Should I buy body armor or spend that money on something potentially more useful like building up the ammo stash?
Does anyone have body armor? If so, what brand plates and carrier do you have? How do you have the carrier setup with mags, tools, etc.? Pictures would be cool!
this is kinda a personal question for each person to decide if they feel they need the armor in order to survive/operate. that said, personally i would invest the money in other things than body armor. If im in a firefight that is bad enough to require i have body armor on, then i have seriously miscalcoulated my situation. Besides it would mean i had been wearing the armor to begin with, and its not like i can say hang on let me go put my armor on. no cant do that… but i can use ammo, and optics, and the like to enhance my rifles or pistols or both. so i’d go the route of more ammo or other things instead of just buying body armor…
Im gonna get some🤷🏻‍♂️
idk why my last post came up that weird way… but the cat did walk across the keyboard so oh well.
I have ran this same question through my mind for several years. I decided not because in shtf I ain’t going nowhere. If I lived in suburbia and thought I would need to bug out then I would have armor for every member of the family.
It probably comes down to whether or not you think your situation might come down to you being in some kind of patrol situation or something where you might need first shot protection. Then the question becomes what level of body armor do you need.
If you’re on the fence, buy it before they ban it
I think that’s coming…
That is part of the reason I want it. Armor is cheap right now, but if there is talk of banning it the demand will skyrocket.
I also view armor ownership like gun ownership. You never know when you will need it and you will be wishing you had it if you find yourself in a bad situation.
Chances are that if you have to shoot at someone in self defense, they may be shooting at you. Also, the riots of the past several years have shown that trouble may come to you, regardless of where you are. In addition, there’s no telling where you may be when some nutso starts dropping bodies.
For that reason, I have two plate carriers with level 4 and level III-A composite plates, and a soft armor panel for the backpack I carry to the office.
I don’t want to get shot. But if I must get shot, I’d rather it to be in my armor; not my fleshy parts.
Since most crimes involving guns are committed with handguns, level III-A is more than sufficient. But knowing what I do about gangs and criminals around here, they also like rifle calibers, so i’d rather have level IV sitting here than in a warehouse waiting to be bought and shipped when things are already going south.
I like the idea of a backpack panel. 
I travel a decent amount for work and that would be nice to have.
see now why i said it was a personal decesion… like for me, before i had cancer, i’d of said yes i need armor. but now with it. .i say i dont… why? well 1. i cant carry things that are very heavy. 2. as it is now i need an oxygen pump to basically move around. 3. i dont plan on bugging out or 4. i dont plan on being in a milita patrol or a patrol of any sort.
however before i got the cancer and i didnt have the issues i have now, i would have planned body armor for the truck so that its in there when im at work, and body armor for the house, and then some for every member of the house and even more for daily wear.
i can see and agree with your statement about it being like guns and to get it before the gettings too hard or too expensive or outlawed. it makes sense if you can physically wear it, get it i say… if you’re like me, well spend the $ on something else.
That’s my jam…
Someone bangs on your door at three am I practice going to the door with vest on and bed room PCC (9mm ) in my hands. I was a Boy Scout , always be prepared, I am USMC, always be prepared.
Chris,
That would be a personal option in my humble opinion. I will give you an answer to what I did in own personal situation. I worked in a Federal Courthouse in a large Northeastern city as a contractor. I was not a Law Enforcement Officer, I’m a civilian. I could not carry a firearm into a Federal building. So here’s the deal, every day, I travelled to work on a commuter train with hundreds of other, no doubt, civilians. When I got off that train, every day in the city, there were the usual denizens of the street. People overdosing, --a guy got pistol-whipped and robbed a block from the Courthouse and so-on. I think you get the picture. No doubt, going through the Security Checkpoint in the Courthouse with a vest, with plates and all, would arouse some serious questions. However, I wanted to remain safe on the street to the commuter train, on it , and when I got to my vehicle at home .I wore a backpack like a lot of other commuter humps do. But, in my laptop compartment there was a multi-level backpack plate which kind of looked like a stadium seat. I never knew it was there and neither did anyone else. That was my level of need and concealment and yours may be different. There are many choices which can be tailored to fit you
Again, this is a personal decision that should be based on commutes, locations, environments and AO.
As @Chris said, armor can be had cheap. But, as he originally asked, are we better off spending the cash on ammo? I vote for ammo. I no longer have a commute (retired) and I live 400 feet off the road out in the woods. DO NOT knock on my door at 2 am unless you’re very brave or just plain stupid.
I would like body armor, but my next purchase will be night vision of some sort. I don’t know enough about it yet to say what type I want, but I can see it providing a big-time leg up if we have a Lights Out situation.
I wear body armor every day all day at work.
Not going to wear it off duty. I can take it home but I don’t.
I bought body armor, plate from AR500. HUGE waste of money. It’s the only gun/prep purchase I have ever regretted.
There is less than 1% chance you will ever need it, and there is less than 1% chance you will have it on if you do need it.
Buy something fun and that you know you will use.
Thanks for the perspective folks. I know that the only time I would wear body armor would be in a SHTF situation and maybe I would be better off/ more likely to need the extra ammo. Ammo is especially valuable because it could be used for trade in addition to keeping my guns well fed.
you capitalized that, it made me think of the book i read online and then bought, “Lights Out”. Its a great book. is this what you were also referencing? or was it more basically based in the true lights out scenario?