The Best Body Armor & Plate Carrier Setup Under $500 - Law Enforcement & Civilian 2020

What's going on everyone? Suresh here at 221B Tactical. I'm gonna go over body armor. So many of you asking questions via email, social media about body armor. Of course in this time of uncertainty and we have whole cities being put on lockdown and shelter-in-place protocols, a lot of people are now questioned about what's next. What may come? What may happen? And of we hope and pray that nothing happens and that in like some other countries who have implemented some of these strategies, they work and maybe everyone has to shelter-in-place for a period of time and let the virus kind of run its course and then everything will go back to normal. We're hoping it goes that way, but many of you are reaching out in case it doesn't go that way and of course you're inquiring about body armor. So we're going to do a quick video today about a lot of people are asking of course, what do you carry? What do you have? So I have a plate carrier set up, one in my vehicle, one in my home. Of course you're asking, okay why do you have one in your home? Why do you have one in your vehicle? I always keep one in my truck because you just never know. You never know where you're going to be and what's going to happen when you're out and about. Most likely if something is going to happen like that, it's going to happen outside of your home. However, there is during this time, during this time of uncertainty, people who have some fear of what may happen or something happening should someone come to their home, maybe try to enter their home. So I'm going to talk about the setups that I have. They are pretty much identical. There is one difference and I'll go over that with you between my vehicle plate carrier setup and my in-home plate carrier setup. So a lot of people ask, what do I run? What kind of armor do I run? So I'm going to go over the actual plate carrier itself in just a minute. This is our Shadow Plate Carrier, our Real World Tactical Special Edition Shadow Plate Carrier. So I'm going to go over that in a second, but I have two different kinds of armor in each vest. So in the vest that is in my truck, I have ceramic plates. They're composite plates. These plates are a level three plus plate and they are much lighter than steel plates. In my home vest, I have the steel plates. Now people say, well, why do you have that in your home? Well, if something's going down in your home, and most of you know, these are AR-550 plates, Spartan armor, made in the USA, no made in China plates here, made in the USA, NIJ tested, buildup, extra buildup coat to prevent spalling. So I have the steel plates in my plate carrier in home because I'm not worried about the weight of the plate carrier in an incident that's going to happen in my home. I'm going to put it on and I want that high level protection. Of course, the steel offers you multi-hit protection above and beyond composite plates. The composite plates are much lighter. They're significantly lighter than the steel plates. And that's why I run them in my in-vehicle plate carrier setup, because if I'm putting that plate carrier on, it means I am not in my home. I am out and about, and there may be the chance that I need to run. I need to move quickly and I need to be more agile. So in that situation, this is my personal preference. I am running a lighter plate and the composite plates are multi-hit. Are they going to take as many hits as the steel? No, but it's still a multi-hit plate. A lot of people ask, the other question was, do you run plates front and back? Yes, I do. So in my truck plate carrier setup, I run the composite plates front and rear. Front and rear, I run that. Now, you guys are seeing this is stripped down, obviously because everyone in the world is loading mags and getting their kit set up right now. Well, people who have it are doing it. People who don't have it are wondering or hoping that they don't need it. So I have everything being loaded out right now. So I have new mag pouches going on here. I got some prototypes that I'm testing right now that I've been testing and they are on the front. So I run the same setup on the front on my in-home plate carrier, as well as in my vehicle, my truck plate carrier. And that's with multiple AR mags and multiple pistol mags. So I'm running four AR mags and I'm running four pistol mags. That's just a setup I have here on the front of both of those plate carriers. And you guys can see photos of that. I'll post some photos of that to our social media accounts, if you want to take a look at what the full loadout is on this. Now on the back, the difference is on the back, I have on my in-truck plate carrier, I have an IFAK that mounts here. It has a tearaway function, a new prototype that we're working on. And I have the ability to put different patches on there. Now you want to be careful because in certain situations, you want to make sure that you're easily identified as not the threat. So you don't want to be in a situation where you break out your plate carrier and the police show up and they see someone running around in body armor and they think you're the bad guy. So some of you who have law enforcement credentials, background, whatever it may be, you may want to have something to let the responding officers know