Plate Carrier Set Up

[rbell2915]

Just got my JPC 2.0 and I'm still waiting on my plates to arrive. I decided to figure out how exactly to mount my Haley Micro rig without spending any more money.

I already bought a package of AXL bungeee retention straps to use the Micro on my issued flak and it came in a set of four. I decided that I'd use half of the straps on my issued flak and half on my personal carrier because I didn't feel like spending $40 right now. I think it's good enough for now, but we'll see when I get my plates installed and try it out.

I also used the female buckles from my old issued chest rig to mount the Micro to the JPC. Next I need a hydration pouch.

Feel free to post your plate carriers to share how you set it up.

 

[rbell2915]

Made some adjustments that I'll post later today. I kept reading that all you need to add the Micro to the JPC 2.0 are the clips because it already has Velcro. In my opinion using only the Velcro isn't secure enough, it feels quite weak and when pulling mags out it's almost like it'll detach. Also added my old issued hydration pouch because water is important.

 

[Chuckman]

Are you still in? Will they let you wear this in lieu of issued PC?

 

[rbell2915]

Are you still in? Will they let you wear this in lieu of issued PC?

I am still in and no. I have the Gen II plate carrier, will post a photo later today, they are now issuing the Gen III currently.

This is for personal use.

 

[rbell2915]

Here is the current set up and a close up of the male clip attached to my issued mag pouch. Not entirely sure how much I like it at the moment. Need to get the plates in when they are delivered tomorrow and take it for a spin to see what works and what doesn't for me. It's a never ending process.

Last two photos are my flak and the belt.

 

[Chuckman]

I am still in and no. I have the Gen II plate carrier, will post a photo later today, they are now issuing the Gen III currently.

This is for personal use.

I started with the flak jacket, ended with the CIRAS.

I'd set it up similar to the issue rig.

 

[Flipside1212]

Amazon makes a great knock off of the rear zip on pack, had it on my old jpc and couldnt tell it was 40 vs 240

 

[rbell2915]

Will have to look into that. Just got my plates in today. Looking forward to taking it all to the range.

 

[Flipside1212]

Sure ******* do, guy said he didnt want to spend much, was lending a hand. Now you can just **** right off!!

 

[Burt Gummer]

Yeah,
Buy china knock offs

I bet you vote republican

If you have something that works, you could post a link to it instead of bashing folks for what they mentioned.

 

[Burt Gummer]

People's careers are in jeopardy everytime anyone buys china knock offs.

I do not promote my gear on CFF because that company is not a sponsor.

The irony in your statement is astounding.

 

[spcomerderp]

Haley makes a pretty nice solution for mounting chest rigs to PCs. Surprisingly it is not insanely expensive either. I use it on my gen 3 with a Mayflower and have been liking it. My BN is all about the chest rig set up.

Side Tension Strap Kit

Vertical QASM Adapter

haleystrategic.com

 

[rbell2915]

Current kit. Working on flipping some car parts on ebay to fund an NVG set up.

 

[rbell2915]

Haley makes a pretty nice solution for mounting chest rigs to PCs. Surprisingly it is not insanely expensive either. I use it on my gen 3 with a Mayflower and have been liking it. My BN is all about the chest rig set up.

Side Tension Strap Kit

Vertical QASM Adapter

haleystrategic.com

After I put my plates in the chest rig is much more secure. All you need when mounting the Micro to the JPC 2.0 is the female clips. Without the plates in it must've been too flaccid because now it works amazingly.

 

[spcomerderp]

Current kit. Working on flipping some car parts on ebay to fund an NVG set up.

View attachment 549737

nice set up man

 

[Midwest Armor]

Just got my JPC 2.0 and I'm still waiting on my plates to arrive. I decided to figure out how exactly to mount my Haley Micro rig without spending any more money.

Awesome setup!

 

[rbell2915]

Awesome setup!

Thanks! Working on night vision next.

 

[Midwest Armor]

Thanks! Working on night vision next.

