RescueRanger
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The making of this article has come about because I have been asked a lot of questions on social media and by friends/trusted colleagues about the setup of plate carriers and what is best. Plus, I have seen a number of personnel in the military and in the private sectors have very questionable and even concerning setups.
I am sure that there will be many people that will disagree with this article but please be aware that this is developed from a personal opinion, based on years of training and experience, and how I have developed from there on to suit my own operational needs. I hope that this article helps some of you with your own plate carriers and body armour setups.
With that being said, let’s get on with it. With all varieties of plate carrier and modern-day body armour, there are three main things that a user is trying to achieve:
1. Stop holes.
2. Plug holes.
3. Create holes.
To achieve the three things mentioned above with a plate carrier, there are another three things that need to be considered first, and also throughout the remaining planning and setup process of your plate carrier:
1. Protection.
2. Weight.
3. Manoeuvrability.
These three considerations will always impact one another no matter what is planned or decided during the setup of your plate carrier.
1. Protection:
I will very briefly touch over this as I will go into more detail about protection when I move onto “Stopping Holes”. But to “hit the nail on the head”, you need to ask yourself from the beginning, “how much protection do I need, am I supposed to have? What do the S.O.P.’s (Standard Operating Procedures) state? What are the mission requirements?” There tends to be three options, if of course you are lucky enough to have an option. Front and rear plates only, side plates included, and soft armour included. I shouldn’t need to spell this out but if you are looking at plate carriers and body armour, you already know that the main purpose is protection. The more protection you have, the safer you are, in theory of course.
2. Weight:
This is very basic science, so again, I shouldn’t need to go into this too deeply. But, to brush over it, the more protection you wish to have, the more it is going to weigh. This is before you start considering anymore attachments to the plate carrier and the extra load you will or maybe required to carry i.e. packs, comms (communication) equipment, medical equipment etc.
3. Manoeuvrability:
Lastly, being able to move around in the carrier or armour whilst carrying out your job. How fast can you move? Are you moving by vehicle, so will you be needing to sit in your armour, in a vehicle for any considerable length of time? Are you going to be carrying, moving any loads whilst wearing your armour? Are you going to be carrying, moving any loads whilst wearing your armour? Bending, squatting, leaning and so on.
Protection, Weight, Manoeuvrability, the Connection & Balance:
As I said earlier, all three considerations impact each other without question. They always will impact each other and if they are not properly thought about and planned, the impact with each other can be severe enough to cause you to risk your life more than you realise. The aim is to find a balance between all three whilst at the same time, meeting the requirements of your mission, job and personal safety.
If we look at the considerations in extreme circumstances, this is what it will most likely look like and happen.
Scenario 1:
You have opted for full protection. All plates, including side plates, all blast armour and soft armour. So, in this scenario, yes you will be fully as fully protected as realistically possible. But, the weight has drastically increased, and your manoeuvrability has drastically decreased. And don’t forget, this hasn’t accounted for your gear and any other equipment yet. Can you climb over that wall quick enough? Are you fit enough to be on patrol for hours in all of that weight? Can you get down on one knee and administer lifesaving medical aid to a teammate or client? Can you shoulder your weapon system and fire with a stable and accurate shot?
Scenario 2:
You have opted for as minimal protection as possible and gone out with just a minimalist plate carrier, carrying a front and rear plate only. In this scenario, which is what I regularly opt for, if I am honest, so I will explain from my own personal experience. In this scenario, my protection is at its lowest. I don’t have side plates, so I could sustain a side injury quite easily. I have no blast or soft armour, so I can easily be cut to bits by shrapnel of any sort. Only the very vital organs are protected by plates alone.
But, can I move quickly? Damn right I can. I even do physical training in my down time wearing my plate carrier. Do I have full range of movement? Pretty much yes, I can kneel, squat, lie down, sit in a vehicle very comfortably and I can shoulder my weapon system with no problems at all and accurately shoot. The two scenarios that I mentioned above, that primarily consider body armour, I guarantee is what everyone thinks about first. Let’s face it, if you are buying a plate carrier, you are thinking about your protection.
Stopping Holes:
So, we are going to start with the first and main purpose of any body armour, stopping holes. It’s pretty much the whole point of a plate carrier, its armour, right? So, there’s a couple of different types or armour that you can run in to out there. You have your SAPI’s (Small Arms Protective Inserts), you have your civilian type armour, and then you have steel plates.
