I'm trying to figure out what the difference between these two Crye Precision Plate Carriers. Standard AVS Plate Carrier & The AVS MBAV Plate Carrier

What are the Differences, Advantages and Disadvantages ?

Standard plate carrier works with normal soft armor plate backers; MBAV removable soft armor has this flare towards the bottom that makes it a little wider than most available civilian soft armor backers and it's thicker towards the top where plate backers usually follow the same cut lines as a plate;

MBAV soft armor:



normal plate backers:

MBAV is a milspec armor cut. If you are in the military, you have to wear issued armor or risk getting chewed out, and worse, your death-benefits might not pay out if you get hit while negligently NOT wearing your PPE.

For a long time (and probably still today in some types of ops) the standard armor package for SOCOM was BALCS armor, a full cut, 360 wrap around soft armor package that was a little more lean than the IBA/OTV/IOTV in use by the standard army or the USMC equivalent, plus SAPI plates in front.

Due to lessons learned in afghanistan, plate carriers became popular, different threats and all. They needed a standard plate carrier armor package.

At the time Eagle Industries Plate carrier's were part of the LCS bags. The MBAV armor was essentially designed to be compatible with the MLCS/RLCS/SFLCS Eagle plate carrier. That's why they are shaped funny. To fill the voids in the then standard issue plate carrier for maximum frag coverage.

Fast forward to today, MBAV is what's in the system, MBAV is what they have to wear; MBAV cut PC's are made by numerous companies today.

There are also a few other cuts that exist in use today like the "concealable" cut paraclete and velocity system soft armor packages.

Is this the case for government-provided death benefits, or just 3rd party benefits that a serviceman may have obtained on their own?

If the former, that's bullshit!



 

Maybe it is bullshit, I wasn't there.

However around 2005 there were a lot of pissed off guys in Iraq that got told they couldn't wear their own personally purchased armor PPE, and other than unit uniformity, that was one of the major reasons as explained by pissed off gear-guys on forums bitching that they couldn't use their expensive plates they or mom & dad bought to keep them safe.

The gov't provides you with certain specific PPE and if you opt out of wearing that approved PPE, in exchange for your own, unapproved PPE, then get shot and killed, it's an extremely easy argument to make that you are responsible for your own demise.

Maybe that was a load of shit officers were feeding their troops, maybe it was true then, maybe it's true today. Maybe it was just forum rumor crap that got regurgitated.

The main point of my post is that MBAV cut armor developed out of a need for a set of standard plate backers and frag protection in a more agile cut than the then mainstream BALCS, and that the physical dimensions of the Eagle plate carrier and cumberbund retrofit kit that was already in the system dictated the shape of MBAV armor for better or worse.

I wasn't there either, but I did some research and came up with this: https://m.facebook.com/notes/veterans-benefits-administration-vba-us-department-of-veterans-affairs/hey-servicemembers-the-truth-about-sgli-and-body-armor/286959468491



So apparently it was and is the case that it doesn't matter what armor troops had on (to include none) and if they're killed by the enemy, there would be a payout (if they opted for the optional SGLI policy at the following rates):



Premiums/Coverage:

$27.00 - $400k

$23.75 - $350k

$20.50 - $300k

$17.25 - $250k

$14.00 - $200k

$10.75 - $150k

$7.50  - $100k

$4.25  - $50k

$0.00  - $0



Like you said, I guess they were just trying to scare people into following orders.

It's complete and utter bullshit.  A combat related death will never be ruled as not in LOD, at least in terms of issued/personal purchased PPE.

Whoah ! Thanks for all the information guys! I understand now :)

It's a Senior NCO-ism.


Aka, a myth with no basis in fact that continues to get propagated in the military anyway.