What would you do with body armor if you have it? The few people that I know who have it keep it packed away in a closet. It’s really heavy. In an emergency you would not have time to put it on yourself. I would make sure that I have it on if I was a front line soldier, but that’s the only way.
As far as body armor goes, ill paraphrase clint smith, you have to be in a fight with somone good enough to hit the armor.
The point I was trying to convey is body armor is great and it works. However you can get hit wherever you are not covered and that's a large area. With the plates the OP is looking at, unless you are very small framed, a 9x9 plate most likely wont even cover the vitals from the front, let alone a quartering shot. It is better than nothing? Yes it is. is it a good choice? I personally don't think so.
Not saying armor is a bad idea, just saying a 9x9 plate in the front and back is like wearing a bikini when it comes to body armor coverage... not much there. Might want to look for larger plates, consider side plates, or look into soft armor, depending on your needs. Better than nothing, but personally I prefer to at least have my vitals covered from the front and back at a minimum.When I’m dealing with people, I’m pretty much next to a vehicle. Smartest thing to do would be to shoot me in the head…
I still wear the vest, not because I think I’ll be shot in the head. But if someone pulls up with a gun… vehicle moving… more likely to take one in the chest just because it is a larger/easier target.
If I get shot in the head… not going to make that much of a difference whether I’m wearing a vest or not. If I get shot in the chest… could be all the difference. Vests aren’t designed to protect everything. There is a reason why most agencies custom order armor for personnel, and they make sure certain area is covered. My hard armor… I have a lot uncovered at my lower torso (a lot of times, people do not fit their vests correctly… leaving more vitals exposed than if it was fitted right).
You have arteries, brain, neck… all can be fatal. Arteries… depending where you are hit… could be survivable with a tourniquet. But taking one in the area that the vest covers can cause just as devastating of a wound. Look at Oswald… that one .38 round from Ruby damaged his spleen, stomach, aorta, vena cava, kidney, liver, and diaphragm. Most people saw the shot and figured he would survive. Obviously… he did not.
I do like Clint Smith, but I disagree with that view. Having armor isn’t a bad thing or a hindrance… unless you argue it as such. Don’t want to wear it… that is fine. Most agencies recommend it in certain situations, and require it in others (for us, qualifications and live firearm training are required to have armor on). I know plenty of people who don’t wear armor at work. I didn’t due to the soft armor being IIIA, and when the III was originally offered… I was told that I had to wear the IIIA in an under carrier. Nope… I’m not being a sweaty mess everyday. When it was clarified and just hard armor was approved… I wear it everyday. All personal considerations.
If someone asks me if they should get armor for self protection… I’ll always say yes. Unless your skin stops bullets, I’ll always say you should.
Do you need to? That’s the question that the person needs to answer… and nobody really can answer for someone else. End of the day, your money is buying it, not mine.
Its better tgan nothing, but i would look for plates that are wide and tall enough to cover the width of your chest and from your from your neck to a couple inches above your belly button. Goal is to protect lungs and heart.I'm part of our church safety/security team, serving every Sunday from 8:30-12:30. That's when I'd be wearing it. Would prefer Level 3 or Level 3+ (3A is at the bottom of the Level 3 scale). Lvl 3 supposedly protects up to 7.62/39 but not the 5.56/.223 that Lvl 3+ protects. Yeah, I was wondering about that smallish 9x9 plate when most plates that I see sold by themselves are bigger.
No matter what you do, hard plates, whether they are steel, polymer, or ceramic, are thick and don't conceal well, IMHO you wont have "realistic concealment" with any lvl 3 or lvl 3+ hard plates no matter the type.Oh yeah, steel is great! Front and back full plates will run you roughly 35-50 lbs of weight. You will be uncomfortable and have some mobility issues. There will be no realistic concealment of what you have on because you just won't look or move right. These are best worn on top of lvl 3a soft armor so as to protect you from direct abrasion discomfort. There is nothing like the edge of a steel plate in a simple carrier digging into your skin.
You won't find too many people wearing full front and back steel plates AND carrying concealed.
I'm part of our church safety/security team, serving every Sunday from 8:30-12:30. That's when I'd be wearing it. Would prefer Level 3 or Level 3+ (3A is at the bottom of the Level 3 scale). Lvl 3 supposedly protects up to 7.62/39 but not the 5.56/.223 that Lvl 3+ protects. Yeah, I was wondering about that smallish 9x9 plate when most plates that I see sold by themselves are bigger.