What are some lighter weight level 4 plate options?
My budget is $1,000 for the set. I may… have a little bit of wiggle room.
My requirements are they have to be NIJ level 4, they have to come in Large (10x13) and be multi curve. They also must be standalone.
I’m looking for options under 8 pounds per plate for a large.
I’m having a pretty hard time finding anything.
FYSA
https://www.justnet.org/body_armor/advisory_notices/NIJ-Advisory-Notice-2020-01.pdf
Originally Posted By patriot_man:
It was due to a FIT test where one plate failed (out of four) for the M2 Armor Piercing.
Production has ceased for the investigation but I do know some people who have bought 4600 after all distributors/dealers were notified of this failure… I pull them from my site immediately but some choose to still sell their stock on hand. I’ve been told the 4600 will be back soon.
I’ve got level 4 lightweight ceramics from http://www.bulletproofme.com and they’ve been outstanding. I think the set was about $500 IIRC. Triple curve “shooter cut” front and triple curve rectangle back. Good kit.
Your criteria certainly narrows your choices. The silicone version of this plate comes in at just under 8lbs but it’s not NIJ certified, but tested to their standards.
https://tacticalscorpiongear.com/tactical-scorpion-gear-level-iv-polyethylene-body-armor-large-sapi-plate.html
Paraclete 9900SA would meet your size and weight requirements but I don’t know what they cost.
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I have the level IV Hesco 4600. But only because they were much cheaper than others. I have two rifle mags and a med pouch loaded on it. I’ve worn on it on a few classes and on critical incidents. It’s not light, but not super heavy. Definitely not running with it on. If I had your budget I would go with some nice Level III+ There are some fantastic lightweight options. Your Level III+ will really stop just about all of your common rifle threats. There’s really only one armor piercing round the Level IV is rated to that the III+ isn’t.
Is the Level IV requirement a Department thing?
^agree
Unless Level IV is mandated for you for some reason, pick a plate based on your potential threat, there are a lot of good light and thin options that will stop a lot these days.
Check these out. It’s not SAPI-sized (most NIJ plates are LE sized, aka 10x12) and only single-curve. But it weights whopping 5.4lb each… plus 10 year warranty. Most plates I’ve looked at only have a 6 or 7 year warranty.
https://hrttacticalgear.com/product/shotstop-ivhs-armor-plate/
It’s slightly above your budget I would pay that extra to shave off 4+ lbs…
Valhalla Tactical
Another vote for Hesco.
Whatever you do, DONT go with hoplite, the plates are technically good to go as they are made by LTC, but the company is a bunch of jerks. Held my money for almost 2 months, lied constantly on updates, and then became combative over requests for an update and eventual charge back. There is an entire thread on them over at arfcom.
While there has been no recall I probably would not recommend buying old stock of Hesco 4600’s that dealers may have on hand. This is coming from myself, a Hesco distributor. Also doesn’t help that the NIJ has closed testing due to COVID so re-cert of these plates are going to be further delayed.
Right now there is kind of a gap in terms of capability on the market w/o the 4600. It fit a very nice price point of mid range cost w/ decent weight. I’ve been having a lot more folks buying single plates of 4800’s at a time and save for the second one down the road and a lot of folks are pretty thrilled once they get a sub 5 lb IV plate in their hands.
Look into shotstop.com
I bought level 4 10”x12” plates that weigh 5.8lbs (IIRC)
Any thoughts on these? 5.5lbs
https://botach.com/battle-steel-level-iv-10x12-ballistic-plates/
In for any replies to this question. That price makes those super tempting… I’d be very interested to hear any personal experience with them.
Mrgunsngear did a review of these. Also a good test video on the BROzooka Arms channel on YT, too. Seem solid for the price.
I own a set. Received it quickly from botach, seems to be very lightweight and comfortable. Does it work? I f***in hope so. Seems to do well on the youtube tests.
Better than steel plates for sure.
For the money https://mrgunsngear.org/3enTu0S ($99/ea) they’re impressive IMO.
Review:
[video=youtube_share;CgFsHJ53sLE]https://youtu.be/CgFsHJ53sLE[/video]
Yeah, that video surprised me. I went in expecting him to totally thrash those plates, like Demolition Ranch and some of those wish.com plates. Some significant deformation, but damn. Given the choice of broken ribs or a leaking hole, I’ll take the former. How bad is the deformation compared to other level iv plates?
Speaking of the wish.com plates featured on demolition ranch, I was really tempted to order that one pair that performed extremely well, but don’t really trust that even if I ordered the same model that I’d actually receive the same thing he tested.
I’m not sure I’d trust Wish plates unless it’s just to shoot them ala demolitionranch style.
There are NIJ standards for acceptable backface deformation, I think it’s still 44mm but there’s a channel on YouTube (I can’t remember the name) that goes into detailed testing and measuring the cavity it makes in clay.
Based on MGnG’s testing of these plates and the LAPG level 4 plates, they are hard to beat.
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Victory Tactical Gear channel?
Came here to post this.
I paid for my plates on 4/10 and have yet to see them. Every time I ask for an update it takes days to hear back and I get told “just two more weeks”. I like the product, I like the owner of the company, but their CS is absolute bottom tier shit.