Carrying and body armor

[10-Ring]

I have a similar problem.  Last year I made the decision to trust my life on the street to Second Chance body armor. I got the level IIa because it stops the most rounds. plus I got the Trauma Plate for the front.

What scares me is that, although I can fit an extra trauma plate in the front, I cannot fit a second one in back. As of late I have taken to duct-taping a second trauma plate to the area of my back where the heart and vital organs are located. Then I put my vest on.

Here is the questions. The ducttape solution, although tactically sound, is hot and painful to remove. I would like to go to the single-plate solution in back. What I am worried about is repeated hits to that area with .308 ammunition. I have a high-risk security job and I fear that I would be the target for repeated long-distance shots to my back.

Are any of you aware of a thicker plate that could stop, say, .338 Lapua or something like that? Is there a better way to do the second plate?

BTW, I am, of course, usually carrying a pair of ceramic plates in my briefcase so that I can shield my head. My SO (we work as a team when necessary) has a similar accessory containing a breakdown NEF single-shot 300 WinMag with an 18″ bbl. The plan is that I shield us with my body and “catch the rounds” while she assembles the NEF. I lay down covering fire with my 23 (Bar-Sto .357 Sig barrel) and she makes the long shots. I will then throw smoke grenades to obscure the area while continuing to lay covering fire. The problem, of course, is when I have to turn my back to run, and then the problem crops up.

Thanks!

[UncleJak]

Three words: Bulletproof princess backpack Sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[DaveTN]

I always found it a bit odd...I hear about a lot of people who carry but don't wear a vest.

Thoughts?

I don’t have a roll cage or a HANS head-restraint in my car either.

I live on the edge though; I only carry one firearm at a time with no extra mag and I have been known to run with scissors.

[BigK]

I love me a good body armor thread. Lots of great ideas...just ordered 2 trauma plates and 2 princess backpacks from Amazon...one for the front one for the back. I sure do wish they had some molle on them, so I could mount my Battle Mug

[UncleJak]

[quote name="BigK" post="1115424" timestamp="1393169285"]I love me a good body armor thread. Lots of great ideas...just ordered 2 trauma plates and 2 princess backpacks from Amazon...one for the front one for the back. I sure do wish they had some molle on them, so I could mount my Battle Mug[/quote]no molle, but they do have Cinderella Sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[DaveS]

If I felt so scared that I needed a vest (or handgun for that matter) to leave the house, I'd just stay at home. Get you a CCW Badge and the bad guys will leave you alone. It advertises you carrying just the same, and probably won't get the attention of LE like a vest will!

 

Dave

[DaveS]

Well I look at it like this...If there is a possibility of having to use a pistol, that means you are possibly going to get shot at. If that is the case then you (IMHO) either need to be mobile and get the hell out of the area, or, if you can't readily do that, either have body armor on to mitigate the threat (which if a rifle and all you have is IIIA you are pretty much F*****), or to be able to hole up in an area where you have the element of suprise and a narrow open approach.

 

As far as head shots...I'm not going to try to engage that person down a 25 yd isle, i'd be looking to do it from a covered/concealed position less than 5-7 yds away before he knows I'm there.

What kind of places do you hang out in?

 

Dave

[TMF]

If I felt so scared that I needed a vest (or handgun for that matter) to leave the house, I'd just stay at home. Get you a CCW Badge and the bad guys will leave you alone. It advertises you carrying just the same, and probably won't get the attention of LE like a vest will!

 

Dave

 

Well I ain't scared, but I don't like leaving the house without a handgun for the same reasons I don't like leaving the house without my cell phone or a wad of cash.  I might not need any of those things, but I like to be prepared.  Doesn't mean I'm "scared" of anything.  Of course, being prepared can go too far.  I guess it is subjective to qualify what "too far" is, but I'm gonna say body armor is too far, unless you're planning on getting into a shootout.  All things within reason.  Wearing a handgun isn't that big a deal. 

[Cruel Hand Luke]

Armor on a daily basis becomes a real inconvenience in everyday normal life. Most people whine about carrying a full size pistol...much less wearing a vest. 

 

I used to work a job where we made VERY large bank deposits and some of my colleagues had been robbed at gunpoint, so I was both armed and armored when I did it...but as soon as the bank run was over the vest came off. No matter who it is made by or what kind of vest it is, it is stiff and hot and not comfy to sit around in.  Unless I were in a very HIGH risk job or in a very HIGH risk part of the world (Bagdad, Kabul, Cartegena, San Pedro Sula, ....Damascus...or maybe New Orleans the week after Katrina) I would not be making armor a regular wardrobe accessory. I still own it...but I certainly don't wear it to go to the mall or a movie, Walmart or the Post Office. Nowadays I mostly just wear it when teaching team tactics classes. 

 

Keep in mind..... IF YOU SHOOT SOMEONE you may well have to answer in court why you felt that you really needed to be somewhere that things were so dangerous that a reasonable person would feel they needed to wear armor.....for that matter imagine what they'd have said if Zimmerman had been wearing a vest..........

 

Now if you want to make armor a part of your home defense plan then that is probably going to be looked at as a little more reasonable....your home is your castle after all.... But as a daily wear item....I try to stay out of places that are so dangerous that I reasonably would need armor.

Edited February 24, 2014 by Cruel Hand Luke

[173rdABN]

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Edited February 26, 2014 by 173rdABN

[Guest Lowbuster]

I just carry copies of our current laws concerning being able to carry or not. If a bad guy attacks me I will show him that it is not legal for him or her to carry a firearm. I figure that will take care of most problems that may happen.

[sigmtnman]

I just carry copies of our current laws concerning being able to carry or not. If a bad guy attacks me I will show him that it is not legal for him or her to carry a firearm. I figure that will take care of most problems that may happen.

 

Based on your post in the hb1885 constitutional carry thread, I'm not sure if you are serious or not...

Edited February 26, 2014 by sigmtnman

[Guest Lowbuster]

Based on your post in the hb1885 constitutional carry thread, I'm not sure if you are serious or not...

NOT

[DaveS]

Armor on a daily basis becomes a real inconvenience in everyday normal life. Most people whine about carrying a full size pistol...much less wearing a vest. 

 

I used to work a job where we made VERY large bank deposits and some of my colleagues had been robbed at gunpoint, so I was both armed and armored when I did it...but as soon as the bank run was over the vest came off. No matter who it is made by or what kind of vest it is, it is stiff and hot and not comfy to sit around in.  Unless I were in a very HIGH risk job or in a very HIGH risk part of the world (Bagdad, Kabul, Cartegena, San Pedro Sula, ....Damascus...or maybe New Orleans the week after Katrina) I would not be making armor a regular wardrobe accessory. I still own it...but I certainly don't wear it to go to the mall or a movie, Walmart or the Post Office. Nowadays I mostly just wear it when teaching team tactics classes. 

 

Keep in mind..... IF YOU SHOOT SOMEONE you may well have to answer in court why you felt that you really needed to be somewhere that things were so dangerous that a reasonable person would feel they needed to wear armor.....for that matter imagine what they'd have said if Zimmerman had been wearing a vest..........

 

Now if you want to make armor a part of your home defense plan then that is probably going to be looked at as a little more reasonable....your home is your castle after all.... But as a daily wear item....I try to stay out of places that are so dangerous that I reasonably would need armor.

Well said...

 

Dave