plate carrier

A plate carrier for the big boys: AR500’s Testudo Gen 2 is a good pick for large frames

Plate carriers are among the most fiercely debated pieces of kit on the market today and it’s easy to see why. With so many options and prices that can range from thirty bucks to three hundred, just about everybody has an opinion on what you need for your purposes. Like most things, it’s been my experience that neither the cheapest nor the most expensive options on the market are right for most users, and what really matters is finding the kit that works best for you, rather than the one that’ll score you the most cool-guy points in the Tacticool subreddits.

AR500 offers a number of different kinds of plate carriers meant to meet various needs and budgets. I opted to review the Testudo Gen 2 because it can support both standard 10″ by 12″ ballistic plates as well as the larger 11″ by 14″ plates reserved for those of us that shop at Big and Tall outlets. I’m not as skinny as I was on active duty, so the Testudo also offers the added benefit of not making me look like a gorilla in a tank top.

I ran this carrier with plates provided to me by ShotStop that are among the lightest on the market, which when combined with the 3d webbing AR500 uses on most of the interior of this plate carrier, made running and gunning in the Georgia woods survivable even in June when the humidity is just north of what you’ll find in the Amazon rain forest. The combination of light weight and breathability made my range session not only tolerable, but as pleasant as Georgia summers can get.

At $160, this probably isn’t the right plate carrier for preppers that like to stockpile their gear but rarely run and gun in their kit. If, however, you’re a bigger dude that wears your plate carrier for work, the 3D webbing and good quality stitching make this an excellent choice. That same 3D webbing, however, can be pretty abrasive if you’re wearing a thin undershirt. I’d imagine that gets better over time, but at least so far, I’ve stuck to thick tee shirts and had no trouble.

You can get your own Testudo Gen 2 Plate Carrier from AR500 Armor here.

And you can get your own ShotStop Ballistic plates here.

The 5.11 All Missions Plate Carrier: The most modular plate carrier on the market

5.11 Tactical made big waves this year with the introduction of the new Hex Grid system they are using for packs, bags, and plate carriers. Needless to say, the idea of being able to mount gear at a variety of angles spoke to me. Upon seeing the All Missions Plate Carrier I knew I had to have one. Well, I got one! After spending a bit of time with the All Missions Plate Carrier I realized I couldn’t capture everything I wanted in one article, so this is the first of two. This article will capture what the All Missions Plate carrier is and its capabilities. Part two will cover it in action and talk more from how it functions while being worn.

What Up With the Hex Grid?

Hexagons have become the official tactical shape of 2019. Odd I know, but it seems to work. With the All Missions Plate Carrier, you get a healthy 12×9 platform on both sides of the plate, as well as a cumberbund with Hexgrib everywhere. Hexgrid is replacing traditional MOLLE or PALS webbing on this carrier due to the modularity of the Hexagon webbing.

Effortless Swap to a Vertical Configuration

The Hexgrid allows you to mount traditional MOLLE gear as it’s intended to be mounted. Or you can run it at an angle, or even run it horizontally. This allows quick and easy customization and you can tailor pouches you need to fit in a certain way. It’s honestly made me experiment over and over with the placement of my kit. I now run my 3×6 Med Kit horizontally and find it easier to reach with both hands, even when running it on my nondominant side.

I’m also able to fit more by running different gear at angles. For example, if I run a shotgun 5 shot bandolier at a slight angle I can fit another, the VTAC shotgun pouch, and a dual mag pouch all on the 12×9 Hexgrid. This isn’t even crowding the gear either. Everything is plenty easy to reach and use.

In the past adapters have existed to orient gear is different directions, but a truly modular option like this has never been tried as far as I know. The Hexgrid of the All Missions Plate Carrier makes things very simple to attach to.

Swapping Loadouts

Even though gear is simple to attach and replace via the Hexgrid who really likes to break down their gear over and over again to change their loadout? It’s a hassle to weave, unweave, reweave, and on and on. With the All Missions Plate Carrier, you can very easily swap loadouts without the need for the constant weaving.

