The Rise of Civilian Body Armor in Uncertain Times

News & Current Events
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  • Soft body armor: Soft body armor is a lightweight and flexible alternative to hard body armor and is made of materials such as Kevlar, which can stop most handgun rounds.
  • Plate carriers: Plate carriers are vests or harnesses that are used to hold armor plates in place. They can be either soft or hard, with soft plate carriers being more flexible and comfortable to wear, and more concealable, while hard plate carriers offer more protection and can carry more gear.
  • Armor plates: Armor plates are the main protective component of body armor. They are typically made of steel, ceramic, or composite materials. Steel plates are the most durable and offer the most protection, but are also the heaviest. Ceramic plates are lighter than steel plates but offer less protection. Composite plates are a combination of steel and ceramic plates and offer a good balance of protection and weight.
  • Side plates: Side plates are smaller armor plates that are inserted into the sides of a plate carrier to provide additional protection for the wearerā€™s flanks.
  • Groin protectors: Groin protectors are worn to protect the wearerā€™s groin from injury. They are typically made of hard plastic or Kevlar.
  • Trauma pads: Trauma pads are placed behind armor plates to absorb and disperse the energy from a bulletā€™s impact, reducing trauma. Trauma Pads are typically made of foam or rubber.
  • Other components: Other common body armor components include shoulder pads, neck guards, and upper arm guards.

In addition to the components listed above, a variety of accessories are available for body armor, such as magazine pouches, hydration carriers, and first aid kits.

This article was interesting
The above is the ā€˜middleā€™ of the article so if you wish to get where the authorā€™s head is at
open it up (I like the dudes articles).
There are two camps when it comes to Body Armor (to my mind anyway)
Either itā€™s essential to your Self Defense plan (My vote) or itā€™s Excessive in the worry department.
I DO NOT wear BA everyday, going shopping, work, or to the Range.
I have (2) sets: Plate (Heavy), Ceramic (Light(er))
The Plate can only go in the HD Carrierā€”but Velcro everywhere this is the kit that gets the Mag
holders, IFAK, Trauma Pads, etc etc. The Ceramic can go in both (for me) they were designed for the Tee-shirt application (under cover sort of.
The Plate Carrier has the added benefit of ā€˜Side platesā€™. Iā€™ve seen too many guyā€™s get ā€˜guttedā€™
by just having front and back protection and if you are a Big Guy or Gal those plates sometimes look awful small. The ā€˜Trauma Padsā€™ add a level of added mental comfort knowing Iā€™m not going to take the brunt of a hit alone by the plates like a hammer blow and I recently added the Groin ā€˜Jewels Shield as it was described to me and I canā€™t seem to call it anything else :grin:
Personally my kit is complete (for now) adding the ā€˜other stuffā€™ described above makes it
seem too much ā€˜robocoppyā€™ for me. Donā€™t get me wrong extra protection Iā€™m all for it, but to add anymore (for me) ? Iā€™m Old School, I like what I like, Iā€™m use to the set-up. But please donā€™t HESITATE one second to go full Armor. IF that works for you Fantastic. Just like Guns what works for me may not be your brand of Vodka. YOU CAN ONLY FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH WHAT WORKS FOR YOU.
Iā€™ll end this (Thank God!) by saying just like everything else YOU can only make full use of everything you own for you and the Familyā€™s protection if you TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN with it.
From Firearms, to Body Armor, to even the Tourniquet (which I highly recommend a couple of them) If you donā€™t use it, strap it on, Load it up, shoot the sh!t out of your weaponsā€¦when the time comes you might as well wield a Bat! Throw the Lamp, Make a Home Invader a frigginā€™ sandwich with your @200+ Blade! (Iā€™ve seen guyā€™s with the Factory plastic shipping wrap around their Tourniquetā€™s still, Their handy Dandy USCCA First Aid/Survival kits still all wrapped up. (Prolly never even looked it in detail)ā€¦ Good luck with that!.
IF you are in Self Protection know what your capable of and what your limits may be. Iā€™ve said this before Iā€™m not ā€˜intoā€™ SHARPS (Knives, Blades etc), Iā€™m getting up there in years and I donā€™t want to tangle ā€˜Up close and personalā€™ anymore but I know Krav, Even with my limitations I can kick the urine outta someone (If My Situational Awareness is Turned on (which it is) and I canā€™t get to my firearm right away. I still carry a Blade Iā€™m extremely familiar with and WILL USE IT! If need be but Iā€™ve seen Ladies and Gents that prefer a Blade instead of a Bullet. That is not me.
Experts (some here I truly Respect say to be ā€˜Versatileā€™ and this poster listens to that Experience.
Body Armor is the same as anything else. If you canā€™t Have it ready, loaded and (already adjusted to YOU) and put it on in the dark you might as well save your bread and buy a Dog for early warning protection (Youā€™re gonna need that extra time).
Be well my Gunners, My opinion again is the situation is not as Grave as when 'He who will not be named had his stinky, diaper filled ass in the big chair but we truly arenā€™t out of the woods yet and ready to sing kumbayaaaaaaaaa with the Bangers, Border crossers, MS13ā€™s, Trendy-Argawayains!
God Bless.
WWG1WGA
NCSWIC !

