I recently posted a deal i found for a plate carrier and plates. You guys were nice enough to point out a few things for me to consider and research. I passed on the deal, thank you guys.

I have a buddy, retired LE, that is still doing LE firearms training. He has had me come out a few times to help as the RSO. I have decided for now that a PC is more then I really need. I just want to make sure i go home at the end of the range session. They do a combination of pistol and rifle so I am looking at Level 3 armor.  I have been looking at places that sell soft concealable body armor and they all only sell to Active LE, Mil or security professionals.

Can you guys point out some places that sell to civilians?

In, because I'm curious as well.

Got a question though, you say you're looking for soft concealable armor but want level III armor because rifles are part of the course you RSO for. Soft armor only goes to IIIA, which is still handgun rounds only. You need hard rifle plates to stop rifle rounds. So what exactly are you going for here?

Per NIJ standards, you can have level 3 soft armor.

2.4 Type III (Rifles)
Type III hard armor or plate inserts shall be tested in a conditioned state with 7.62 mm
FMJ, steel jacketed bullets (U.S. Military designation M80) with a specified mass of 9.6 g (147
gr) and a velocity of 847 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (2780 ft/s ± 30 ft/s).

Type III flexible armor shall be tested in both the “as new” state and the conditioned state
with 7.62 mm FMJ, steel jacketed bullets (U.S. Military designation M80) with a specified mass
of 9.6 g (147 gr) and a velocity of 847 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (2780 ft/s ± 30 ft/s).

since I am unable to hotlink to A PDF, here is my source: www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/223054.pdf

That's just an NIJ test standard in case someone attempts to manufacture some flexible rifle rated armor. None actually exists.

Unless of course you count Dragonskin, but good luck buying any.

Soft: http://store.atarmor.com/category_s/1910.htm

Plates: http://store.atarmor.com/category_s/1909.htm

Mike is a hell of a great guy and will answer all your questions personally.  I’ve gotten emails from him at 2AM and he’s called me back at 9PM.

Best dealer in the industry.

ok, thanks for the info, i thought since there was a test for it there was a product
.
As for Dragonskin, it does not work so i would pass even if you could find it.

With my new knowledge in hand, can i get a 3a soft vest and get trauma plates to give it level 3 protection, or am i looking at just getting a plate carrier and plates? I don't need to add pouches and carry stuff.

You can get a IIIA vest and get ICW (In Combination With) plates for it, provided the carrier has plate pockets. Most ICW plates are level IV with a IIIA vest backing.

If you don't want to do that I'd just get a plate carrier sized for what you want, then get the plates. Level III or III+ plates would be fine for your RSO work, provided no one is shooting armor piercing ammo for some reason.

A lot of the cheap ICW plates are level IV ICW. Some of the most expensive plates out there are level III ICW or special threat ICW. Depending on the vest there may be any kind of size plate pockets from 5x7 on bigger, but they usually are 10x12 or smaller and rarely are SAPI sized. Honestly in my experience spending a lot of money one one rig and using it for a lot of diffrent things, teaching beginners, training, doing competitive stuff in armor, has led me to building several rigs. Being operator like that gets expensive, if i was going to do it again I would have built one more scaleable system. Look at a carrier like the velocity LPAAC which conceals well with just soft armor. Then get a good chest rig like a mayflower or Haley strategic or spiritus systems. Then get plates. That way you can go from everything from just the soft armor under a shirt for teaching a pistol class to just a chest rig in its own harness for when you train to the combined system with all three parts for SHTF. Make sure to pick up a good battle belt along the way and maybe a helmet. Radios and nods are cool but you need your pouches and PPE first. I'm pretty young, most of the guys I hang around with want to have the most Gucci everything and they buy things as soon as money hits their bank account. I've seen tencate 6400s, really fucking expensive plates, sit in a closet because the owner didn't have a carrier yet. As long as all the equipment is "good enough" gear and you know how to use it you will kick the hell out of the guy with stuff that was so expensive he couldn't afford ammo.

Also as to where to buy, OP tactical sells the LPAAC and the appropriate soft armor for it. They've been good to me. If you can swing the cost of that and plates TYR tactical has a freaking awesome sale for level III ICW or IV ICW plates.

I think i Like the idea of getting the soft armor and ICW plates,then building up from thee as time and money allow.
Thanks guys.

Checkout Bulletproofme.com

Good police used gear, or new if you want.