Armor and plate carriers

It's been a few months since I've blogged due to working on some things that have changed our life.  We have been adding some videos to our Youtube page on some reviews and our thoughts on some gear and will be doing more in the near future.  But for now, lets talk about armor and plate carriers.

As stated before, I was in the military and law enforcement.  This was in the era before plate carriers (PC) was standard use to all in service.  Lets look at PC's and armor for the "prepper".  What do you want to have?  How often will you wear it?  How much money do you have to spend? What are the threats you are worried about?   Do you even need it???

There are a lot of questions to consider when looking at armor.  Lets look at "do you even need it" first.  The simple answer is YES.  You do need some type of armor but AFTER you have the basics down.  Food, security, shelter and water filtration/purification should all come BEFORE you get into all the "ninja gear" that's out there.  People have been shot and still survived.  I don't know anyone who has starved to death....and lived, make sense?  All the gear in the world wont save you if you have nothing to eat, a dry place to stay and clean water so get the basics done first. 

How often will you wear it?  Depends.  What is the SHTF disaster that hit your area?  Is it like the looting/riots in Ferguson that happened this last month?  Is it an EMP?  Earthquake?  Did Red Dawn ACTUALLY happen?  For me, when SHTF, I plan to bug out as soon as possible.  Our Mutual Aid Team (MAT) have communication plans in place and know that we will all meet at our BOL as soon as possible.  I plan to wear armor while bugging out.  I also have armor for my wife and kids. We will also wear it religiously until the rest of the MAT arrives.  Why?  We don't know exactly what/who we will encounter.  Hostile?  Friendly?  Who knows, but we won't want to take any chances. 

What do you want?  This is a huge question.  Do you want plates that will stop rifle rounds?  will soft armor work for what you are anticipating?  Do you need it to be concealable?  Honestly, try and get one of each.  One set of rifle plates, even the AR500 stuff is great.  Ceramic plates get very expensive very fast as compared to the AR500.  Make sure it has the anti-spalling coating on it though.  One set of soft concealable armor as well.  This gives you flexibility.  You can even double up if you need to.  Put the rifle plates in front of the soft armor.  This is what most military issue vests do.  You have the SAPI plates in front of the soft armor.  Gives you extra protection.  Now take into consideration that layers will increase weight and make sure that you have ample clean water to drink.  You will sweat a LOT while wearing this, especially if in the heat and moving around.  Almost all of our armor are in carriers that at least allow the option of adding magazine pouches if we need to.  This also allows for flexibility.  Check out these videos I did of a couple of vests/carrier and armor we use at our training courses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0kVjboS_sY&list=UU4wO1Q6DZU4nde9oQlIizXA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL4ValfJ4DM&list=UU4wO1Q6DZU4nde9oQlIizXA

There are a couple of options for you. 

Now costs on items like these will vary.  You can pick them up for a couple hundred bucks off of KSL.com, Craigs list, gun shows etc.  If you plant to buy knew, they can easily hit over $1000 PER SET.  Do you have kevlar helmets?  If you have vests, why not helmets?  We have helmets as well as eye protection. 

This is a PC from Grey Ghost Gear with the ceramic rifle plates in it that I'm using at our rifle fighting class. 

Remember to work on the basics FIRST, then worry about armor.  But YES, you should get some when time and money allows.  Who knows, maybe you will never need it....but if you need it, there won't be a substitute. 

Be safe and prep on!