Can any of you with experience recommend some brands or offer advice on concealable body armor?

I want to buy some concealable body armor that will generally stop any 9mm, .40 or .357 magnum round.. I'll be in some higher-risk areas as a racial minority who is talking to the police... so it seems prudent to add this to my conceal carry practices. I'll be training with my guns often but that is another topic.

Two brands I am considering are the Safariland M1 carrier and the AR500 concealed carrier.

I am thinking I want armor rated IIIA or above, and a vest with an option for side plates. If it breathes well that is a plus.


I am leaning towards the AR500 concealed plate carrier (easy to order/customize online, popular brand with many reviews) but as I know many of you are experienced LE I wanted to see if you had any recommendations. Thanks!

You want a bullet "proof" vest rather than a carrier with 4 different armor panels. I would look at the threat protection of level 2a, 2, and 3a and think if what the 3a adds is worth the extra bulk and heat.  Most would recommend a vest that can stop your own carry load.

Nothing will beat the LE grade fitted Body armor but it is expensive. I too have looked into getting something about the same level as what you are wanting to do. My job has the potential to take me into situations where concealed armor would be very nice. But I do not want to drop $1000 on something I may not ever use. I have since talked to my boss and a friend and they are going to try to get me a old vest from the PD.

But I did run across this in my searching for a affordable option.

Tru- Spec 24/7
Level IIIA Hybrid .25" thick



This parred with some of the thin soft panels that can be bought may be the most cost effective option.

Yes this manufacturer seems to get good reviews and get a lot of business.

The cost is annoying but if I look at 5+ years coverage it seems okay. It will not make sense to everyone, I'm a racial minority in a bad neighborhood who talks to the cops so it seems like an okay investment to me.

I started googling 'vest' and did come up with some different options so thank you for the suggestion. It seems harder to find good info on this subject. I know from the research I've done to be extremely careful getting a vest from a carrier that is not well-established.

I carry .357 sig and 10mm and some of the loads are over 1700fps so IIIA is going to be it then.

swampfoxoutdoors

For now I may just get what you recommended to start with. Seems much more concealable than other options and is cost-efficient for me now. It's not a full vest or knife-proof but I think I need to spend more for that and research quite a bit more.

There is a forum here under the armory heading. Check out the tactical gear board.

Just out of curiosity, are you worried with cops shooting you, or retaliation from other minorities?

Ah, I will check it out, thanks!

Not worried about the cops I love and respect tham, just the gangsters or drug dealers retaliating ... or simply having to protect myself in general in this area. I look at how much I spend on guns, ammo and training and the 5+ year benefit seems like a good tradeoff. I also think it's a cool tactical thing to have...

Body armor has improved significantly in protection from the original soft body armor introduced in the mid to late 70's.  Second Chance was one of the very early if not the first to produce Kevlar based soft body armor.  I would suggest modern IIA soft body armor, still realative concealable and protects against most threats except rifle cartridges.  There is always a trade off with body armor, if you buy to heavy, thick or rigid armor you'll never wear it.  

No body armor is bullet proof and all bullets can be stopped but any time you wear body armor you still have unprotected areas of your body.   I wore body armor almost every day of my 35 years of LE and you really never can tell what threat you might encounter working in LE.   I once rolled on a domestic disturbance call with a couple of City Officers.  A male subject was drunk and was argueing with his wife and teenage kids.  The male grabbed a M-1 Garand and at one point pointed it at Officers.  

Fortunately after a few minutes the male agreed to surrender and came out of the house.  When I unloaded the M-1 Garand it was loaded with WW II era black tip armor piercing ammo.   Even the recent shooting in Alexandria Va where the perp was armed with a 7.62X39 SKS would be bad news in any self defense encounter.   Some of my Friends who are still on the job have purchased their own rifle resistent type hard body armor in a Tactical vest configuration.  Any of the rifle resistent armor is very heavy and bulky.  This type of armor was typically used by SWAT,Tactical team on call outs.

The general practice for patrol Officers if they are responding to a call were there is a likelyhood of rifle fire they put on their Tactical vest which carries the rifle resistent armor.  Armor alone is best used with good tactics but there will always be risks.   The Tactical vest with rifle resistent armor, a patrol rifle/carbine and good tactics help but there are still serious risk.

In a civilian context the ballistic vest might help you survive to retreat or fight it out till the good guys arrive on scene.  The level IIA vest was the most popular and most worn body armor in LE when I retired.  Even some of the exterior vest with ballistic panels which match the Officers uniform are only level IIA.  The Tactical vest is just not concealed like some of the soft body armor under the uniform shirt.  In regards to vest being rated for edged weapons, many ballistic panels will resist slashing but will not protect on a knife thrust.  

If you buy a vest with side panels you have added protection but there is still a lot of unprotected areas of the body.  The side panels make the vest hotter but I think it is worth the extra protection.   I found in summer months I would always sweat significantly with body armor.  I always wore a cotton undershirt which was soaked by the end of the day.  I would hang my vest so it could dry till the next shift.  If I had a turn around shift of 8 hours or less the vest would still be damp.  An extra ballist panel carrier is very desireable if you wear a vest every day.   I found wearing a cotton undershirt kept me cooler than some of the Under Armor type garments marketed to wisk moisture.  Everybody is different and you have to find works for you.  In the winter Ballistic armor tends to block the wind and helps the body retain heat in frigid weather.