For what it’s with we are about to start carrying that along with Trijicon and expanded Surefire

 

[rbell2915]

For what it’s with we are about to start carrying that along with Trijicon and expanded Surefire

When I am not a poor I will have to look into that it'll probably be a year or two out. This economy isn't helping lol

 

[Midwest Armor]

When I am not a poor I will have to look into that it'll probably be a year or two out. This economy isn't helping lol

Not the least bit and we will be here

 

[sr30]

I don’t have tons of details but this is a Condor PC w AR500 steel.

The plates are not “spall-coated”, and I’m very interested to hear opinions on spall mitigation.

Not interested in ceramic, simply out of my price range.

 

[Chuckman]

I don’t have tons of details but this is a Condor PC w AR500 steel.

The plates are not “spall-coated”, and I’m very interested to hear opinions on spall mitigation.

Not interested in ceramic, simply out of my price range.

View attachment 556134

If you get shot, spall will straight up mess you up. You can mitigate that with a spall liner and trauma pad.

 

[rbell2915]

I don’t have tons of details but this is a Condor PC w AR500 steel.

The plates are not “spall-coated”, and I’m very interested to hear opinions on spall mitigation.

Not interested in ceramic, simply out of my price range.

View attachment 556134

My plates were not that expensive. Only cost about $300 for a pair of multicurve lvl 4s.

 

[sr30]

If you get shot, spall will straight up mess you up. You can mitigate that with a spall liner and trauma pad.

I’m looking at a pair of these…

Spartan Armor Systems Spall Containment Sleeve

Spartan Armor Systems® Spall Containment Sleeves add an extra layer of protection when wearing AR500 or AR550 Steel Core body Armor Plates. Designed to provide additional fragmentation (spall) mitigation to limit injuries when shot.

www.spartanarmorsystems.com

 

[rbell2915]

I’m looking at a pair of these…

Spartan Armor Systems Spall Containment Sleeve

Spartan Armor Systems® Spall Containment Sleeves add an extra layer of protection when wearing AR500 or AR550 Steel Core body Armor Plates. Designed to provide additional fragmentation (spall) mitigation to limit injuries when shot.

www.spartanarmorsystems.com

Instead of spending over $100 before tax on two of those you can put that towards a set of ceramic plates.

 

[sr30]

Instead of spending over $100 before tax on two of those you can put that towards a set of ceramic plates.

Nah, I’m good. 👍🏻

 

[rbell2915]

Nah, I’m good. 👍🏻

 

[Cole_McD]

Steel plates are bad in every conceivable way. You can get ceramics for pretty cheap nowadays honestly. Just save up and buy ceramics for a little more.

I shot a buddies "coated" steep plates when he finally upgraded and the spall was insane.

 

[Chuckman]

You know, it's OK to have an unexpressed thought.... let people buy what they want and bid them a good day.

 

[sr30]

You know, it's OK to have an unexpressed thought.... let people buy what they want and bid them a good day.

Imagine that, right? 😉

 

[Chuckman]

Imagine that, right? 😉

How dare you not spend a million dollars for a set up which statistics say you will never need, spending your money the way you want to spend it, and making informed choices??

I wish people weren't so openly antagonistic and more supportive. Life is hard enough.

 

[sr30]

How dare you not spend a million dollars for a set up which statistics say you will never need, spending your money the way you want to spend it, and making informed choices??

I wish people weren't so openly antagonistic and more supportive. Life is hard enough.

From what I’ve seen the Steel/Ceramic argument is about as old/heated as the 9mm/.45acp

I’m good w what I have, it was what I could afford at the time and I don’t feel like having to replace plates every 4-5 years.

I don’t know everything there is to know about any of this, I’m here to learn from those willing to share their wisdom and expertise.

 

[Chuckman]

From what I’ve seen the Steel/Ceramic argument is about as old/heated as the 9mm/.45acp

I’m good w what I have, it was what I could afford at the time and I don’t feel like having to replace plates every 4-5 years.

I don’t know everything there is to know about any of this, I’m here to learn from those willing to share their wisdom and expertise.

Guys have different priorities on what they use, and that's fine. Some guys do the cry-once-buy-once thing. Some pick based on weight, mission, etc. Almost everything I have is based on probability of use. You are picking your set-up based on your priorities, which is fine.

