What’s on your plate carrier

What sorta things are on your real life Plate cattier or LBV? Plenty of pouches, and what’s in em?

Built my ifak to that badass first aid thread not long ago, mags sure, but what else are you filling space (or not) with and why?

IFAK. I’ve got a slim line pack on the rear that generally sits empty but has, IIRC 600ci of space in two pockets plus hydration pouch. Pocket for a GMRS radio. Two double STANAG pouches and two double stack, single mag pistol pouches. Oh, plus blood type patch front and center.

Easy enough to pull on and go. With a few minutes can outfit it for a full day easy or even 24hr lightweight if not needing to worry about shelter or using a small bivy for shelter.

It is when I got 72hr packs is when I bring the kitchen sink.

The slim line pack (like 3.5” thick packed) can easily fit some energy bars and an emergency ration (one of those 3600 calorie hardtack cinnamon or vanilla sailor shipwreck bars) or an MRE if you don’t mind taking up extra space. a 100oz hydration pack. A map. Compass. Rain poncho. Spare battery for the walkie talkie. Some spare batteries for weapons lights. Some chlorine tabs for water treatment. A splint that won’t fit in the IFAK. And on top of that you could fit a few boxes of ammo or probably another 3 or 4 loaded STANAGs. Might be able to cram one or two other small things.

Since if I had more than a few seconds to grab stuff, I’d also be wearing a battle belt, the belt has a holster for a G17/21 on it. 3 double stack pistol mag pouches. A double stanag pouch. Flash light, canteen and knife.

Whole thing sure isn’t light. Test loaded the whole smash and it’s about 42lbs if I remember right (with water). Enough to slow me down, but not horrible. My typical backpacking weight ranges from 38-45lbs depending on how long I am going for.

Though I usually don’t carry a 7lb rifle also while backpacking.

Also not what I’d pick if I really was planning to hike a really long distance. I’d yank out the steel plates and drop in the L3 semi rigid PE&kevlar plates from the low pro carrier that sits on top of my handgun vault in my bedside table for bumps in the night.

That would take that ~42lbs down to 28. Of course the protection would also be way down. But it would also mean I could ditch the small plate carrier pack for a REAL pack for 72hrs and still move. of course total weight, not including rifle, would probably be up close to 60lbs at that point. So I wouldn’t be hiking 20+ miles a day. Or stay “ultra light” if I did just need to hoof a lot of miles in a day and didn’t need to plan to rough it at all.

Sam Salvati said:

What sorta things are on your real life Plate cattier or LBV? Plenty of pouches, and what’s in em?

Built my ifak to that badass first aid thread not long ago, mags sure, but what else are you filling space (or not) with and why?

Click to expand...

I fill the space with an extra plate in the front - although I can fit an extra trauma plate in the front, I cannot fit a second one in back.

As of late I have taken to duct-taping a second trauma plate to the area of my back where the heart and vital organs are located. Then I put my vest on. The duct-tape solution, although tactically sound, is hot and painful to remove, so I'm not sure where I'm going to go with it from there because I need something that's going to be able to withstand multiple hits from a high powered rifle. I'm ok until I have to get up and move, but that's when the issue arises - that's when I might take multiple shots - when I have to make a tactical egress, and I turn to run.

trickg said:

I fill the space with an extra plate in the front - although I can fit an extra trauma plate in the front, I cannot fit a second one in back.

As of late I have taken to duct-taping a second trauma plate to the area of my back where the heart and vital organs are located. Then I put my vest on. The duct-tape solution, although tactically sound, is hot and painful to remove, so I'm not sure where I'm going to go with it from there because I need something that's going to be able to withstand multiple hits from a high powered rifle. I'm ok until I have to get up and move, but that's when the issue arises - that's when I might take multiple shots - when I have to make a tactical egress, and I turn to run.

Click to expand...

Gecko 45 had the same problem.
https://lonelymachines.org/mall-ninjas/

Gecko45 writes:

hello friends,

Last year I made the decision to trust my life on the street to Second Chance body armor. I got the level IIa because it stops the most rounds. plus I got the Trauma Plate for the front.

What scares me is that, although I can fit an extra trauma plate in the front, I cannot fit a second one in back. As of late I have taken to duct-taping a second trauma plate to the area of my back where the heart and vital organs are located. Then I put my vest on.