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Is it just me or are we sliding down the chaos side of the mountain?
Was hoping things would get better, doesnā€™t seem to be the case!
Large crowds for AOC and Bernie? This is dangerously close to civil war.
Iā€™m aging quickly, but I want my piece thatā€™s due!
I want to touch and feel my pounds ( yes, plural ) of flesh.

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Originally I thought Civil War would be 10 to 20 years away. Now, Iā€™m thinking I might live long enough to see it happen.

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I dont think there will be a civil war but times are sketchy. If you can afford body armor, wouldnt hurt to have something on hand. I cant, just spent $300 at the grocery store and didnt come home with muchā€¦lol

If local, state and feds dont get a reighn in on the domestic terrorism (musk) , things could get sporty. I doubt the American people are gonna put up with another summer of love

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Thatā€™s an EXCELLENT question Sir!
The answer (for me) is simple.
I believe with my whole heart ā€˜We The Peopleā€™ are on the road to Recovery.
The Looney Left? Thatā€™s a whole 'nuther story.
The Left is shocked from the trouncing they got.
No agenda, No Plan, No Leader.
Rudderless they only have ANGER and HATE.
Their own people want no part of their Suicide Pact.
The more they keep this Vengeful resistance against POSITIVE CHANGE
The lonelier their hill to die on will get! The craziness is apparent to all.
Just one guyā€™s opinion from the cheap seats Bruh.

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Off topic, but I donā€™t think so. The other side is composed of cowards in black sweats and face masks empowered by a dwindling political leadership of corrupt octogenarians and idiot young communists that no one can stand.

Some might have learned to make Molotov cocktails and operate under the cover of night pampered by cozy democrat liberal pro-crime local governments for now, BUT, when the chips come down, the first three that end up collapsing encased in a pink mist will convince the rest of them that this is not a game anymore and theyā€™ll go RUNNING back to their basement.

The age of the socially awkward retard empowered to see himself as an entitled king is pretty much over.

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Well said Brother, well said.

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The only thing that worries me is these guys seem to have very short memories. Their cause or entitlement is the only thing they seem to keep in mind for long periods. They can even see the death of their own as a motivator. Then they have entitlement and a cause. It probably will not be nationwide but I do think it will be between cities or states, and you know how people flock to trouble just to see it happen. Soon after, it grows.

Yes, but that could be a large percentage of this country at this time. And do they fight harder to hold on to the power they had? I think it is very possible. Probable, I donā€™t know.

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At what point do we prepare for this glory?
How many businesses have to perish, how many lives need to be destroyed, how many dead in the streets are we willing to give up to win against the lunacy?

Truly, I donā€™t care about statues, and name changes, what I care about most in this world ( not even the world ) what type of country will my great grandchild grow up in? Sheā€™s 7 months, she will fire her first round with me even if I canā€™t carry my own gear.
After that itā€™s up to her parents.
This generation that can only read at a third grade level are the next labor source.
I go to the grocery and pay for a bill of $4.94 hand the pink haired morality punk a $20.00 bill and it/they/she/him/her hands me back $24.94 back in change, I assure you Iā€™m going back EVERY DAY just to buy an .89Ā¢ apple paid for with a hundred dollar bill! Same pink haired putz.
Thatā€™s 100% profit until the brainwashed idiot is replaced by another.
I do not argue with stupid people anymore.

At my age what type of idiot is going to be my surgeon or home healthcare provider. These are very scary prospects. What they have a Harvard degree or maybe from Columbia. They should be scared to death to frame that thing let alone display it!
I can still fight for what is right, now. In a few years the wind will be out of my sails.
Itā€™s not that far off topic if we need to bring up a subject like body armor for the average citizen in the United States! I could see this conversation if we lived in Haiti. All the dots from the memes to the news are connected.
I could be off base here but when people in our HOUSE are relishing the idea of bringing down a world renowned business, with violence, mind you, itā€™s time we made our forefathers proud!

