Looking to get some level 3+ or 4 steel plates.  Yes steel.  I’ve got good SRT/L4 ceramic plates covered already.  

I want a set of steel that I can beat up at the gym/working out/drills and not worry about damaging it when I drop it or throw it into a trunk.   Weight doesn’t matter either but I’d like to be in the 8lb range per plate to be closer to what my carrier would actually be.  

So, what’s the best level 3+/4 steel plate for the money on a 10x12 shooter cut that is single curve.

If you're buying it to serve as training weights instead of actual ballistic protection, why does it matter to be Level III+/IV?

If these are primarily going to be training weights, then CATI armor has multicurve steel plates.

Steel? Really?

I use the CATI PT plates front, rear, and sides for PT.

Just a tip though, put foam on the inside face (between you and the plates). This will help fill the plate pockets out and nothing sucks more than getting a steel plate surface or corner smacking you in the face/eye socket when donning/doffing the carrier. I speak from experience.

@brian01

I figure if I’m buying a carrier & steel plates for it I might as well get something with some ballistic rating.   Rogue plates are $85 a pair.  I’d rather spend money and have some ballistic protection.

I suppose if you aren't planning to actually wear them instead of your ceramics outside of physical conditioning, then I can see the logic of wanting your training weight plate carrier to be able to still serve as a crappy spare plate carrier if you're going to have another plate carrier around anyway.

Just be aware that even with the spray-on truck bed liner that steel armor companies use for spall/splatter protection, they still don't actually reliably stop bullet splatter after more than 1 or 2 rounds. It's still better than bare steel, but it's not comparable to legitimate body armor. Also don't bother buying trauma pads, those are a gimmick.

So as a set of training weights that might as well also be able to serve double duty as a shitty backup plate carrier, I'd get the CATI multicurve III+ with spall buildup coat. I just looked and they come out to $135 per plate and weigh 9 lbs 4 oz.

But just to reiterate, never wear these in an actual situation outside of physical training if you have the option of wearing your ceramics. Some people even think that wearing no plates at all is actually better than wearing steel plates, and they have some good reasons for that view.

CATI

@brian01   Those cati plates were the ones I was looking at.  The only purpose of this setup would be a training carrier that happens to be rated.  Think for use on something like an obstacle course.   Would you intentionally run one on your good plates for practice if you’ve got a purpose built training setup?  I’d hate to risk ruining my good stuff if I don’t have to.  

Ceramic plates aren't actually as delicate as people think they are. You can run obstacle courses with them and they'll be fine.

If anything running the courses with the plates you actually plan to use in a situation is good because you'll grow accustomed to their exact balance and feel. Of course running the course with incredibly heavy shit is also great for physical conditioning, but ceramic plates are more durable than you seem to think.