What's your preferred rifle armor plate?

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Basically between steel, ceramic, and the UHMWPE lightweight plates available, what's your favorite? I have all three and while the steel is the heaviest, I feel very confident that it will never fail me, but there is the spalling issue and thus I do not like them as a front plate unless I have nothing else, but as a rear plate steel armor is my go to given its durability and slim thickness.

For the front plate, I know it's not Lvl IV rated, but the UHMWPE stuff is so light and has had many videos demonstrating it can stop a dozen rounds before failing that I chose it over ceramic.
 
Anything other than steel for me.

As for rating, depends on the threat environment. Level IV is overkill in the U.S. for a normal citizen. But it’s what I’d wear for deployments.

My plate carrier currently has HESCO 3810s in it for Level III+. However, I’m currently rethinking it since III+ can stop M855A1 in many situations, but not all. So I may be going to M210 special threat plates instead.

That said, I really don’t know when I’d actually need rifle plates in the states.
 
Anything other than steel for me.

That said, I really don’t know when I’d actually need rifle plates in the states.
Like I said, steel is great for the rear, spalling it's a concern... for the wearer at least.

I do question when rifle plates will be needed, I figure most attacks are going to involve handguns, but pretty much any Lvl IIIA soft armor is going to stop the bullet unless it's some bottleneck .22 zipping out at 1700 fps.
 
Like I said, steel is great for the rear, spalling it's a concern... for the wearer at least.

I do question when rifle plates will be needed, I figure most attacks are going to involve handguns, but pretty much any Lvl IIIA soft armor is going to stop the bullet unless it's some bottleneck .22 zipping out at 1700 fps.
Still have to disagree with steel being great for the rear. Better, still not great. It is heavy and uncomfortable. There are so many affordable sub-$200 plates available now that are much better.

Steel’s one benefit is it can be much thinner and works for discreet armor solutions.
 
Still have to disagree with steel being great for the rear. Better, still not great. It is heavy and uncomfortable. There are so many affordable sub-$200 plates available now that are much better.

Steel’s one benefit is it can be much thinner and works for discreet armor solutions.
If the plan is to use only steel for the rear, it's one plate and some can weigh as little as 6 lbs. Compare that to lvl IV ceramic plates and the increase in weight is negligible and the trade is ceramic armor is usually done after 2 hits and is much more prone to failure with hard use, while steel can take a lot more abuse.
 
If the plan is to use only steel for the rear, it's one plate and some can weigh as little as 6 lbs. Compare that to lvl IV ceramic plates and the increase in weight is negligible and the trade is ceramic armor is usually done after 2 hits and is much more prone to failure with hard use, while steel can take a lot more abuse.

Watch a few videos from Buffman on YouTube and you’ll see that ceramics don’t fail after 2 hits. Not unless the hits are an inch from each other.

A 6lb steel plate is not going to have the capability of a level IV plate. Hell, a lot of level III steel plates are around 8 lbs. But even with the claimed 6.5lb “lightweight” III+ steel plates, there are fairly affordable non-steel options that are 2.6-4lbs. At least 40% lighter.

But they can’t match steel in thickness. The thinnest non-steel are still over 1/2” and steel plates can be 0.2-0.25”. That’s where steel shines.
 
Anything other than steel for me.

As for rating, depends on the threat environment. Level IV is overkill in the U.S. for a normal citizen. But it’s what I’d wear for deployments.

My plate carrier currently has HESCO 3810s in it for Level III+. However, I’m currently rethinking it since III+ can stop M855A1 in many situations, but not all. So I may be going to M210 special threat plates instead.

That said, I really don’t know when I’d actually need rifle plates in the states.
Idk man, if we are jerking off over a prepper fantasy that is probably never going to happen, I think I would account for some of the more zippy hunting and target cartridges that may be prevalent in the area you live. We don't live in a country that is predominantly armed with 7.62x39 or other military intermediate rifle cartridges, options exist here. I am not sure I would trust a special purpose plate (or any plate for that matter) to catch a 4,000fps .22-250 from the neighborhood crazy old dude's coyote rifle.

Also, a 10x12 plate is really only going to stop a bullet from hitting a small part my body in the hopes I have a good medic a beer cans throw from me that can get me stabilized and to a decent trauma center quickly when that 10x12 plate is just not big enough. L. O. L. at that in said fantasy.

I have plates, they collect dust with the rest of my gun shit that I don't use enough, but I try to have realistic expectations when thinking about actually needing them. Mine are level 4 because that's what was the rage when I bought them, I think they are 6lbs a piece which is probably heavy by today's standard, but I don't wear them for more then a few hours of hard larping on my backyard range. I am also not planning on any 48 hour direct action MOUT activities when the happening happens because I have kids to look after.
 