Both the front and rear 12×9 Hexgrid is removable and 5.11 sells extra 12×9 Hexgrids. You can set up multiple Hexgrids with different loadouts and swap them onto the plate carrier. They change out very easily and attach in just a few seconds. I set-up two loadouts between my AMP. The first is a pretty standard rifle loadout with the new Flex AR mag and pistol pouches. I also have the internal Kangaroo pouches for extra AR magazines. It’s easy and perfect for most AR loadouts. This is my current AR Loadout for use with my 80 lower receiver AR pistol.

The second loadout is an all shotgun kit. It features two Vtac/5.11 Shotgun bandoliers as well as the VTAC shotgun ammo pouch, and the dual Flex Pistol pouch. The 3×9 kit stays constant between both kits.

There are two Kangaroo pouches in this plate carrier. The first is underneath the Hexgrid panel and the second is in the Hexgrid panel. The internal kangaroo pouch has a set of small bungee cords and magazine sized compartments this can be removed and swapped between both kangaroo pouches.

These two very different weapon systems use very different pouches and attachments to function. Instead of spending 15 or 20 minutes unloading one just to load up another I spend 15 to 20 seconds swapping hexgrid panels.

Why It’s Called the All Missions Plate Carrier

Obviously being able to near instantly swap loadouts from rifle to shotgun, to sub gun, and to anything in between is invaluable. That helps the AMP be versatile for a variety of missions. However, there is more to it than that.

The Carrier can be bulked up or stripped down with ease. The end user can remove the internal pads, the Hexgrid panel, the cumberbund, and everything else for a super low profile plate carrier. You can conceal the thing with a jacket on.

You can add it all back and built it out in a layered loadout for storing tons of gear and ammo. Perfect for that intense short duration missions. The removable kangaroo pouch with fit three AR magazines and the cumberbund has three elastic pockets on each side for gear like more magazines, a radio, extra tourniquets, really whatever you want. Another cummerbund compromised of Hexgrid will easily allow you to add even more gear. You can even reverse the inner cumberbund to place the mag pouch in the cumberbund on the opposite side of the plate carrier. This makes it easier to reach. So one side can rock a radio and the other a magazine.

You can tailor it for just about any task from sitting on a post to direct action missions. This makes it one of the most customizable options on the market. The All Missions Plate Carrier is a well-made piece of kit. It’s very adaptable and you can tune it and customize it in a wide variety of ways.

Stay tuned for part 2 where we get out and shoot with the thing on and we can talk about how it runs.

ShotStop: The body armor Batman would wear

The tactical industry isn’t getting any smaller. Every day, my Facebook newsfeed seems all the more inundated with companies selling you the “operator” fantasy, keen to convince you that you need the same kit Seal Team 6 used on the Bin Laden raid to clear your kitchen when you hear a bump in the night. The truth is, you do need good gear when your life depends on it, but I’m way past aspiring to be an operator. I already served my time in the Marine Corps and I’ve got lots of special operations veterans in my rolodex — and we’ve all got one thing in common. None of us are bullet proof. Not like Batman is.

While some guys may wish they could be more like the Navy SEALs they see on TV, I’d much prefer rocking the kit Batman wears into a fight. While there were times that I felt like I could barely breath in full battle-rattle, Batman’s mobility is never compromised in favor of ballistic protection. In fact, the only time a cinematic Batman has ever asked for a suit upgrade in a movie, it wasn’t armor piercing rounds he was worried about… it was dog bites. Granted, Batman is a fictional character that isn’t burdened by the realities of physics… but I still think there’s something to aspiring for more than just rocking the same JPC we saw Garand Thumb wearing. We should be looking for as much mobility as we can find in today’s market, and in order to do that, we’ve got to dive into what’s riding along inside the plate carriers we wear and talk about the plates themselves.

And if you want to get as close to Batman-level mobility, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better ballistic plate option than the Diritium series of plates from ShotStop.

Of course, the folks at ShotStop didn’t set out to make body armor for aspiring Bat-men like me — their customer base is more law enforcement and military professionals and less salty-old-vet turned journalist — but through their efforts to produce the lightest, thinnest, and most reliable armor on the market, they found their way into where a Navy SEAL’s Venn diagram overlaps with that of everyone’s favorite caped crusader. Their plates are among the lightest you’ll find and come in a variety of cuts and sizes for shooters of all sorts, because Batman may not carry a gun, but I sure as hell do.

