ChileRelleno 7,071 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) ar500armor.com Affordable plates and plate carriers? I wonder what the quality is like? Even realizing that these are steel plates, not ceramic, the plates and carrier prices seem almost too good to be true. And we know what the saying is about that. Edited March 11, 2013 by ChileRelleno Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unclejake 428 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I would love to be able to afford a class 3 vest with ceramic plates. Even at wholesale prices, a bit out of my budget. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thebuns1 4,323 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I found some good shit on gunbroker for a decent price. Cant say about the armor listed above though. Usually when it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) Dragon Skin or nothing. Edited March 11, 2013 by Darth Saigus 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SouthernOne 203 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Those plate prices are not too bad. I actually picked up a couple of new with the tags Condor carriers at my local thrift store a month ago. Ten bucks apiece was too easy. May come in handy sometime. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
theturtlepond 31 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 The tests seemed legit, and they used our favorite gun. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
theturtlepond 31 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Dragon Skin or nothing. Off topic: WTF happened to the History channel? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thebuns1 4,323 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Hell it may be a good product. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Marc 147 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 One way to find out if they are legit...the side plates are cheap, buy one and see if it holds up to their claims. If it does, then report back here and set up a group buy! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Redhunter2486 22 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) Would this stuff hold up to x54 or .308 I wonder, if not at point blank @100 yds? The dragon hide I mean Edited March 11, 2013 by Redhunter2486 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
theorangeplanet 968 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) It's AR500 steel... I dare you to poke it with anything by actual AP ammo. The only problem is these plates have no spall liner... meaning if the plates actually ever stop a round, the bullet splatter is still going to do some serious damage to you and a couple of rounds will probably kill you; especially .30 caliber rifle rounds. What you want is something like this from The Target Man LLC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCw1XHFDpTk&feature=youtu.be His plates are coated with about 1/2-3/4 inch coating of rino lining that traps the spalling. You can get a set of coated plates from him for about $150 before shipping. Edited March 11, 2013 by Risky 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 It's AR500 steel... I dare you to poke it with anything by actual AP ammo. The only problem is these plates have no spall liner... meaning if the plates actually ever stop a round, the bullet splatter is still going to do some serious damage to you and a couple of rounds will probably kill you; especially .30 caliber rifle rounds. What you want is something like this from The Target Man LLC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCw1XHFDpTk&feature=youtu.be His plates are coated with about 1/2-3/4 inch coating of rino lining that traps the spalling. You can get a set of coated plates from him for about $150 before shipping. The testing video is fairly convincing how it shredded the carrier. Splatter could certainly do major damage to your throat. I believe I need to order some of these coated plates. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DLT 1,646 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I like this one! http://www.flickr.com/photos/xakaxunknownx/1524189931/in/set-72157602332262586/lightbox/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) I like this one!http://www.flickr.com/photos/xakaxunknownx/1524189931/in/set-72157602332262586/lightbox/ Since you went there... Edited March 11, 2013 by Darth Saigus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unclejake 428 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 It's AR500 steel... I dare you to poke it with anything by actual AP ammo. The only problem is these plates have no spall liner... meaning if the plates actually ever stop a round, the bullet splatter is still going to do some serious damage to you and a couple of rounds will probably kill you; especially .30 caliber rifle rounds. What you want is something like this from The Target Man LLC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCw1XHFDpTk&feature=youtu.be His plates are coated with about 1/2-3/4 inch coating of rino lining that traps the spalling. You can get a set of coated plates from him for about $150 before shipping. Looks like this would save your hide! Broken ribs beat being dead anyday!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
socom688 217 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Dragon Skin failed the desert conditions tests. Basically the adhesive that held the plates together loosened and the plates shifted, causing weak points. As far as a new adhesive, I have read there aren't any that work well enough with ceramics and still can be able to survive the high heat climates FWIW Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zenman223 460 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Been doing some reading on affordable armor myself. Theres a thread over on Arfcom about guys using Ceramic floor tiles glued together with Rhino liner as cheap disposable body armor. Some pretty damn interesting results to say the least. I wouldnt rely on something like that when there are better options but Its nice to know if SHTF you could outfit a few people around you with reasonably effective body armor with nothing but some floor tiles and Rhino liner!!! Heres a video of one of the tests. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
