Celt
.450/400 Nitro Ex
And exactly why you need a network.
Pros and cons of body armor. Is it even needed for your prep kit?
- Thread starter carpediem
- Start date
Marine Cpl
.577 Tyrannosaur.
Speaking of networks and my doomsday line of thinking, I really do think we should all get those radios and have the same frequencies. While they only have a range of about 5 to 7 miles, if you find yourself near someone's town, contact can be made. Also guys in between can relay information to those further out.
We may live miles from each other, but we can share information, resources, trade, ect.
Celt
.450/400 Nitro Ex
Do they have better ones with about a 50 mile or 100 mile range? Scratch that, let keep this in the ham radio thread.
But again, if there's going to be a mass exodus from the cities, to me that implies that staying put in the city might not be such a bad thing with proper planning and preparations.
I have a radio (because of you Will lol). I have no idea how to program it though as someone else did that for me, filling it with all the local PD and Fed frequencies he could find. I'm sure there's a way we can add our out freq, but I have no idea how.
Marine Cpl
.577 Tyrannosaur.
You are correct. After they leave, blow the bridges.
Marine Cpl
.577 Tyrannosaur.
We'd have to meet up or you could mail it to me, I add the frequencies, and mail it back to you.
Marine Cpl
.577 Tyrannosaur.
Sorry for the derailment. Let's get back to our local scheduled body armor channel.
This is one of those threads that I can sort of relate to, I own 2 vests because I have 2 daughters and if it comes down to a fight IE someone wants what I need to survive and I don't want them to have it there is going to be a fight. Now I have places where my family could hide in that case but getting there my put them in danger and that is where the vests are handy. Since I live outside the village we should have plenty of time to prepare for any sort of "unhappy towns folk" or "BLM trouble makers" coming up to cause trouble but what does it hurt to get the girls in the vests.
Marine Cpl
.577 Tyrannosaur.
I never thought of that John. Put them in vests in a locked room armed with pistols when there is no method to escape.
carpediem
.338 Win Mag
That was also a consideration when I got my carrier. Things get sketchy you can set them up with some protection and a weapon until the threat is over. I had thought about just getting soft armor, but the expiration dates and the lack of trauma protection pushed me toward ballistic plates.
I beefed up my soft vests with armor plating just in the front so the girls could still manage the weight.
Truebeliever
6.5 Creedmoor
Okay for late comments?
Body armor. I have my old soft armor that I have at home for the emergency if I had time to Don it.
In a general evac like they did in Huston TX for the hurricanes, I might wear/bring the soft armor. Or a buyout in an EMP situation. Or just having to go to work in such a situation where a temporary or long term situation like Katrina occurs. My main concern as far as firearms would be handgun caliber weapons or even shotguns but soft body armor is better than none because the " cover " available might not stop a rifle round itself but slow it down enough for the soft armor to work.
As far as bugging out, there are many many reasons that even a well prepared position would be advised to bug out might be a natural disaster such as a hurricane or more realistically FIRE. In a grid down/impaired situation, out of control fires will be a big concern and the quickest way for the most prepared to become a refugee.
With soft body armor, the weight is less of a problem then the heat. I wear soft body armor at work and it's the heat that it traps against your body as opposed to weight that gets to you. At least the vest that have side panel coverage. Plate carriers without side coverage don't trap as much heat.
Body armor. I have my old soft armor that I have at home for the emergency if I had time to Don it.
In a general evac like they did in Huston TX for the hurricanes, I might wear/bring the soft armor. Or a buyout in an EMP situation. Or just having to go to work in such a situation where a temporary or long term situation like Katrina occurs. My main concern as far as firearms would be handgun caliber weapons or even shotguns but soft body armor is better than none because the " cover " available might not stop a rifle round itself but slow it down enough for the soft armor to work.
As far as bugging out, there are many many reasons that even a well prepared position would be advised to bug out might be a natural disaster such as a hurricane or more realistically FIRE. In a grid down/impaired situation, out of control fires will be a big concern and the quickest way for the most prepared to become a refugee.
With soft body armor, the weight is less of a problem then the heat. I wear soft body armor at work and it's the heat that it traps against your body as opposed to weight that gets to you. At least the vest that have side panel coverage. Plate carriers without side coverage don't trap as much heat.
Marine Cpl
.577 Tyrannosaur.
Also most bandits running around creating havoc are more likely to be using pistols than long guns. Think BLM riots.
carpediem
.338 Win Mag
Always ok for comments! My only two concerns with the soft armor it blunt force trauma mitigation and the expiration of the effectiveness of the Kevlar. Granted, plates do not stop trauma, but the energy is dissipated over a much larger surface, and when combined with trauma pads I believe that a hit from a handgun will affect you far less than with soft armor. Just my opinion.