that either you are a law enforcement officer or you have some sort of law enforcement capacity so you yourself don't become the target. So just a disclaimer, a lot of people talk about that in videos, of course, when law enforcement shows up, if they see a good guy with a gun, how do they not know that that's actually the bad guy with the gun? So whatever precautionary steps you want to take, you take them. You may have to check with your agency guidelines about what you're allowed to do in an off-duty capacity, but you guys check that out and do what your agency dictates that you do. So that's on the back of my in-truck. A lot of people say, well, why don't you have the IFAC on your in-home plate carrier? Well, I have a whole med bag in my home, so I don't need to have that on my vest. So there's no reason. So if anything happens in my home and I have my in-home plate carrier with my steel plates, I have a whole med kit, a whole med bag that's fully loaded out. It's not a little IFAC that I have readily accessible from within a couple of seconds. So with regard to the steel plates, a lot of people ask me what I run, what size plates. I'm trying to just think of all the questions that people are asking. So I run 10x12 plates and I run 10x12 in the steel plates and I run 10x12 in the composite plates. Now, the composite plates that are in my vest that's in my truck, I just have the plates. Just one composite plate front 10x12, one composite plate back 10x12. In the vest, the plate carrier that I run in my home, I run a 10x12 steel plate with a 10x12 level 3A soft armor backing. So this is going to stop most of your handgun threats, 9, 45, 40, 44 Magnum. So this is going to stop all those handgun threats, but I'm putting it behind the level 3 plus AR550 plate as a backing. So this is how I run it, just like this, front and back in my plate carrier. And I have this, so when it's against my body, it's like this. So the soft armor is closest to my body and the AR550 steel is on the outer part, the secondary. So soft armor primary, AR550 steel secondary, and that's how I run it in the plate carrier for the in-home. Adds a little bit of weight and of course the steel plates are heavy as they are, but I'm not worried about that once again in my home because if that situation occurs, I'm only moving around my home or maybe the perimeter of my home, maybe. So I'm not really worried about that weight in that situation. Like I said, when you're outside and you're out and about, maybe you're at a shopping mall, movie theater, whatever, wherever that incident may occur, you got to be mobile and you want to be light. So that's why I use the composite plates there. People ask about the price. Yes, there is a pretty big price difference in the composite plates versus the steel plates. The steel plates are much more affordable. If you want to go smaller with the 8x10 steel plates, which some people use. I know a lot of females use them because they have a smaller frame. I personally, I like the 10x12. I like the bigger coverage area. You want to protect your heart and some of your vital organs. So I like the 10x12. But the composite plates are going to be quite a bit more expensive than your steel plates, whether you're getting AR500, AR550. So keep that in mind if you are planning on getting multiple plates. They are pricier. Why are you paying? You're paying for a weight savings. We all know that you're paying for weight savings. So you got to really plan out why are you getting this plate carrier. I tell people if this is for in your home, for a home defense situation, save your money, get the steel plates. They're going to be a little bit heavier, but they're going to give you the protection that you want and need and that you're looking for and get a solid plate carrier. We have what we believe designed with Tony Stentman on Real World Tactical, one of the best plate carriers on the market today. We have the polymer cobra buckles all around. You have the removable front panel that's completely modular. You have the cobra buckle system on the shoulder. You have the weight management system on the shoulder straps. You have your rifle sling management system on each sleeve and on each shoulder strap, and you have our MaxDry technology on the entire inside of the vest. So you have that on the inside of the front panel, inside of the back panel, and you also have it on the inside of the shoulder strap. So it's going to keep you cooler and more comfortable. We also have, I'm going to put these plates down here for a second, and you'll also see that we have this stretch cummerbund here that also allows you to have additional AR magazines on both sides, and you could even slide a soft armor plate in there or hard armor plates if you want, depending on the size hard armor plates that you have. So fully adjustable, fully modular, goes on super fast with the cobra buckles, and once you secure it to yourself, it has that nice stretch so it's not moving around. So you can kind of put it on with a little extra tightness, but you know that if you're running or your heart rate is elevated, which I'm sure if you're in a situation where you're putting this on, your heart rate is going to be elevated. Your thoracic cavity is going to be expanding and contracting. That's why you want this stretch. Most plate carriers, you'll