A while back, one of my buddies who trains under and hangs out with some well respected local arfcom trainers told me about the idea of home defense body armor. I've always considered the idea to be somewhat ridiculous, but then I reconsidered it. It might be useful, especially if your house is sufficiently large that you might have time to put it on. Any such armor would be sitting next to the bed (and next to my AR15). Being an arfcommer since 13 has the effect of ensuring there are no women to complain about stuff like that
. It would need to be very easy to put on quickly. I'm thinking velcro waist straps. I've done some reading and archive searches, and came up with two general ideas.
1) Buy a used level 2 vest from bulletproofme.com.
http://www.bulletproofme.com/Bullet_proof_Vests_Catalog.shtml2) Buy level 4 standalone plates from bulletproofme.com
http://www.bulletproofme.com/RP-Level-4-Stand-Alone.html and a minimalist plate carrier such as the PIG brigandine or one from Beez.
3) Get both; buy a vest that could hold both the level 2 armor and the level 4 standalone plates.
4) US Palm Defender
I personally think level 4 plates in a plate carrier are overkill for home defense, as they are heavy and the probability of someone showing up unwelcomed with a rifle is very small. With that said, it could be set up with a mag pouch, so that extra mags are at the ready in case of a jam. My gut tells me option 1 is the most practical and realistic, since it is cheap, covers a large area, and could perhaps even go under clothing if I wanted to wear it out and about (almost zero chance of that). Option 2 appeals to me because rifle protection might be nice in times of civil unrest such as hurricanes and the societal break down that follows, plus the ability to put it on really quickly and carry a spare magazine. Option 3 seems like it would be far too bulky and I would never get it on in time. Option 4 seems appealing for being pretty cheap, but considering the modest cost of some of the cheaper ceramic plates, is not that great of a deal. I also considered AR500 plate, which I might go with if my only goal were long run SHTF, but considering the spalling threat, increased weight and only modestly reduced cost compared with the heavy ceramics, it doesn't seem to be that great of a deal.
The main reason I'm interested in this is I had no idea how affordable this stuff could be until I started reading about it. I just assumed a level 2 kevlar vest would be 600 bucks and a level 4 ceramic plate would be 400 each or more, which all seems to be true if you buy the light weight ones. But I am low speed and no drag, and I don't really need something that I can comfortably wear all day long in an Arab country with summer highs of 120 F.
If I actually bought any of this stuff, as with my firearms, I would practice accessing it until it became muscle memory. I've had one situation where I mistakenly thought someone was trying to break in, and I reacted exactly as I had planned to (which included safety on, booger hook of bang switch, and low ready until the situation was fully understood).
I am a total newbie when it comes to anything that is not 3-gun, practical pistol or NRA high power. If I've misunderstood something, or even if you think the whole premise is stupid, let me know.