The Blue Force Gear Plate Minus carrier a very lightweight, and compact plate carrier. Designed to be as low profile as possible the Plate Minus carrier succeeds in its goal. This tiny plate carrier is made from Blue Force Gear’s ULTRAcomp material. ULTRAcomp is super thin and super lightweight, but it is also a 4 times abrasion resistant as 1000D Cordura. This strong, but light material makes the Plate Minus carrier surprisingly tough. I was not disappointed while reviewing the Plate Minus.
Plate Minus and Molle Minus
I’ve been running one for about a month now, trying it with various weapons and firearm set ups. It’s been best paired with my Scorpion and Blue Force Gear MP7 magazine pouches. This mags and the mag pouches are thin and light and stay out-of-the-way. I have four magazines mounted and still have room to point a dual pistol magazine pouch. SMG pouches and pistol caliber carbines are perfect for this lightweight, and compact plate carrier. During my Plate Minus review I rocked a Scorpion.
The Molle Minus is not straps sewed to a carrier. Instead it’s one piece of material with slots cut out of it. It’s attached to the vest as a solid panel. This design makes attaching and detaching pouches really easy and convenient. This type of MOLLE functions best with Blue Force Gear’s pouches due to their use of ULTAcomp. It keeps thing thin and light.
Comfort is King
The side straps that keep the Plate Minus together are an interesting design. It’s one-inch webbing that connects via a buckle system. The straps are outfitted with a small section of elastic. This allows it to adjusted to be tight, but also comfortable. The straps are somewhat small, at only an inch I would be concerned about durability. However, it hasn’t given me an issue just yet.
The internal material, the portion pressed against the skin, is quite comfortable and soft. It feels good against the body and doesn’t rub or chafe. When properly adjusted it also doesn’t bounce or jump when moving. I haven’t worn or used a plate carrier in some time so adjusting the Plate Minus to be just right took some time and I had a few failures on my part. Once I got it right I was much more comfortable.
Concealed
Carry a concealed vest is generally limited to level IIIA soft armor. The Plate Minus carrier is designed to allow the user to wear the vest in a concealed and low profile manner. With this vest, and some minimal pouches, it can be worn under a light jacket, or a hoodie. Staying low profile is best achieved by keeping the gear on your vest as small and as flat as impossible. This is another benefit of using a SMG/PCC setup. Under my normal 2XL hoodie you could see the outline of the Mag pouches, without the mag pouches the vest was invisible. If I go up to a 3 XL hoodie the magazine pouches would disappear.
Hard
Running the vest hard has proved it to be a capable vest. I’ve used in almost all of my recent shooting adventures. This includes the shooting I do for work, and the shooting I do for fun. I toss it around quite a bit, and it’s been riding in my Sneaky Bag’s Covert Rifle Bag. I’m pretty terrible at being gentle with things, and the Plate Minus carrier is no different. I have complete and total faith in its durability.
If staying low profile and protected is your goal the Blue Force Gear Plate Minus carrier is one of the few that actually achieve that goal. It’s also affordable, easy to use, and as customizable as you expect.
If you want one, get it now. Blue Force Gear is having a Spring Sale right now – https://www.blueforcegear.com/