see the cummerbund has a fixed material cordura or webbing that doesn't stretch. This stretches so you can put on a little tight. It expands and contracts with you, and it conforms to your body. So as you run and move, it's not, you don't have this, you know, this plate carrier, you see people running in their plate carriers going like this on them. This is designed specifically for that not to happen to you. Designed for speed and designed for long-term comfort while you're wearing it, because if you put this thing on, if you're out and about as a patrol officer and you get that active shooter call, you may have this on for hours, hours, and you want it to have that comfort and that ability to let you breathe and let you move. If you are in your home and you have a situation in your home, are you going to have it on for hours? Most likely not. Hopefully not. Hopefully the situation is taken care of quickly, but you want to still have the ability to get it on fast when you need it. And that's why we have our speed system here with the Cobra buckles. No having to rip Velcro and readjust shoulder straps and take the whole damn vest apart just to get it on and get it fitted. It fits on in seconds, literally seconds, because if you're putting this thing on, you want to put it on and get it on fast. So that is the setup. Like I said, I'm going to post photos of the loadout once all the magazines are loaded and I have all the pouches set back on here properly, the right way. Listen, if you're going to put mag pouches on, don't be lazy and just weave through one part of the MOLLE. Do the basket weave like you're supposed to do and get them on right. Get them on the right way. Take the time to do it and you'd have to do it again. So that's what I'm in the process of doing with this. I'll post photos of that. If you have any questions, comment below on your concerns, your questions about the different body armor packages we have. We have a package with this plate carrier, one of the top plate carriers on market today and front and rear plates, steel AR5 50 plates. So you get the plate carrier and you get a front plate and you get a rear plate for under $400. Under $400 for the whole kit, the whole setup, which I believe right now is one of the best deals on the market right now for a full kit setup. A lot of people have emailed in, they've stated that to us saying, hey, that's like the best deal out there. So apparently it is and we're happy to bring that deal to you and that offer to you, especially in this time where there's companies gouging on prices, charging an obscene amount of money for gear and ammo and things like that. There's no reason to do that. This is a time where we all need help. Police officers especially need to be careful and get the right gear in their cars and their patrol cars that they need. There's no reason to be doing that price gouging stuff. We're all Americans. We're all trying to take care of each other. So comment below with your questions about the plate carrier or our body armor, composite ceramic versus steel. If you have questions about the soft armor, we also have soft armor packages as well. Comment below. Our team, myself or the team is going to try to get back to everyone. Of course, it's a little crazy right now. We're getting inundated with orders. A lot of places are shutting down. But as a company that provides and caters to mostly police, law enforcement, first responders and military, of course, we don't have the luxury of slowing down. We are busier now than ever. So our team, someone will try to get back to you. Whether you are a civilian, whether you are a first responder, one of our brave heroes in uniform wearing a badge, most importantly, keep calm, keep cool, keep a clear head, stay focused, always know your purpose, be prepared for those who are first responders. If you guys have some downtime and you're talking with each other, just go through it. Go through it. Hey, listen, if we go here and this happens, what are you going to do? What am I going to do? Just go ahead and brainstorm a little bit and get your minds together. It's easy just to talk about sports and different things going on in the world, but take some time to actually plan for the what if situation. Because if you roll up to a call and you hear shots are fired, what are you going to do? How are you going to move? We just had another officer get killed responding to a store, a convenience store, I believe, or a grocery store. I'm not sure what it was. There was a crazy guy in there with a gun and officers responded, shot at the officers. One officer lost his life. You got to think strategically and take some time to plan. This is real. This is real life. This is a real serious situation. Take some time for your own safety and your own health. Remember, always watch their hands, watch your six, and most importantly, get home safe. Take care of your family. Your family needs you. Take care of your squad mates and everyone in your department. They're all relying on you to be an asset. Don't be a liability. Stay tuned for more videos coming up. Comment below. Email us. Sales at 221B Tactical. If you have any questions, it doesn't matter if it's a training question, product question, doesn't matter. Our team will try to answer it for you. Stay safe out there. We'll see you next time.