Bananabandit
.338 Win Mag
I've been considering some body armor. I feel it is low on my shopping list however, since it'd be something I'd use less than water, food, other resources etc. If anyone has something basic for a good price, I'd be open to checking it out.
carpediem
.338 Win Mag
Check out Spartan Armor. They have some good deals on plates. Carrier choices are plenty. If you are looking at soft armor, I believe Spartan also has that, but that isn't something I looked for too much.
Truebeliever
6.5 Creedmoor
Hard plates will definitely disperse the engery much more but its a trade off.
I can "hide" soft under clothes and many will not notice it unless they are really close to me even in the summer time with just an oversized t-shirt. And not at all with a winter jacket on.
And the main difference for me is that I use soft armor for work so it is a "work" expense for me.
If crime/dangerous times get really bad but not Mad Max level, I could wear the vest when I go to gas station or seven-eleven to get something. Hard armor, the answer would be no, unless you want everyone to know and think u are a nut case.
I think the most dangerous time in any time of unrest is the time of transition between normal and chaos. The soft armor I think would give options in such an quasi environment. After Sandy some of the gas lines started to get violent and the police in area area responded with guarding the stations. What if the police were too short handed to do that? Or got out of hand before they set up the guard system or someone didn't care the police were there.
I'm pretty sure doing the opposit of what the horde does is a fantastic survival strategy, if the horde goes left, go right.
My step-father owns a gas station little more than a decent walk from my house, so protecting it would become one of my primary duties in the event of a REAL breakdown. During Sandy, I helped a little to keep things cool, but he was never in any danger (plus a few other friends helped with the lines).
It was eye-opening to watch what went on around that place though for the first week or so after Sandy. The slightest rumor of him getting a shipment would cause mile-long lines around the shop. He had to pay someone to walk down the line to tell people the rumor wasn't true, and even then, some people would refuse to leave figuring that they were being scammed out of their place in line. Now if a much worse event took place, I could easily see myself being forced into full battle-rattle to protect the tanks from being siphoned off. Crazy, but possible.
Acer-m14
20×102mm Vulcan
Guide along .. I'm only 5'3 150lb beer belly .. every clothing item i see for sale is more for the bigger guy .. I hate shopping in the kids section like i had to for my camo hunting bibs n jacket with angry birds bird boxers LOL ..
In SHTF scenario body armor would make you a target. I personally if I was not ready would look for someone all geared out to take their stuff. For home defense or fighting a known enemy it makes perfect sense. Also keep in mind Do you have the $$$$$ to spend or if your on a tight budget there might be better uses for your buck.
Celt
.450/400 Nitro Ex
Thats where soft armor can be an advantage as you can go unnoticed and still have some protection.
I have to ask, this same argument comes up every time with this subject. Do people really believe they are going to be running around in full battle gear? Every time I talk or think about body armor use is for defense or a raid. Running around with any high end gear will get you killed. But maybe more importantly running around the countryside hap hazardly will get you killed also.
Marine Cpl
.577 Tyrannosaur.
Some people wish to fulfill their fantasies and will die doing so wearing their multicam tacticool nonsense.
In an extendedl SHTF environment where people are hungry, there will only be two classes of people. Those that prepared and those that didn't.
Walking around town in your multicam plate carrier tells those that didn't prepare that you did.
It's best to just blend in with those that didn't prepare.
Actually I would take as just the opposite, if I saw someone walking around in Multicam and body armor I would assume they didn't prepare and were out to steal whatever they could. They would instantly become a target.
Celt
.450/400 Nitro Ex
Imo, there are only a couple of reasons id wear a plate carrier and other "gear" in a shtf.
1. If my position was under attack.
2. If i were in a large group of like minded, and geared up pople going on a raid into a hostile area. Now we all know its best to avoid others, but eventually gangs will be formed, and territories established and if you get stuck in an area low on resources it may be necessary to conduct raids to survive, and/or as preemptive strikes.
Just look at human history, in a world wrol we WILL resort to this instinctive behavior.
1. If my position was under attack.
2. If i were in a large group of like minded, and geared up pople going on a raid into a hostile area. Now we all know its best to avoid others, but eventually gangs will be formed, and territories established and if you get stuck in an area low on resources it may be necessary to conduct raids to survive, and/or as preemptive strikes.
Just look at human history, in a world wrol we WILL resort to this instinctive behavior.
Did someone post that they planned to wear plates all over the place? It seems like the conversation is focused that way. Every defense/offense item has its place, the key is knowing when to use it.
carpediem
.338 Win Mag
Not that I saw.