I hope I don't accidentally start some flame war or religious war over this.
How many of you are considering body armor? What kind? Why?
I'm considering it because I think advanced medical care/trauma care is going to be in short supply in the future. A GSW that might not be fatal when care is abundant may be lethal when it's scarce.
I'm considering steel armor not because it's cheap, but because in a time of no resupply, steel will just keep taking hits. I don't mean taking multiple hits in a single engagement, I mean single hits months or weeks apart. Ceramic may take multiple hits but not as many as steel. If you can't buy more, you're screwed.
I'm leaning heavily towards Predator because their fragmentation mitigation system seems the best. The rubber coating and kevlar wrap contained a ridiculous number of 9mm hits without fragmentation escaping the covering. Their AR650 steel is the thinnest but the III+ will stop everything but .30-06 AP so the weight is acceptable. 14lbs for 2 plates. I'm rucking 2-6 miles with a 50lb. pack everyday so this is manageable to me.
When I reviewed the NIJ test results between Predator and other brands, Predator reported the lowest backface deformation of the clay backface behind the test plate. This indicates the user will experience the least skin and organ trauma from the impact, especially with additional trauma pads behind the plate. Non-penetration doesn't help much if the impact still causes internal bleeding.
My runner-up choice was Tacticon Armament but their backface deformation reported was much higher, the coating seems to separate from the plate after fewer shots and they didn't respond to my email. They are lighter and less expensive, however. Their plates would definitely work, they just don't seem as long-lived.
Thoughts?
How many of you are considering body armor? What kind? Why?
I'm considering it because I think advanced medical care/trauma care is going to be in short supply in the future. A GSW that might not be fatal when care is abundant may be lethal when it's scarce.
I'm considering steel armor not because it's cheap, but because in a time of no resupply, steel will just keep taking hits. I don't mean taking multiple hits in a single engagement, I mean single hits months or weeks apart. Ceramic may take multiple hits but not as many as steel. If you can't buy more, you're screwed.
I'm leaning heavily towards Predator because their fragmentation mitigation system seems the best. The rubber coating and kevlar wrap contained a ridiculous number of 9mm hits without fragmentation escaping the covering. Their AR650 steel is the thinnest but the III+ will stop everything but .30-06 AP so the weight is acceptable. 14lbs for 2 plates. I'm rucking 2-6 miles with a 50lb. pack everyday so this is manageable to me.
When I reviewed the NIJ test results between Predator and other brands, Predator reported the lowest backface deformation of the clay backface behind the test plate. This indicates the user will experience the least skin and organ trauma from the impact, especially with additional trauma pads behind the plate. Non-penetration doesn't help much if the impact still causes internal bleeding.
My runner-up choice was Tacticon Armament but their backface deformation reported was much higher, the coating seems to separate from the plate after fewer shots and they didn't respond to my email. They are lighter and less expensive, however. Their plates would definitely work, they just don't seem as long-lived.
Thoughts?