Is that vest really general issue?
How commonly is the plate issued?
That thing really stopped an AK....crap...the vest I got in 88 wouldn't stop a spit ball.

Are the straps for equipment? Does it replace the LBE?

BTT

The vest Gunny Hartman shot on the History Channel show last night with the AK.

I'm probably wrong here but I'm just guessing. The vest that Gunnery Sgt. Ermey shot was standard issue but it had extra trauma plates and protection inside. That's what stopped the 7.62x39 round. I think he took this giant metal trauma plate out of it. Now I would think that most GI's would not carry those bulky heavy plates in their flak vests. Thus, in a real world situation, the AK round would probably go right on through.

Then it wasn't the current vest, the Point Blank "Interceptor". It does not use metal trauma plates, it uses boron carbide ceramic ones and they weigh just 4.5 pounds each. The total vest weight with plates is 16 pounds.

Perhaps they were using a set of the old Ranger body armor that weighed close to thirty pounds with two 9 pound Ti or aluminum/silica carbide plates.  In fact, as the Interceptor plates are still "single use only" and cost some $500 each, they were probably using some kind of older plate that didn't cost so much.


Well if it really was a Interceptor vest then yes, it has a strap grid for fitting MOLLE gear. It is my understanding that it is actually better thought of than the MOLLE LBV itself for load carrying. Point Blank did something better in the designing the shoulders than Specialty Plastics did in making the shoulder straps for the LBV.

The Interceptor vest deserves most of the credit for saving the 10th Mountain Divisions outing in Anaconda from being a total disaster. Part of one company got pinned down on a LZ. 87 men were trapped for 18 hours in a bowl in the floor of a valley. 27 of them were hit. None were KIA.

The Interceptor Vest is in the process of replacing PASGT vests everywhere. Plates will only be issued to Infantry and their direct support personel, like combat engineers, medics, and artillery FO's. As each individual plate costs about half what the vest costs (US$1000 for the vest, $500 for each plate) they are going to be picky as to who they issue this stuff to. It can get expensive real fast.

Yes, it was the interceptor and at the end he showed the ceramic insert it had. It was black and said face forward or something. He also showed the Viet Nam era flack jackets in which the AK penetrated completely through the entire vest, front and rear. The AK was Krinkov metal folder...he shot the vests from about 25-35 yards.

He said they cost about $1500 a piece! Ayeeeii!

Good show,
[b][blue]NAKED[/blue][/b]

Thought it was cool him shooting but he was a bad Marine for not wearing his eyes and ears...[:(]


Unless he had plugs and I didn't see them, but I'm certain he had no glasses on...