All that weight savings doesn’t come at the cost of ballistic protection, however — and here’s the proof. In this video, ShotStop’s Duritium III+PS plate holds up to a full magazine of .223:

These plates are light, hold up to tons of punishment, and most importantly, will save your life. If you ask me, that’s about as Batman as you can get out here in the real world. You can get your own ShotStop ballistic plates by following this link to find your nearest dealer, or just go to ShotStop.com and check out their gear for yourself.

In the mean time, you can also check out our previous review on ShotStop’s ballistic inserts and some of their other great piece of gear that are worthy of their own Bat-monikers.

Don’t forget the essentials when setting up your combat loadout

Whether you’re running a chest rig or a plate carrier, there are some key features or additions that are going to remain requirements no matter what. I will readily admit that not everyone has the same needs for their gear but the following serves as a good rule of thumb. Magazines, communication, medical, and all other mission specific equipment should be prioritized based on relevance or need. Organizing your rig based on this methodology will cater to efficient shooting and fighting while wearing your kit.

Magazines and their placement, for obvious reasons, is a priority to set up a rig for gun-fighting. I personally keep my magazines upfront on my center line. This enables easy access under stressful conditions, which is generally the conditions under which a combat reload is performed. The style of magazine pouch employed here is entirely user dependent and there are a million variations available. What matters is that the pouches effectively retain the individual magazine while still allowing for efficient extraction.

Medical equipment, often in the form of an IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit), is almost as important as magazine placement. That being said I prefer to keep my IFAK somewhere accessible to either hand and apply the same philosophy for my tourniquet; I keep a second tourniquet on my primary weapons stock as well. Having immediate access to your individual medical equipment is important because if a severe injuring occurs during a fight, you will be responsible for providing a solution. As a general rule, if an injury occurs during a gunfight it’s the team’s responsibility to finish the fight before rendering aid; thus preventing more casualties.

Communication is key to working with a team in an austere environment. Having a reliable radio and placing it somewhere that you can reach it is always a good idea. I use a PTT (push to talk) and a headset, while I still maintain easy access to the radio itself the placement of the PTT is far more relevant given its purpose. I always recommend employing quality comms gear that makes use of encryption, ideally, or frequency hopping, at a minimum. To drive all of this home the saying is, “Shoot, move, communicate.”

After all, this comes any other mission essential gear that is an absolute must. Mission-specific items such as grenades or miscellaneous tools that see routine use belong in this category. A water source of some kind my belong on your kit but again that is situation dependent. The big thing for determining whether or not these items belong is to ask yourself, “What is the rig for?” Some items I almost always keep on my chest rig or plate carrier are a knife of some kind (almost always a fixed blade), a multi-tool, a notepad and pen, etc. Things that I use regularly, regardless of the role I’m filling.

It’s up to you really, but keep it practical and use common sense when setting up your kit. A good way to figure out what works, if your experience is limited, is to get on Google and look at kit pictures. Whatever you see that shares a commonality with most setups despite their mission is probably a safe bet. Remember to train with your gear too. If you don’t familiarize yourself with it, you will be clumsy when trying to access stuff under stress. Lastly, don’t be the guy who needlessly fills out space on a rig with stuff you don’t use; it’s okay though, we’ve all been there.

Assault through with the T3 Assault Backpack

Assault: 1. The Climax of an attack, closing with the enemy in hand-to-hand fighting. 2. To make a short, violent, but well-ordered attack against a local objective, such as a gun emplacement, a fort, or a machine gun nest. – (Joint Pub 1-02)

There was a time when I was cool. Way back in 2009-2010 I was banging around Helmand province, machine gun in hand, surrounded by three things. The Taliban, poppy plants, and my brothers. It was a good time. Long story short my Company Commander assembled his own Company Level Reconnaissance squad. None of us were Recon, and the closest we got to being special was the bus we took to school. We were used at his whim to go wherever and to do whatever he wanted or needed. A big part of mission goal was pursuing and punishing enemy fighters. Security patrols weren’t really our thing. We went out and harassed the enemy, we assaulted the towns they held, and generally tried to be a giant pain in the ass.