Here is the questions. The duct tape solution, although tactically sound, is hot and painful to remove. I would like to go to the single-plate solution in back. What I am worried about is repeated hits to that area with .308 ammunition. I have a high-risk security job and I fear that I would be the target for repeated long-distance shots to my back.

Are any of you aware of a thicker plate that could stop, say, .338 Lapua or something like that? Is there a better way to do the second plate?

BTW, I am, of course, usually carrying a pair of ceramic plates in my briefcase so that I can shield my head. My SO (we work as a team when necessary) has a similar accessory containing a breakdown NEF single-shot 300 WinMag with an 18″ bbl. The plan is that I shield us with my body and “catch the rounds” while she assembles the NEF. I lay down covering fire with my 23 (Bar-Sto .357 Sig barrel) and she makes the long shots. I will then throw smoke grenades to obscure the area while continuing to lay covering fire. The problem, of course, is when I have to turn my back to run, and then the problem crops up.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Blacksmith101 said:

Gecko 45 had the same problem.
https://lonelymachines.org/mall-ninjas/

Click to expand...

Yes I know - I completely ripped the whole plate carrier thing from the Shrine of the Mall Ninja, mainly to point out the absurdity (IMO) of this thread in general.

I was wondering if/when someone would catch on to it.

Snickers bar and a juice box

Came here for the Gecko45 reference and was not disappointed.

Honestly nothing. This is just because the role I bought it for. It stays stashed under my bed in case of a bump in the night scenario where I'd have time to put it on. Because it's always there, I don't have any extra mags or anything on it(because... kids). I don't have med stuff on it because I have pretty intensive med kits in damned near every room at home. Keeping it slick makes the most sense for something with a very limited role.

My curly chest hair is so thick, it stops bullets before they can reach my manly thorax. Now, if I get hit with a flame thrower, I'll have a problem.

trickg said:

Yes I know - I completely ripped the whole plate carrier thing from the Shrine of the Mall Ninja, mainly to point out the absurdity (IMO) of this thread in general.

I was wondering if/when someone would catch on to it.

Click to expand...

Are you sure you weren't quoting yourself?

I’m using my carrier from the marines. The steel plates I have are much heavier than the SAPI plates. Probably much better stuff these days. Still have an IR light/flashlight on there, triple mag pouch, small snack/glove pouch, and IFAK/trauma sheara tucked behind. I still have my padded Blackhawk gun belt with a double mag pouch and specter gear holster that now holds my Glock. Dump pouch on the rear.

I keep pop tarts in the m16 mag pouches on my Alice gear. Currently pumpkin pie, seasonal, delicious and tactical.

In the spirit of being kind, I would suggest that if you feel you need to have access to a lot of medical, communications, and tactical gear in a hurry, consider a chest rig setup and low vis carrier instead of a military style plate carrier. For my money, Velocity Systems still makes the most complete chest rigs available. The UW Gens IV, V, and VI chest rigs are awesome. For a lot of folks I think the Gen 5 chest rig in particular is perfect.

If you want to do a modular setup: Ferro concepts, Haley Strategic, and Spiritus Systems make some really innovative modular systems if you want to pick and choose. But those are a little harder to get into and out of than something that zips down the middle like the Gen 5 from Velocity.

So why a chest rig? This idea came to me at about 2am during a particularly fun bail out drill training scenario in which we were in civilian clothes and vehicles. So low vis body armor and not a lot of room to store gear. I suggested it to the crowd, we all went back and grabbed our chest rigs that we all own and never seem to use unless they are clipped into a plate carrier or on the range, and it ended up working a lot better than trying to all carry a bunch of go bags stuffed into a POS Kia or whatever. Pretty sure this is roughly a WWI idea, but what’s old is new again, and everyone liked having their stuff all organized and ready to go.

Anyway it made me think about what I might need in the event of having to bail out of my vehicle on the way home from work (literally the only even remotely likely scenario I can think of, my neighborhood is not civil unrest friendly). Given the size of my family I’m not “bugging out” anywhere.

Anyway no kink shaming from me, no matter how full Gecko45 anyone wants to go. Just consider your current thrust to mass ratio and accept that maybe 40 lbs of crap isn’t the best idea. Stroking out while trying to run away from a fire fight will kill you just as fast as a bullet through the heart.