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Idk man, if we are jerking off over a prepper fantasy that is probably never going to happen, I think I would account for some of the more zippy hunting and target cartridges that may be prevalent in the area you live. We don't live in a country that is predominantly armed with 7.62x39 or other military intermediate rifle cartridges, options exist here. I am not sure I would trust a special purpose plate (or any plate for that matter) to catch a 4,000fps .22-250 from the neighborhood crazy old dude's coyote rifle.

Also, a 10x12 plate is really only going to stop a bullet from hitting a small part my body in the hopes I have a good medic a beer cans throw from me that can get me stabilized and to a decent trauma center quickly. L. O. L. at that in said fantasy.

I have plates, they collect dust with the rest of my gun shit that I don't use enough, but I try to have realistic expectations when thinking about actually needing them. Mine are level 4 because that's what was the rage when I bought them, I think they are 6lbs a piece which is probably heavy by today's standard, but I don't wear them for more then a few hours of hard larping on my backyard range. I am also not planning on any 48 hour direct action MOUT activities when the happening happens because I have kids to look after.
Mostly agree. I think people fret over armor level rating way too much. They are for mitigating risk in the unlikely scenario you get shot in the torso, in the even less likely scenario you are being shot at.

Mostly I just don’t see a point in choosing steel over ceramic etc at this point in time. There are too many affordable options that are both lighter weight and stop more than steel. Sure, 10 years ago steel was significantly cheaper than ceramic. That just isn’t the case anymore.

But in regards to your thoughts on armor level choice, I’m more concerned with the current standard issue military round than I am local hunting rounds. I’m not one of the folks who thinks we’re going to be fighting a tyrannical government anytime soon, but I do think the chance of the government becoming tyranical is greater than experiencing some societal collapse with territorial disputes occurring amongst rival groups or whatever the current without-rule-of-law scenario is.

At the end of the day though, there are lots of special threat and level III+ non-steel options available that are affordable if one wants to get armor. Any will probably do the job for you against pretty much any threat you’re likely to face. The NIJ ratings are for the absolute worst case scenario of a close hit directly head on.
 
Mostly agree. I think people fret over armor level rating way too much. They are for mitigating risk in the unlikely scenario you get shot in the torso, in the even less likely scenario you are being shot at.

Mostly I just don’t see a point in choosing steel over ceramic etc at this point in time. There are too many affordable options that are both lighter weight and stop more than steel. Sure, 10 years ago steel was significantly cheaper than ceramic. That just isn’t the case anymore.

But in regards to your thoughts on armor level choice, I’m more concerned with the current standard issue military round than I am local hunting rounds. I’m not one of the folks who thinks we’re going to be fighting a tyrannical government anytime soon, but I do think the chance of the government becoming tyranical is greater than experiencing some societal collapse with territorial disputes occurring amongst rival groups or whatever the current without-rule-of-law scenario is.

At the end of the day though, there are lots of special threat and level III+ non-steel options available that are affordable if one wants to get armor. Any will probably do the job for you against pretty much any threat you’re likely to face. The NIJ ratings are for the absolute worst case scenario of a close hit directly head on.
For sure. I bought a set of steel plates 10 years ago when they came out because they were cheap and easily attainable. I put them in a carrier and wore them for a walk in the woods and it was the most miserable thing I have done in support of this retarded hobby of ours. I ended up shooting them and laughing about the holes that ended up in them. Things have definitely changed for the better since then.

Armor is one of those things I am glad I have but can't justify spending more money chasing incremental improvements, that is why I bought the highest "threat rated" plates I could at the time, even if they were/are a little bit heavier. I also likely have a different treat concern then you and maybe the OP. I am pretty sure my level 4 (whatever that actually means) plates will probably do should I need them. If not, guess I'll die. Chances are I am going to die of 100 other things before I get to die from my plates failing.
 
For sure. I bought a set of steel plates 10 years ago when they came out because they were cheap and easily attainable. I put them in a carrier and wore them for a walk in the woods and it was the most miserable thing I have done in support of this retarded hobby of ours. I ended up shooting them and laughing about the holes that ended up in them. Things have definitely changed for the better since then.

Armor is one of those things I am glad I have but can't justify spending more money chasing incremental improvements, that is why I bought the highest "threat rated" plates I could at the time, even if they were/are a little bit heavier. I also likely have a different treat concern then you and maybe the OP. I am pretty sure my level 4 (whatever that actually means) plates will probably do should I need them. If not, guess I'll die. Chances are I am going to die of 100 other things before I get to die from my plates failing.
Level IV are overkill for the vast majority of people, even those in combat. That said, even though you have no need for defeating M2 AP ammo, the IVs do protect against all the hunting loads and M855A1. Overkill and heavier, but the beauty of being a civilian is you get to choose when to don armor should your risk assessment make it worthwhile. No need to wear them for hours on end for a year straight.

