Body armor

[ATN082268]

Does anyone have recommendations for places to buy body armor? Most likely I will get some concealable kind first but may get some kind for home defense that will work on rifle rounds. Thank you.

[Sharkbite]

AR 500 armor has a large selection of armor and acc. Long wait times these days

[Bill DeShivs]

Gonna sleep in it?

[Double Naught Spy]

Gonna sleep in it?

What?????

[Shadow9mm]

What are you trying to use the armor for? or rather in what circumstances to you want to try and wear it?

I have some experience with soft vests, but I would NOT consider body armor to be "concealable", unless you are wearing a heavy coat/jacket. It is also wicket hot and does not breathe, its like being inside a ziplock bag. Also soft body armor has a shelf life, generally in the 5yr range, after that it expires and will no longer hold its rating. The only work around it steel plates, they last forever as long as they don't rust out, but are wicked heavy.

[Bill DeShivs]

Unless you know specifically when you are going to need to defend your home, you would have to wear it all the time. I doubt a burglar or home invader will wait for you to put it on.

[TXAZ]

Google it.

[Double Naught Spy]

Unless you know specifically when you are going to need to defend your home, you would have to wear it all the time. I doubt a burglar or home invader will wait for you to put it on.

That is just plain silly. Plenty of situation do not develop that quickly or where there isn't time to take precautions.

For example, this guy was on the phone with 911 for 4 minutes before shooting an intruder...
https://komonews.com/news/local/i-ha...ooting-burglar

This woman was on the phone with 911 for 21 minutes as two men tried to gain entry. She had time to get armed, give her baby a bottle, and talk extensively with 911...
https://abcnews.go.com/US/okla-woman...ry?id=15285605

This woman was on the phone for over 10 minute with 911 after arming herself with a shotgun...
https://oklahoman.com/article/342280...lincoln-county

These folks were on the phone for several minutes with 911 before shooting through the door and killing the intruder...
https://www.myplainview.com/news/art...ng-8717798.php

The hero of the Sutherland Springs church shooting had time to get an AR15 from his safe, a magazine, ammo, and load the magazine while responding to the shooting. He had time to put on a vest...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suther...hurch_shooting

This lady spent time on the phone describing what was going on, when entry was made, the person she saw, etc. etc. She could have put on a vest...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbdqyw9sASU

While controversial, John Horn had plenty of time to put on a vest before confronting burglars of a house he was watching...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Ho...ng_controversy

Another...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB1CPeWvplI

These people had over 15 minutes...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_CNgS_1rjw

This woman had quite a bit of time...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5OQ2PMPYu0

No doubt I could find you many more exampless where people had time to do a lot of things before either they shot intruders or ended up dead or injured themselves, but that would be overkill and these will suffice. My point here is that if you don't have a ballistic vest, then you definitely can't access it in a time of need. That does not mean that you will always have time to access it, but a lot of people certainly would have had time. The notion that you need to be wearing it all the time and sleeping in it for it to be useful is just plain naive.

You have time to access one if you hear a bump in the night and decide to go an investigate it as well.

[Bill DeShivs]

Silly? Maybe.
t In my opinion, the money would be better spent on other things like lighting, reinforced doors, alarms, etc.-passive things that make it harder for someone to hurt you.

[Double Naught Spy]

Silly? Maybe.
t In my opinion, the money would be better spent on other things like lighting, reinforced doors, alarms, etc.-passive things that make it harder for someone to hurt you.

So now we move from you must wear it all the time and sleep in it to money should be spent elsewhere, which is a completely different and unrelated argument. Spending money somewhere else also is fine as well. It isn't an either/or dichotomy. Self defense can involve all sorts of things.

[Bill DeShivs]

My point was that body armor is way down the list of important things for home defense, in my opinion.

[Sharkbite]

My point was that body armor is way down the list of important things for home defense, in my opinion.

In todays world, home defense may be more involved then a middle of the night break in. Angry mobs roaming city streets are a real thing.

If i was forced to live in Portland, Chicago, or similar TODAY, i would want some armor....