I typically run with SAPI’s because a lot of the plate carriers on the market, such as the Crye Precision JPC, the LBT’s, the 1694’s and like the one that I use, such as the Blackhawk Strike Recon plate carrier. Those are made to primarily hold SAPI’s. Now, can they hold other plates? They can. But they are designed and manufactured to primarily hold SAPI’s, and because SAPI’s fit so well, that is what a typically run and work with.
Image: Ex Serbian vest used in Pakistan, complete with inserts.
The plate carrier that I use, has medium SAPI’s in it and the plate carrier itself is a medium size. It won’t fit the large SAPI’s but if I went up to a large RPC, I could still fit medium plates, there’s going to be a little more internal space, which in turn would cause some internal movement. Some people like that and that comes down to personal preference.
Now here’s the thing about the Strike in particular, and some of these other plate carriers that are made super minimalist, which is kind of the trend nowadays. They will fit the plates that they are meant and are designed to use. But SAPI’s end up usually being a little smaller than the civilian kind of standard which is 10 by 12.
So, if you try and put a 10 by 12 in the plate carrier, it’s going to fit, but you may find you have some issues, maybe a little more premature wear because it’s a little wider than the typical SAPI plate. So just be aware of that. If you have 10 by 12’s, you may want to go with a larger plate carrier, so it can encompass the entirety of that plate and not get some of the possible premature wear.
When it comes to SAPI armour, E-SAPI (Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts) armour, what’s important to know, is that you have a couple of different types. One of the most common types that you see out there and being sold is what’s called “In Conjunction With”, “ICW”.
That means that the plate alone is not rated at what it’s marked and possibly advertised at. So, for example you have a level 3 (III) or 3-A (III-A) plate. If it’s a “In Conjunction With” armour, that means that it needs some type of soft Kevlar armour backer behind the plate or something like that in order to get it to the level that it’s rated at. Without that, you’re not going to have the level of protection that you want, need or what you think you have.
So that’s something to very much be aware of too. If you are going for AR500 steel, which is definitely an option, then make sure you have some type of antispall coating, because, yes, that AR500 Steel is definitely going to stop the round that’s incoming.
However, because that round is impacting into steel, it’s going to spall, which means it is going to spatter out. So, yea, it stops the round from penetrating your chest, but then the spall frags you under your chin and into your face with the potential of serious life changing injuries or death.
Yes, you didn’t die from a shot to the chest, but you just suffered or died from spall, but you still died. So, make sure that whatever type of plate you are picking, you are aware of its weaknesses and strengths, and make sure you get the anti-spall coating on that AR500 armour.
Image: Basic fundamentals of anti-spall coating explained.
There are a couple of different types of cuts to plates when it comes to armour. You have the standard SAPI cut, which is the common one. Basically, it is a block with the top edges cut off at the sides.
This allows you to get the buttstock of the rifle right up into the shoulder for a stable shooting platform. It’s pretty good and I find that it works really well for me. There’s a more aggressive cut, that are known as “Swimmers” plates. Again, it’s the same thing but a little more angled and an aggressive cut, providing a little more room to shoulder the butt stock of your weapon system.
They are awesome plates, but they are going to cost you a little more too. And you have the very basic square cut, which is sort of ancient technology. When it comes to plates, if I could give you any recommendations, especially for professionals and on duties, I highly recommend multi-curve and ceramic plates, and both of those factors / characteristics together.
There are many different companies that are involved with plates. My main experience is with military type plates, which are SAPI and E-SAPI. These plates require backers because they are not stand alone as explained earlier.
Image: different shapes of SAPI and E-SAPI plate armour
As far as placement of your plates, this seems to be where people are most likely to disagree with me. Back in 2008, 2010, you used to have the IOTD, Osprey and the other older armour type systems where the body armour, when positioned correctly, would run from your neckline, all the way down to your lower stomach or even your belt line.
Through research and development (R&D) and conflicts, where armour has been truly tested, developers have realised that being able to move is just as crucial to the wearer as being protected with the armour.
Nowadays, plates have gotten smaller, well plates haven’t specifically gotten smaller, but the plate carrying systems have gotten a lot smaller with the key word being “minimalist”.