 

[feesix]

From what I’ve seen the Steel/Ceramic argument is about as old/heated as the 9mm/.45acp

I’m good w what I have, it was what I could afford at the time and I don’t feel like having to replace plates every 4-5 years.

I don’t know everything there is to know about any of this, I’m here to learn from those willing to share their wisdom and expertise.

Ceramic doesn't really have a 4 or 5 year shelf life. That's just what the warranty for most places are. It all depends on how you care for them. King of armor's warranty is 10 years.

 

[phideux]

I see all these plate carriers and I think, these aren't any protection at all, unless you get hit in the plate, you got a hole in you. I have a full vest with side coverage and pockets for plates. Why would you want just that little bit of coverage area??

 

[rbell2915]

I see all these plate carriers and I think, these aren't any protection at all, unless you get hit in the plate, you got a hole in you. I have a full vest with side coverage and pockets for plates. Why would you want just that little bit of coverage area??

It protects your vital organs and you're supposed to aim at center mass anyway. What else do you want? How heavy do you want your kit to be? You can get side plates but that adds weight and restricts movement. Would you rather have nothing?

 

[Chuckman]

I see all these plate carriers and I think, these aren't any protection at all, unless you get hit in the plate, you got a hole in you. I have a full vest with side coverage and pockets for plates. Why would you want just that little bit of coverage area??

It's a trade off of weight, mobility, and protection. Center mass isn't one dimensional like we see on a target, it's 3D, and if you are squared up during a fight, you're not moving/shooting/communicating.

Would you rather have nothing?

Data would suggest "nothing" is fine. There's not a whole lot of people outside of LE who are alive because of a plate carrier, regardless of what kind of inserts.

That's why I find the argument regarding ceramic vs steel vs unobtanium a little funny. You have a higher chance of being struck by lightning or attacked by a shark than being shot wearing a PC. But as I've said elsewhere, I support people buying whatever they want for whatever level of protection they think they need.

 

[phideux]

It protects your vital organs and you're supposed to aim at center mass anyway. What else do you want? How heavy do you want your kit to be? You can get side plates but that adds weight and restricts movement. Would you rather have nothing?

I don't want nothing, the vest I wear is a lightweight 3A, basically covers from my neck to my waist front and back, plus the sides are covered. For added protection I have 3+ plates for the front and back. But without plates I'm covered for pretty much all the handgun rounds.

 

[Prudii]

Weight, protection, price. Pick two.

Armor is a probability game. How likely are you to be shot? What are you likely to be shot with? Where are you likely to be shot? Depending on where you are shot how likely are you to die immediately.

The reason modern armor consists of two small plates is because those two plates cover your vital organs which also happens to be where 99.9% of everyone ever has been trained to shoot.

Stand alone ceramic are where its at for commercially available armor these days.

Steel is cheap and is still effective when thin. Thats about all it has going for it. No amount of truck bed liner and cordura bags will make keep you safe from fragmentation and spall.
BuT pRuDiI wHaT aBoUt ThE fBi LiVeWiRe PlAtE? They are for agents who need ultra concealable armor to wear under tight fitting clothes. wHaT aBoUt ThE uVL?! Those have the same purpose but are made out of titanium and are effectively impossible to get if you arent in JSOC.
People who aren't trying to conceal their armor are wearing ceramic or ceramic hybrid armor.


If you're wearing a PC while on the water every day then you might consider UHMWPE. Its expensive and thicc but it floats.


You can get a set of RMA 1155 for about $300 after shipping. They are are NIJ certified lvl 4 ceramic. They will stop a 30-06 AP from an 24" barrel.
No they don't go bad after 5 years, and no they arent fragile. But lets be honest that doesn't matter because they probably wont ever leave the closet anyway.


This isn't directed at anyone in particular, don't take it personal.

 

[Midwest Armor]

I don’t have tons of details but this is a Condor PC w AR500 steel.

The plates are not “spall-coated”, and I’m very interested to hear opinions on spall mitigation.

Not interested in ceramic, simply out of my price range.

tl;dr

Save your money until you can buy an entry level Level IV ceramics, you can even get a single curve Level IV plate set on our site for $380 and if you support the CFF community you can get another % off of that.