LBX Tactical/Costa Ludus Armatus Plate Carrier

Since November 2014, I have had in my possession one of the Costa Ludus Armatus plate carriers (PC) by LBX Tactical.  Its in a great new color of Wolf Grey!  Alex M at LBX Tactical has been great to work with and has been very prompt on replying to the questions I had.  The main question I had was "who was their target market" with this carrier?  The reply I received was "The systems itself is geared toward those who like to train and have a need for modularity because of the different training scenarios they intend to put their gear through.
General gun enthusiast marketed with attention to LEO/Mil needs is how I would best sum it up."  So it looks like this was "geared" towards individual shooters who like to train which is great!  The cost of the carrier on the lbxtactical.com website is $199.95 and it comes in Black, Mas Grey, Multicam and Wolf Grey. 

The general features of the PC are listed below and taken directly from the LBX website.

• Low profile carrier with fast-clip front panel
• Carriers come with LBX-4020B triple M4 panel
• Built in padded shoulder straps
• Reinforced drag handle
• Removable elastic cumberbund
• Front zipper admin pocket (4.5"x5.75")
• Loop ID front (3'x5.75") Back(9.5"x3")
• 500D Cordura

The carrier comes in two sizes.  Medium for 10"x12" ESAPI plates and Large for 10.125"x13.25" ESAPI plates.

No if you have watch Chris Costa much you have seen his commercial for this carrier with the matching bag (Review on the bag at a later date as it is being used for the next couple months before we give you our thoughts). 

We love how the front panel is easy to remove by two clips, one on each top corner of the panel.  Then you simply pull and it un-Velcro's.  This allows you to remove the triple M4 pouch and put other options on it.  From our perspective, this is great for the "general gun enthusiast" who likes to train but doesn't like having to deal with MOLLE/PALS webbing and how difficult it can be to take pouches off to change the configuration for a different firearm.  The front admin pocket is nice but don't try to put anything in it that is very thick as we were able to stretch the opening only about 1.5".  It is great for small, thin items though. 

Under the front panel is a giant (7"x10")section of hook and loop which allows the cumberbund to grab onto.  On the grab pieces of the cumberbund they have sewn in some nylon webbing, 3/4" wide, to allow the user to grab on and un-do the cumberbund easier.  If you have worn carriers with a Velcro cumberbund, you know how hard they can be at times to undo, this little additions does make it a lot easier. 

On the inside of both the front and back panel is some foam padding.  This will make wearing of plates inside the carrier a bit more comfortable and allow them to not "dig in" to the individual wearing the carrier.  On the back panel, there is no MOLLE/PALS webbing which to me seems like a lot of good wasted space.  Add two or three rows for a bit more versatility would be a nice touch, but remember, the carrier is geared towards "the normal shooters" instead of full blown door kickers, so this may be the reason LBX didn't put any. 

Now, there are some things that we do not like about it and most seem like quality control issues.  The below pictures are of the second of three carriers we had sent from LBX.  I put a ruler a crossed the top of the buckles and as you can see where the pen is pointing, the measurements are off quite a bit. The pen is pointing to the angle on the carrier that should line up with ESAPI plates.  Also, the "Velcro" under the ruler is also not in line with the buckles, or is it the buckles that are off?   

 

• Also the stitching is crooked on all three carriers that were sent out.  After the first one, we sent it back for the quality control issue as well as we wanted a large instead of the medium.  When the second arrived, the cuts/measurements were off in the same location as the first carrier.  After emailing Alex and sending him pictures, he sent out carrier number 3.  The measurements/cuts are better but there are still some issues with them. 

If you look at the pictures to the right, on the top of the carrier you will notice how different the cuts on the carrier are more rounded than the other.  This allows the plates to not fit properly which allows the plates to shift in the carrier a bit and not stay where they would offer the best coverage for the user.  The padded shoulder straps are nice as they do make plates, even the AR500 plates, a bit more comfortable to wear.  On the top of the shoulder straps is more hook and loop to allow for adjustment. 

On the third carrier that was sent to me, there were a couple of issues, but the majority of the issues had been fixed (Thanks Alex).  If you look at the very top picture of this Blog, you will notice that the buckle on the left side (as looking at it) is off by 1/4" as well as the hook and loop patch on the front is crooked.  For the most part, these are the only two minor issues that we have found with carrier #3. 

 

All in all, in the begining, we were extremley dissapointed in the carrier.  Especially with it being made by London Bridge Trading and Chris Costa putting his name on it.  But after contacting Alex and advising him of what we were seeing with it, we feel that they did "make it right" with us.  Now you have to understand that not everyone is going to be as meticulouse on lines, cuts, measurements etc.  So these small things might not be a huge deal for you.  For $199.95 you do get a good carrier that is made in the USA so you are keeping Americans working, which is what we want.  Other carriers can run up into the $800 range, just depends on what you want, where you will be wearing it etc.  The LBX Carrier is great for the target market it was intended as not everyone has $400 to spend on a carrier for training.  Check them out at www.lbxtactical.com