I just saw a report/video of a civilian getting his head bashed in while standing next to an occupied police car! The cop NEVER got out of his vehicle! Weā€™re going to need a lot more than body armor!

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How can you not spend $300.00 at the store? Donā€™t you eat? :rofl:

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My last outing was only $254,ā€¦ but I donā€™t think that will last the week with 2 adult children in the house! :flushed_face::flushed_face:

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To the topic, I do not currently own any ballistic body armor.

My only armor will stop an axe or sword,ā€¦ not a bullet!

IMG_0752
IMG_07523024Ɨ4032 2.43 MB

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This is an excellent topic and I agree with your second comment here as well. I do think weā€™re righting our ship. When FJB was in the White House I had a horrible sense of foreboding. Not so much anymore, but still a very high alertness level. During the FJB years I hardened my house to the maximum extent I could. I limited my travel. I added guns and ammo, and trained, trained, trained. I had planned on getting body armor and had started research on it. I had no idea who I might be defending against, TdA, Islamic terrorists, civil war, or just total post-SHTF desperate non-planners willing to kill me for what I have? Could be be anything.

I still plan on getting it, but am presently in the same boat as @Joel106 . Eating and ammo comes first. Hopefully, though, soonā€¦

My personal belief, reinforced from watching our own country and the world since early 2020, is that any and all able bodied patriots need to have all the basic equipment and training necessary to defend their homes, and probably at minimum, their parts of the comminity or neighborhood, from almost anything. Terrorists, gangs and the like know no limits. Just ask Israel. We should all have a good quality rifle or two, be proficient with it, body armor, first aid training and equipment, and communications with any other family and friends with whom you will be defending. And a plan. As of now, my wife and I are an army of two ready to defend our end of the dead end here, though we can always be better equipped.

As for body armor out and about, Iā€™d say, there are definitely places where I wouldnā€™t go without it, but, having said that, those places are so bad, I wouldnā€™t ever go there even with it, LOL. My goal when out and about is danger avoidance. If it comes looking for me, Iā€™ll defend by any means necessary, but I donā€™t want to give it the chance to find me. I really, really hope we never get to a point where I feel I need body armor going to Publix or walking the nature preserve! If weā€™re at that point, then itā€™s probably the situation above, where weā€™re defending the homestead and some kind of war is happening, in which case, weā€™re right back to needing good body armor.

Like I said, great topic. Thanks.

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If civil war was to come, how do you think it would happen? Do you think that States are going to try and invade another state? Or do you think a State may try to leave the Union and thus the Federal Government will invade? I just donā€™t get the whole civil war concept because I just donā€™t see Idaho invading Oregon any time soon, or the Federal Government sending troops into Oregon for any reason.

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How has it happened in the past? Not the issue of slavery so much as the root differences in the competing ideologies. The two sides could not agree on what was right. One side was more prone to aggression in support of their ideaology, and they attacked.

History tends to repeat itself.

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I just donā€™t see any ideology worth killing my fellow citizens over, if Idaho invaded Oregon sure, I would protect my home, but I am not going to go enlist because someone in California or New York is doing something I disagree with.

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I wonder how many civil war veterans expressed those very thoughts.

When bullets start whizzing past your ear though, you tend to choose an alliance.

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Quite different though, we are talking about States that were seceding from the Union while the Constitution was still standing. It was a little more than ideology that had the Southern States form the Union army, they were going to be invaded by the Northern States being led by the Federal Government. I just donā€™t see States at this point trying to leave the Union or overthrow the Federal Government.

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Most civil wars are fought by two opposing groups vying for control of the entire country. The US Civil War between groups of states, effectively wanting to split or retain the union, was unique.

If the US, or most modern nations, faced a modern civil war it would most likely between two opposed ideologies, or by one group wanting to control another, and the other group figing to resist that control. Look at all the civil wars going on right now. They all fall in that framework.

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Civil war does not have to be state vs. state. Rather myopic view based on a small part of our history.

The most likely scenario is organized radical groups like BLM and ANTIFA deciding that they are going to expand their operations into true domestic terrorism.

At some point the radical right will say ā€œenoughā€ and burn down an ANTIFA meeting place or a BLM office. Then itā€™s all about how fast it grows to the middle.

And anyone that thinks it is not happening better be paying attention. Burning Tesla showrooms and cars and terrorizing owners is just the beginning. Testing the fences like velociraptors.

But my opinion is that at some point they will try to burn a Tesla in some dudeā€™s in Texas driveway to a horrible end for the black pajama dude and the rest will go, damn thatā€™s not worth itā€¦

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