If you go the Tru-Spec route share pics and how you like it. When I was researching armor a few months back, It was right at 2017 shot show. Tru Spec released it then. And I couldn't even find it on the MFG website. Have not seen any reviews on it yet because its so new. I have some of their shirts and they are good stuff.  

Which ever level of armor you go with look for the thinnest option.

I retired from law enforcement a coupe of years ago. We were issued soft body armor that was rated only for handgun rounds. I purchased my own level IV hard armor plates and a plate carrier which weighs about 14lbs. This is impractical for wearing on a regular basis like all day, and I kept it in my vehicle for special situations. In fact I rarely ever (most other agents didn't either) wore my issued soft body armor vests unless we were conducting raids or serving warrants. Soft body armor usually comes with a small steel insert that is placed into a small pouch on the body armor vest that covers the heart area because the Kevlar vest will stop handgun rounds, but, not protect your body from the intense bruising that occurs from the bullet impact.

When I retired I purchased a set of soft body armor (still have my level IV hard armor plates and carrier) because sometimes it is advantageous to have armor that is concealable. I purchased a set of the Point Blank Hi-Lite with level IIIA armor. It runs about $500 and is relative light weight and covers most handgun calibers up to .44 magnum. See link for info:


PB level IIIA link

OP this looks like what you need.

Yeah just what I am looking for I will check prices online and let you know when I order!

What you want, depends on how concealable you want it to be.  There is no free lunch and armor that is truly concealable - as in can't tell you're wearing it in a suit and tie - won't have quite as much coverage up around the shoulders as the "concealable" armor using worn by uniformed officers.    

If you're working as an armed security guard or uniformed police officer where body armor is more or less expected, it makes sense to lean toward more coverage and less conceal-ability. The bad buys are going to assume you have it anyway and the extra bulk that is common in soft armor worn for uniformed duty won't be a big deal.

If on the other hand, you plan to wear it in a plain clothes detective, executive protection, or other capacity where you do not want to look like you're wearing body armor, then you'll want to lean toward less coverage and more conceal-ability.  If this is what you are looking for, then fit starts to matter, and you'll want to deal with a company that produces a wide range of sizes so that you get a good fit around the arms and shoulders.  The goals is decent coverage without extra bulk, which means just enough coverage on the sides for the soft plates to overlap just slightly to avoid excess bulk. This differs from duty armor where the overlap will be about 2 inches.  You also want to be sure the armor does not ride up into your throat when you sit, so that usually means 2-3 fingers worth of gap above your belt line.  You also don't want it bunching up on your shoulders, so that means a little lower coverage than you'd have with soft armor intended for uniformed duty.

I needed mine to be fully concealable and bought my last set of concealable body armor from Defensive Products International and had it fitted by them.  It wasn't cheap but at $529 it didn't break the bank either.

I opted for Honeywell Spectra Shield, rather than kevlar as it's sealed and moisture isn't an issue.  It's also about 25% thinner so you can get NIJ Level IIIa protection for the same weight,  thickness and conceal-ability as a Level II kevlar vest. The downside is that it is sealed and doesn't breathe, so a wicking undergarment is needed for comfort in hot weather.

You'll find some controversy around fibers other than kevlar.   There was for a short time armor made from a product called Zylon, but it was found to degrade very quickly under conditions of heat and moisture and it was pulled off the market.  There were also some Dyneema vests that were recalled shortly after that when the NIJ started including heat and moisture over a period of time in it's test protocols before re-testing to ensure the vest wasn't losing it's ballistic capability.   Spectra got caught up in this controversy as Spectra was also a polyethylene derived fiber.  

In essence the concern was with how polyethylene fiber vests react to heat.  If you plan on leaving your vest in the trunk of your car where it will cook in the summer heat, then go with Kevlar just to be safe as temperatures higher than 180 degrees have caused delimitation in some older Dyneema vests.  

I have fewer concerns about Spectra Shield and Spectra Gold vests, and I have no concerns about any vest certified under NIJ Standard-0101.06 (released July 2008).

In short, anything tested under NIJ Standard-0101.06  has been tested for water immersion, extended exposure to conditions similar to heat and moisture when wearing it and day long exposure to a temp of 194 degrees before being re-tested to determine in any degradation in performance has occurred. You'll find most companies have a 5 year warranty, but it's to limit liability.  If a vest has passed NIJ Standard-0101.06, it's ability to stop a bullet isn't going to change with age, unless you badly abuse it.  

I wear my vest, rather than leaving it in the trunk, and if it ever reaches temps exceeding 194 degrees, I've got far bigger problems as it means I'm also at or above 194 degrees.   I treat it well, store it flat at night and consequently, while I've used mine for 7 years, it's still going strong - no de-lamination, no curling, no other issues.

Yeah that steel insert acts as bullet deflector right into your noggin!  Only thing is useful for is you
eat your steering wheel.....