Image: An example of a square cut insert as used by Pakistani Police and Army.
[Part 1]
I am sure that there will be many people that will disagree with this article but please be aware that this is developed from a personal opinion, based on years of training and experience, and how I have developed from there on to suit my own operational needs. I hope that this article helps some of you with your own plate carriers and body armour setups.
With that being said, let’s get on with it. With all varieties of plate carrier and modern-day body armour, there are three main things that a user is trying to achieve:
1. Stop holes.
2. Plug holes.
3. Create holes.
To achieve the three things mentioned above with a plate carrier, there are another three things that need to be considered first, and also throughout the remaining planning and setup process of your plate carrier:
1. Protection.
2. Weight.
3. Manoeuvrability.
These three considerations will always impact one another no matter what is planned or decided during the setup of your plate carrier.
1. Protection:
I will very briefly touch over this as I will go into more detail about protection when I move onto “Stopping Holes”. But to “hit the nail on the head”, you need to ask yourself from the beginning, “how much protection do I need, am I supposed to have? What do the S.O.P.’s (Standard Operating Procedures) state? What are the mission requirements?” There tends to be three options, if of course you are lucky enough to have an option. Front and rear plates only, side plates included, and soft armour included. I shouldn’t need to spell this out but if you are looking at plate carriers and body armour, you already know that the main purpose is protection. The more protection you have, the safer you are, in theory of course.
2. Weight:
This is very basic science, so again, I shouldn’t need to go into this too deeply. But, to brush over it, the more protection you wish to have, the more it is going to weigh. This is before you start considering anymore attachments to the plate carrier and the extra load you will or maybe required to carry i.e. packs, comms (communication) equipment, medical equipment etc.
3. Manoeuvrability:
Lastly, being able to move around in the carrier or armour whilst carrying out your job. How fast can you move? Are you moving by vehicle, so will you be needing to sit in your armour, in a vehicle for any considerable length of time? Are you going to be carrying, moving any loads whilst wearing your armour? Are you going to be carrying, moving any loads whilst wearing your armour? Bending, squatting, leaning and so on.
Protection, Weight, Manoeuvrability, the Connection & Balance:
As I said earlier, all three considerations impact each other without question. They always will impact each other and if they are not properly thought about and planned, the impact with each other can be severe enough to cause you to risk your life more than you realise. The aim is to find a balance between all three whilst at the same time, meeting the requirements of your mission, job and personal safety.
If we look at the considerations in extreme circumstances, this is what it will most likely look like and happen.
Scenario 1:
You have opted for full protection. All plates, including side plates, all blast armour and soft armour. So, in this scenario, yes you will be fully as fully protected as realistically possible. But, the weight has drastically increased, and your manoeuvrability has drastically decreased. And don’t forget, this hasn’t accounted for your gear and any other equipment yet. Can you climb over that wall quick enough? Are you fit enough to be on patrol for hours in all of that weight? Can you get down on one knee and administer lifesaving medical aid to a teammate or client? Can you shoulder your weapon system and fire with a stable and accurate shot?
Scenario 2:
You have opted for as minimal protection as possible and gone out with just a minimalist plate carrier, carrying a front and rear plate only. In this scenario, which is what I regularly opt for, if I am honest, so I will explain from my own personal experience. In this scenario, my protection is at its lowest. I don’t have side plates, so I could sustain a side injury quite easily. I have no blast or soft armour, so I can easily be cut to bits by shrapnel of any sort. Only the very vital organs are protected by plates alone.
But, can I move quickly? Damn right I can. I even do physical training in my down time wearing my plate carrier. Do I have full range of movement? Pretty much yes, I can kneel, squat, lie down, sit in a vehicle very comfortably and I can shoulder my weapon system with no problems at all and accurately shoot. The two scenarios that I mentioned above, that primarily consider body armour, I guarantee is what everyone thinks about first. Let’s face it, if you are buying a plate carrier, you are thinking about your protection.
Stopping Holes:
So, we are going to start with the first and main purpose of any body armour, stopping holes. It’s pretty much the whole point of a plate carrier, its armour, right? So, there’s a couple of different types or armour that you can run in to out there. You have your SAPI’s (Small Arms Protective Inserts), you have your civilian type armour, and then you have steel plates.