[wild cat mccane]

Our threat in Utah has been armed militias deputizing themselves as police.

Had them patrolling a park a few streets from us. Park filled with kids.

Just saying, the body armor business? Eye roll a bit. Of course, all of them had it.

Second it is used in anything useful, let me know.

[Double Naught Spy]

My point was that body armor is way down the list of important things for home defense, in my opinion.

Okay, your opinion looks like you don't like body armor more than anything else because your keep cooking up rationale against it. The OP wasn't asking about what he should spend his money on before buying body armor, or did I miss that. He was looking for suggestions for body armor. If you don't want to buy body armor, that is fine. The OP wants to know about buying body armor.

[Aguila Blanca]

There's an old saying about opinions, and how they resemble something else everyone has one of.

It's okay to express an opinion here. It's not okay to denigrate another member's sincerely-held opinion. In this particular case, opinions were not asked for. What was asked for was links to sources.

Hint, hint ...

[Bill DeShivs]

OK.
Peepee whacked.

[dyl]

Just a note about body armor. I don't have any, but I have looked into it. They have an expiration date. Soft armor, ceramic, even steel. Some of that expiration date is liability, being in the back of sweaty patrol cars, UV rays etc.

In theory, although I've seen the expiration date for steel armor to be 10 years, I would think that the steel itself wouldn't expire so long as it doesn't get rusty. Perhaps the buildup coating to stop the fragmentation, but not the steel.

[JERRYS.]

save $20 every month so when your current vest expires you'll have enough saved up to buy another.

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by ATN082268

Does anyone have recommendations for places to buy body armor? Most likely I will get some concealable kind first but may get some kind for home defense that will work on rifle rounds. Thank you.

Not sure on best place to get it, but imo for home defense use a tactical carrier would be most convenient.
You can put them on very quickly and it has all your gadgets attached and ready to go. To stop most rifles, you would have to step up to level 4 or some of the exotic stuff like dragon skin. Imo, level 4 is too heavy for home use and Dragon Skin is way too expensive. Level III or 3A is about ideal for me.

[JERRYS.]

there is a new vest out there that is flexible concealable rifle resistant. I've seen pop ups on social media and it looks promising however, the cost is almost 2Gs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qL8s_DpUDc

[Sharkbite]

To stop most rifles, you would have to step up to level 4 or some of the exotic stuff like dragon skin.

That is not true. Level IIIa is soft armor and is handgun rated. Level III starts into HARD armor and is Rifle rated. III+ stops most rifle threats. Level 4 adds 30-06 AP, prob not needed for most applications.

I run III+ plates, those stop 7.62x39 and all the 223/556 threats AND 308 M80 ball.

[reynolds357]

It is true. MOST rifles penetrate level III.
I said "most.".

[Double Naught Spy]

To stop most rifles, you would have to step up to level 4 or some of the exotic stuff like dragon skin. Imo, level 4 is too heavy for home use and Dragon Skin is way too expensive.

Dragon skin was a neat concept of many small ceramic discs held inside a carrier that allowed for flexibility and rifle protection. It was level III armor. While the concept was neat, the product was a failure. It failed military testing in multiple services and at one point was forbidden theater (IIRC). Bad QC on the disks that did not have full capability and the carriers apparently had issues with disks slipping out of position.

The manufacturer has since gone out of business and the product is no longer made.

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by Double Naught Spy

Dragon skin was a neat concept of many small ceramic discs held inside a carrier that allowed for flexibility and rifle protection. It was level III armor. While the concept was neat, the product was a failure. It failed military testing in multiple services and at one point was forbidden theater (IIRC). Bad QC on the disks that did not have full capability and the carriers apparently had issues with disks slipping out of position.

The manufacturer has since gone out of business and the product is no longer made.

I wondered what happened to it. I could have sworn the set our SWAT team demoed was Level 4.

[MikeGoob]

as far as usefulness, my CCW instructor wore one every time he took a class to the range. He didnt trust any of us to not have a ND... lol