Body Armor Considerations

In the event of civil unrest or a without rule of law (WROL) scenario, your community and could deteriorate into a non-permissive environment. A non-permissive environment is one in which uncertainty, instability, inaccessibility or insecurity restrict your ability to go about your usual business safely and effectively. Assuming you’re already armed with your everyday carry (EDC) pistol and at least one spare mag. You decide to make a supply run to secure last minute items while they’re still available. You plan to drive most of the way to your objective and walk the final stretch to avoid getting bogged down in any potential traffic jams. Whatever items you acquire will need to be carried back to you vehicle. You’ve been hearing sporadic gun shots the past few days and you’ve heard reports on your HAM radio of armed robbers targeting folks heading home with supplies. Do you wear your ballistic vest or not? If so, what will give you the best protection at the least additional weight. Do you sacrifice speed for safety? Or will speed be you best protection? As far as plate carriers go Crye Precision’s JPC jumpable plate carrier is one viable option. Crye Precision’s small carrier weighs in at just 1.2 pounds and the same carrier in extra large is only 1.5 pounds. The JPC jumpable plate carrier is a low-profile, minimalist vest but the drag handle is still capable of holding up to 400 pounds.

Next, we need to equip the carrier with some lightweight plates. One option is RMA Armament’s Level 3a+ plates capable of defeating multiple rounds of 7.62 rifle. The best thing about these plates is that they weigh in at only 2.5 pounds each. With this load out, front and back plates will weigh in at 5 pounds. Tack on another 1.5 pounds for the extra large Crye Precision’s JPC jumpable plate carrier and all in, you’re looking at a whopping 6.5 pounds of life saving kit that weighs less than a gallon of water. Over a short distance, 6.5 pounds shouldn’t impede your movement all that much but over a longer distance the pounds do add up. For this reason, its important that we train with our kit or some sort of equivalently weighted vest or bag.

There are cheaper options out there but what you save in price, you’ll pay for in weight. Some of the cheaper options out there capable defeating 7.62 rounds can weigh upwards of 8 pounds per plate. If for some reason you can only get your hands on one plate, flip a coin to pick whether to wear it in the front or back. Be aware that a round coming at you from your unprotected side Will ultimately hit the single plate and likely bounce back causing significant bodily damage.

There is one other psychological consideration we need to be aware of when we kit up. Don’t become overly confident in your armor and start taking risk you normally wouldn’t take without something ballistic covering your vital organs. In a SHTF scenario, think of every hit as a fatal one. Any hit that doesn’t kill you is going do some serious damage. Hopefully someone in your group is a ER doctor with all the latest and greatest medical tech stashed away somewhere because all official medical facilities and staff will likely be under opposition control and the last thing you need is a nurse reporting your gunshot wound to security forces. Lastly, infection is always a looming threat for even a minor wound thats already been stabilized. Hopefully you’ve stocked up on Thomas Labs antibiotics for your fish. Fish happen to respond to many of the same antibiotics as us humans and, in a pinch, you could share. I hope this helps in your body armor selection and provides some useful points for consideration. Share your load out suggestions in the comments below and remember, Mindset First. The Rest Will Follow.