IV plates/carrier in the cruiser.
If on a K9 callout it’s usually the overt IIIA carrier if doing a missing person search, or standalone IV plate carrier if looking for bad guys.
Long story short is I’d like to avoid an ICW setup, although I understand the benefits of soft armor covering areas the plates do not.
To answer the question about threats, I’d say mainly 5.56 or x39. We’re semi-rural so you can’t discount the possibility of a hunting rifle, but it’s Massachusetts so there’s also a likelihood of a shotgun if anything. No reports of Brown Tip being used in the region that I know of. @DpdG @Sammy1 have you heard of any?
Thank you guys for the advice do far, it’s certainly filtered out a lot of less desirable options.
I’ve always wanted the BZ plates as I’ve understood them to be about the best you can buy within reason. But you’re looking at around $1k per plate, and half that or so for a side plate so $2-3k all said and done.
I’ve had two complete sets of Velocity soft armor for many years and one set of front and back ICW plates to go along with them. If I was buying anything right now and didn’t want to spend BZ money, their Special Threat plate was updated in the last year or two and would be the contender to beat.
Granted none of this is based off of much subjective data, but I’ve got a good amount of money and time into various Velocity and Mayflower products and have been very happy with all of them. I’ve always discussed with their CS several times and always gotten good responses.
My only hard criteria for plates is to keep it around .6” thick. I had 1” side plates that were light but lasted about a day with me because I hated how bulky they were.
Aside from the stupid Army stuff, my only plate carriers (and armor now that I think about it) have also been Velocity. I started with an APC that I liked a lot but eventually upgraded to a Scarab. Neither have seen 9+ month OCONUS deployments but both saw at least one trip to NTC/JRTC where I lived in them for two weeks and a few weeks in the field as train up prior to. Plus occasional workouts and every so often I’ll wear one during a class. Both have held up very well. I’m in and out of vehicles far more than I am crawling around or moving extremely long distances on foot but I’m super anal about gear typically and really can’t come up with much to complain about on either.
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Last edited by Wake27; 03-11-2023 at 03:37 PM.
I have not encountered any 855A1 in the wild, but it’s only a matter of time before some wanders off Devens. 855 is quite frequent of course.Originally Posted by S Jenks
I would love a set of the BZ plates, but they are expensive and best I can get off department dime is 3810’s. I’m a bit of an idiot and put my own money towards dumb guns instead.
Anything I post is my opinion alone as a private citizen.
A1 pops up on tacswap more and more often it seems.
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Due to the price, I decided to go with the Hesco 3810s. SKD Tactical had them for just under $1150 shipped using their March 14 “Steak & a BJ” discount (oh my).
Thank you again for all the advice.
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