theorangeplanet 968 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Been doing some reading on affordable armor myself. Theres a thread over on Arfcom about guys using Ceramic floor tiles glued together with Rhino liner as cheap disposable body armor. Some pretty damn interesting results to say the least. I wouldnt rely on something like that when there are better options but Its nice to know if SHTF you could outfit a few people around you with reasonably effective body armor with nothing but some floor tiles and Rhino liner!!! Heres a video of one of the tests. I've been wanting to try that ever since I saw it! Kinda neat to think that you could outfit someone with somethings that's close to Lv 3 protection for less than $20. If I can find a source for $10 cheap ass plate carriers, I'd start producing these by the dozens... just for the fuck of it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zenman223 460 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Been doing some reading on affordable armor myself. Theres a thread over on Arfcom about guys using Ceramic floor tiles glued together with Rhino liner as cheap disposable body armor. Some pretty damn interesting results to say the least. I wouldnt rely on something like that when there are better options but Its nice to know if SHTF you could outfit a few people around you with reasonably effective body armor with nothing but some floor tiles and Rhino liner!!! Heres a video of one of the tests. I've been wanting to try that ever since I saw it! Kinda neat to think that you could outfit someone with somethings that's close to Lv 3 protection for less than $20. If I can find a source for $10 cheap ass plate carriers, I'd start producing these by the dozens... just for the fuck of it! Heck one of the guys in the thread I mentioned just used duct tape to make his own plate carrier. Just wrapped the plates and made a strap connected to em from more duct tape. Hang it around your neck, put something on over it and go!! Obviously a real plate carrier would be better but if you really needed to use these plates, I would think any means of deploying them would be acceptable. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dolomite_supafly 56 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I have used ceramic and steel plates, never been shot, but I prefer steel. What a lot of people don't realize is most cermic plates are 2x-3x as thick steel for the same protection. For me I was getting into and out of suburbans and having steel plates made it a lot easier to get in and out. I have also used in conjuction plates but still prefer steel. I have tested the cermic floor tiles and it is amazing how well $3 in materials is in stopping rounds. I used two 1/4" plates with a 1/4" piece of foam between them to give a little standoff between tiles. It stopped 5.56 and 9mm. I ran out of supplies before testing 7.62x39. For me the ceramic tiles would not be used on my body but to create a safe area in a house or in a vehicle. I have a friend who is going to attach them to some pieces of plywood on hinges. Then when he need the protection in his bus he will drop them down from the ceiling to cover the windows. He has the lower part already covered and the ceramics will overlap. Dolomite But if I were to do the floor tiles I would wrap it in fiberglass cloth as well as the herculiner material. I have 3A soft armor and AR 500 plates I can cut to fit when I need to. Right now the AR500 is being shot at regularly on my range. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dustindu4 101 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) If the collection wagons come armor isn't going to do shit for you. Getting shot with armor on is like getting hit in the chest with a sledgehammer with a running start. Massive internal injuries that you might die from anyway. Assuming this scenario, a trip to the hospital would land you in a prison camp. Go out standing up and don't let all that extra weight slow you down, and take a few more of them with you Edited March 11, 2013 by dustindu4 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
theorangeplanet 968 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) If the collection wagons come armor isn't going to do shit for you. Getting shot with armor on is like getting hit in the chest with a sledgehammer with a running start. Massive internal injuries that you might die from anyway. Assuming this scenario, a trip to the hospital would land you in a prison camp. Go out standing up and don't let all that extra weight slow you down. Not with hard armor... blunt force trauma is significantly reduced due to the plate's ability to spread out the force over its entire area. The force might be comparable to a sledghammer, but the surface area of the plates is substantially greater than the head of a sledge. Backface deformation sometimes leads to increased force in the specific impact area (why you see huge bruises from plate impacts at the spot)... but a plate stopping a rifle round isn't going to lead to any massive internal injuries like is common with soft armor stopping handgun rounds. Edited March 11, 2013 by Risky 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sdustin 578 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I am going to try the tile thing. That would be the shit for a bug out truck. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dustindu4 101 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 unfortunately none of you will be around to report any field experience with it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MT Predator 2,294 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 What Risky said about the spall liner or lack of one. My setup is Second Chance AP-III+ plates in a PC backed with Second Chance Level IIIA soft armor backers. Even with stand alone plates, you at least need a trauma backer dissapate the energy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) Remember the basic laws of motion. For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction. Simply put, this means that the total force applied to the target can never be more than (and in fact will be less than) the force applied to your body when you fired the weapon. Yes folks, you absorb MORE energy firing a gun than the target receives from the bullet. Bullets do damage because they transmit that force to a much smaller area, and in a much shorter period of time. A solid plate that is not pierced or substantially deformed by a bullet will spread the force of the impact over a large enough area that serious injury is extremely unlikely (assuming there is no spalling and the bullet splatter is contained). Not to insult anyone, but there is a HUGE amount of misinformation and assumption (and pure hollywood bullshit) floating around. Edited March 11, 2013 by Darth Saigus 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MT Predator 2,294 Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 Amen Darth. The guys running stand alone plates still use the trauma backers as hits on the plate will still hurt without a backer. Not saying it's like a sledgehammer though. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 I've been doing some reading about the available AR500 armors and I'm noticing a lot of people talking about spall when they really mean splash. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
theorangeplanet 968 Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 I've been doing some reading about the available AR500 armors and I'm noticing a lot of people talking about spall when they really mean splash. I use them interchangeable. I know spall means fragmentation from the plate itself, but eh... sue me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BuffetDestroyer 969 Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 You guys seriously don't watch enough movies to know that all you need is a small table or couch to hide behind and bullets are completely ineffective against them! Also FYI, 6-shooters and pump action shotguns actually have unlimited ammunition until the climax where you have to fight the last bad guy hand-to-hand! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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