I've worked as a armed professional & served in the US armed forces for approx 24 years.
I never owned my own vest or body armor but I'm not against the idea or plan. In Kyle's non fiction book; American Sniper, former SEAL Chris Kyle writes that his in-laws got him a set of Dragon Skin armor to use on deployments in SW Asia. Kyle stated he used it often on spec ops missions.
I researched Dragon Skin & read a few T&Es/reports that said it was over-rated and not up to milspec/US law enforcement requirements.
I heard Dragon Skin & other US body armor designs had major problems in bad weather(rain) & extreme heat(110 degrees +).
Second Chance is highly rated, but the original owner had big problems with law enforcement in the late 2000s.
In closing, vests & body armor have practical uses for armed professionals but be leery of the ads & claims. I'd spend the $$$ to get decent kit.
5.11 used to market a slick jungle vest that has body armor inserts. It was meant for EP(exec protection/personal security) PMCs & plainclothes LE officers in SW Asia.
I'm not sure why 5.11 ended this product line. It was on
www.uscav.com .
Clyde