seems that a steel (or any metal or hard) trauma plate could cause a problem as well as offer protection.  a bullet hitting a metal surface has a chance of ricocheting correct?  possibly up into the face region?  seems this could really only happen if hit at an angle from the bottom towards the face, but could still happen?  prolly worth the risk to have more protection over the heart though?

thanks

DUDE,

you have your vest on inside out![shock]


the trauma plate is under many layers of material that prevents bullet splatter and ricochets.

not to sound paranoid but I wear a hard trauma plate [b]WITH[/b] a soft trauma pad on top! this is all on top of a level II vest.

no kiddin. well i am new to this, just didnt realize.  looks like some body armor just has a pocket in the front to slip a plate in.  this pocket has kevlar on the outside of it?

The big problem with trauma plates is having to tape them to your back.

Some vests have the trauma plate pocket on the outside of the kevlar, sprectra etc, some have it on the inside.

They now have soft trauma plates that are either semi-rigid or flexible. These are effective.

The hard plates, some were titanium, will have a better chance stopping a knife attack. An ice pick or penetrating weapon will defeat the vest but not a hard plate.

If the trauma plate is taped to your back, where do you tape your backup guns to?

You right, I know of several Departments here in Oklahoma, where it is a good idea to wear your bullet proof vest backward, Come promotion time or when they get ready to give the next Sgt's exam.

Why, the forearm without the ASP taped to it silly.

In my opinion, your trauma plate/vest combo should not be based on your perceived need for projectile protection. The one time you decide to go with that slim IIA concealable is sure to be when the Neo-Nazi snipers will glide from the shadows with their Rem. 700 PSS and put 160 grains of swift winged leaden death directly through your lungs. Doubling up on trauma plates and even kevlar panels in an accepted method of increasing your level of protection from high velocity rifle rounds that one vest panel, even coupled with a trauma plate, may be unable to stop.

Taping the extra panels to the skin is painful on removal, but oiling the duct tape assists in this procedure-though some in the suiting room may wonder why you are greasing up your body and wincing in pain as you remove the vest.

Trauma plates can basically be inserted into the outer surfaces of the vest in multiples with the addition of sewn or velcro'd extra pockets-and these plate may fit in other places as well, if cut to fit.

Gecko45

SkaerE -

Anytime you have a situation where a bullet might strike a hard steel surface, ricochet is a possibility.  Waverunner actually does what several people I know do, wear a soft pak over a steel strike plate.  This will contain bullet "splatter" (spall) from a strike fairly well, and at the same time provide sternum area protection from knives, fists, steering columns, etc. better than the Kevlar or Spectra soft paks alone.  Second Chance sells hard plates covered with Kevlar to contain spall.  The most common are the T-30 steel and T-15 titanium plates and these (in theory) work just like Waverunner's combo.

Word of advice: DO NOT wear a steel strike plate on the back side of your ballistic panels!  The reason for this is that for soft armor to work, the fibers need to stretch back (backface deformation) to stop the bullet.  If you have a steel plate preventing this from happening, guess what.... you just took a round through your vest.  Trauma plate pockets should ALWAYS be on the outside of the panel.  They may be under the carrier, but never under the panel.

I highly recommend either a steel plate under a soft pak, or a SC T-30/T-15 plate.  The best choice ( some $$$ though) is the T-15 plate as this will raise the protection of your sternum area to include 12 gauge slug, .30 carbine, 9mm AP, and 7.62 Tokarev, knives, ice picks, etc. all without adding more than 8 oz. of additional weight.  It is covered by a Kevlar "sheath" which will contain spall/splatter.  It's what I use.  Not taped to my back though. [:D]

Backup guns will fit between the buttock cheeks, with some slight discomfort-the KelTec P32 fits just about anywhere on the body-you can tape two of them to any average forearms, and 7 of them will fit on one thigh with careful arrangement and taping-though revoval may be a bit tricky unless you drop your pants-a small sacrifice to make when one must access their backup firearm(s).

Gecko45

Does anyone make form-fitted plates or are they all flat?

Then again think of all the uncomfortable things women wear just for the sake of [b]fashion.[/b]

A life saving vest seems like a fair compromise.

You and I must have different ideas on what a backup gun is. I was thinking of something more like the one pictured below. I don't think I would enjoy trying to cram that thing up my ass. [:)]

[img]www.ar15.com/members/albums/Ponyboy%2Fsbs%2Ejpg[/img]

We turn our body armor in after 5 years and get new stuff. We took one of our old ones, shot it with a 12 ga slug, and then a load of 000 buck, both from about 7 yds. The steel plate was deformed, but stopped the slug and all 8 pellets. It wasn't a "scientific" by any means, but it was enough to convince me of how effective a steel shock plate can be.