I know I personally probably won’t wear mine for most scenarios, even those off the wall civil war/SHTF type scenarios. I’m going to be avoiding conflict and keeping my family healthy and safe.
 
Level IV are overkill for the vast majority of people, even those in combat. That said, even though you have no need for defeating M2 AP ammo, the IVs do protect against all the hunting loads and M855A1. Overkill and heavier, but the beauty of being a civilian is you get to choose when to don armor should your risk assessment make it worthwhile. No need to wear them for hours on end for a year straight.

I know I personally probably won’t wear mine for most scenarios, even those off the wall civil war/SHTF type scenarios. I’m going to be avoiding conflict and keeping my family healthy and safe.
Exactly. I over bought in alleged capability so I didn't feel the need to buy again, and IIRC they were on sale lol. I don't wear them like guys that wear them for a living so I was willing to give up the comfort for not feeling the urge to buy more.
 
Side note, I know it's not the cool thing to buy/own, but good concealable soft armor does still strike me as more realistic then my level 4 ceramic plates. It is something I think the average civilian would actually wear and statistically protect enough for what you are likely to encounter when grocery riots start, but I still cling to the "grey man" thing even in today's DA/RECCE masturbatory fantasies.
 
Side note, I know it's not the cool thing to buy/own, but good concealable soft armor does still strike me as more realistic then my level 4 ceramic plates. It is something I think the average civilian would actually wear and statistically protect enough for what you are likely to encounter when grocery riots start, but I still cling to the "grey man" thing even in today's DA/RECCE masturbatory fantasies.
100%

I’ve thought about that too. Part of me wants to get a Crye LVS. But the other part of me thinks I shouldn’t waste money and I should just sew some internal pockets into a tshirt for the MBAV inserts I have. Not as much coverage but a whole lot cheaper.
 
100%

I’ve thought about that too. Part of me wants to get a Crye LVS. But the other part of me thinks I shouldn’t waste money and I should just sew some internal pockets into a tshirt for the MBAV inserts I have. Not as much coverage but a whole lot cheaper.
Optactical.com has a neat MBAV rig that I have looked at, it takes plates and placards as well. I think it's made for them by Velocity.

I think a slick soft carrier that has 10x12 plate pockets for up armoring would be about ideal for my masturbations. Want to go Rambo, add plates and throw your recce chest rig dejour over it and boom, operating.
 
At the end of the day though, there are lots of special threat and level III+ non-steel options available that are affordable if one wants to get armor. Any will probably do the job for you against pretty much any threat you’re likely to face. The NIJ ratings are for the absolute worst case scenario of a close hit directly head on.
This is why I'm not sold on lvl IV, we know it stops .30-06 AP, but I can't imagine a situation that's being shot at me and frankly if it's govt tyranny that's coming for me I'd assume it's going to be armed with the new .277 Fury that apparently defeats all body armor.

For general threats I find III+ just fine and even then the most likely threat I'm going to ever face is a handgun and soft armor works fine for that.
 
This is why I'm not sold on lvl IV, we know it stops .30-06 AP, but I can't imagine a situation that's being shot at me and frankly if it's govt tyranny that's coming for me I'd assume it's going to be armed with the new .277 Fury that apparently defeats all body armor.

For general threats I find III+ just fine and even then the most likely threat I'm going to ever face is a handgun and soft armor works fine for that.
First shot into a crotch under plate, as you fall - next into a forehead.

Armor can help for shrapnel or against kids who can’t aim. Stand against anyone who can aim and knows where to hit - your armor is just a dead weight.

Agility and moving around is the best armor - move around, don’t be a stationary mark.
 
First shot into a crotch under plate, as you fall - next into a forehead.

Armor can help for shrapnel or against kids who can’t aim. Stand against anyone who can aim and knows where to hit - your armor is just a dead weight.

Agility and moving around is the best armor - move around, don’t be a stationary mark.
That's the part of this conversation that sucks, all the *useful* super rifle plates in the world are only the size of a sheet of paper. Oh, your plate can stop a 50bmg? Cool, here is a 9mm ball round from a Hi-Point in the belly button, have fun bleeding out on the floor while Zimmy Anqueefa emotes over you and leaves with your shit.
 
I tend to split the difference with the Hesco L210 special threat plates. Multi hit 5.56, 855 ap and various AK rounds. 5.4 lbs / plate. If you're concerned whether your plates can take multiple hits then you have bigger problems
 
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