I typically run with SAPI’s because a lot of the plate carriers on the market, such as the Crye Precision JPC, the LBT’s, the 1694’s and like the one that I use, such as the Blackhawk Strike Recon plate carrier. Those are made to primarily hold SAPI’s. Now, can they hold other plates? They can. But they are designed and manufactured to primarily hold SAPI’s, and because SAPI’s fit so well, that is what a typically run and work with.
Image: Ex Serbian vest used in Pakistan, complete with inserts.
The plate carrier that I use, has medium SAPI’s in it and the plate carrier itself is a medium size. It won’t fit the large SAPI’s but if I went up to a large RPC, I could still fit medium plates, there’s going to be a little more internal space, which in turn would cause some internal movement. Some people like that and that comes down to personal preference.
Now here’s the thing about the Strike in particular, and some of these other plate carriers that are made super minimalist, which is kind of the trend nowadays. They will fit the plates that they are meant and are designed to use. But SAPI’s end up usually being a little smaller than the civilian kind of standard which is 10 by 12.
So, if you try and put a 10 by 12 in the plate carrier, it’s going to fit, but you may find you have some issues, maybe a little more premature wear because it’s a little wider than the typical SAPI plate. So just be aware of that. If you have 10 by 12’s, you may want to go with a larger plate carrier, so it can encompass the entirety of that plate and not get some of the possible premature wear.
When it comes to SAPI armour, E-SAPI (Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts) armour, what’s important to know, is that you have a couple of different types. One of the most common types that you see out there and being sold is what’s called “In Conjunction With”, “ICW”.
That means that the plate alone is not rated at what it’s marked and possibly advertised at. So, for example you have a level 3 (III) or 3-A (III-A) plate. If it’s a “In Conjunction With” armour, that means that it needs some type of soft Kevlar armour backer behind the plate or something like that in order to get it to the level that it’s rated at. Without that, you’re not going to have the level of protection that you want, need or what you think you have.
So that’s something to very much be aware of too. If you are going for AR500 steel, which is definitely an option, then make sure you have some type of antispall coating, because, yes, that AR500 Steel is definitely going to stop the round that’s incoming.
However, because that round is impacting into steel, it’s going to spall, which means it is going to spatter out. So, yea, it stops the round from penetrating your chest, but then the spall frags you under your chin and into your face with the potential of serious life changing injuries or death.
Yes, you didn’t die from a shot to the chest, but you just suffered or died from spall, but you still died. So, make sure that whatever type of plate you are picking, you are aware of its weaknesses and strengths, and make sure you get the anti-spall coating on that AR500 armour.
Image: Basic fundamentals of anti-spall coating explained.
There are a couple of different types of cuts to plates when it comes to armour. You have the standard SAPI cut, which is the common one. Basically, it is a block with the top edges cut off at the sides.
This allows you to get the buttstock of the rifle right up into the shoulder for a stable shooting platform. It’s pretty good and I find that it works really well for me. There’s a more aggressive cut, that are known as “Swimmers” plates. Again, it’s the same thing but a little more angled and an aggressive cut, providing a little more room to shoulder the butt stock of your weapon system.
They are awesome plates, but they are going to cost you a little more too. And you have the very basic square cut, which is sort of ancient technology. When it comes to plates, if I could give you any recommendations, especially for professionals and on duties, I highly recommend multi-curve and ceramic plates, and both of those factors / characteristics together.
There are many different companies that are involved with plates. My main experience is with military type plates, which are SAPI and E-SAPI. These plates require backers because they are not stand alone as explained earlier.
Image: different shapes of SAPI and E-SAPI plate armour
As far as placement of your plates, this seems to be where people are most likely to disagree with me. Back in 2008, 2010, you used to have the IOTD, Osprey and the other older armour type systems where the body armour, when positioned correctly, would run from your neckline, all the way down to your lower stomach or even your belt line.
Through research and development (R&D) and conflicts, where armour has been truly tested, developers have realised that being able to move is just as crucial to the wearer as being protected with the armour.
Nowadays, plates have gotten smaller, well plates haven’t specifically gotten smaller, but the plate carrying systems have gotten a lot smaller with the key word being “minimalist”.
Image: An example of a square cut insert as used by Pakistani Police and Army.
[Part 1]