One thing we all learned pretty quickly was that less was more. It wasn’t long after we hit the ground we all started dropping gear. Leg rigs disappeared, grenadiers replaced mags with more grenades, and we knew what mission essential meant. One big thing most of us dropped was our issued packs. We happily replaced them with old-school small Alice packs. The smaller the better was our general rule of thumb. If we had the options then that are out there now I would have dropped my Alice pack for a T3 Assault Backpack.

The T3 Assault Backpack.

T3 is owned and operated by a former Navy SEAL and if there is a group of people who know what works for assaulting it’s the SEALs. Without a doubt, the War on Terror changed mindsets to smaller is better, simpler is better, and deadlier is better.

The T3 Assault Backpack certainly represents a trend towards smaller backpacks for what’s often shorter and more rapidly moving situations. The T3 Assault Backpack is part pack, and part hydration carrier. It’s equipped with a 100 ounce H20 bladder and enough room for those long days.

Some situations don’t require three days of food and water. The T3 Assault Backpack is designed for those days. I’ve found it perfectly capable of holding more than enough gear for a day long or overnight op. It’s got plenty of room for water, an MRE or two, and all the mission essential gear the modern warfighter needs. At the same time, it’s lightweight, compact, and quite convenient to carry.

Wearing It

It’s important to know this pack is designed to be strapped to a plate carrier or similar MOLLE platform. This may turn some away, but I absolutely love it. A pack strapped to your shoulders, over your plate carrier has always been a major hassle for me. I’ve never found a comfortable combination of pack and carrier. The pack straps would often limited mobility and the pack itself would sag horribly.

Attaching it directly to the carrier ensures it doesn’t get in your way or sag. I often found a pack with weight in it will toss itself in whatever direction you are moving. When your walking it’s not a big deal. When you are getting lit up by a PKM and diving into a ditch for cover it’s a pain in the ass you have your bag adding to the momentum.

With the T3 Assault Backpack strapped to my plate carrier, it moves with me, not against me. There are downsides, like to access stuff in the pack I may need a buddy or to dump the load. Let’s be honest no one is wearing a plate carrier and working a dangerous job alone.

The old man in the Legend of Zelda had it right, “It’s dangerous to go it alone.”

My Pack

In my T3 Assault Backpack, I loaded in a 100 ounces of water, an MRE, a BFG TKN micro, an extra RATS tourniquet, a Pelican case loaded with fire making supplies and water purification drops, a spare pair of socks, and a mini tactical sight exploitation kit. On top of that my Crate Club Survival hatchet (1 of 8500) fits, and I strapped the ESEE Libertariat machete to the side.

I could meet and greet most situations with this kit. If I was back in Afghan Land I’d have likely strapped another belt of 7.62 and a few smoke grenades as well. There is plenty of room the pack for those mission essentials for day to day use.

The pack is divided into two pockets. The pocket with the bladder and a smaller external pocket. The bladder is held in place via mesh compartment and stays separated from most of your gear.

The T3 Assault Backpack can carry a wide variety of different kits. For police, it could be packed with medical supplies, spare cuffs, ammunition, flares, and other emergency gear. Let’s not forget hydrate or die and a 100 ounces of water is enough to get you through the longest of days.

Durability

T3 doesn’t mess around with making crap. They live in the middle of SEAL land and they wouldn’t get far making Chinesium grade tactical gear. The T3 Assault Backpack is made from 500 weight solution dyed Cordura. This material will soften a bit with use but remains strong and durable. This material is strong, but light. The pack itself weighs only 1.44 pounds. Most of the pack is hit with reverse stitching for enhanced durability.

T3 makes premium gear at a premium price. This is for warfighters, by warfighters. It’s not your Airsoft grade pack. It’s designed to be beat up, tossed around, bumped off walls, and on a long enough day used as a pillow.

T3 Tactical 3-Day Assault Hydration Backpack

MULTIPLE COMPARTMENTS: Made with 500 denier Cordura, our 3 Day Hydration pack features one large main compartment and one medium compartment.
EASY TO CARRY: Ports in key areas allow for routing a drinking tube, while padded and contoured shoulder straps and adjustable waist and sternum straps help distribute weight.
FEATURES: Other features include compression straps to keep gear secure, a rugged carry handle and an internal sleeve for a hydration bladder or a frame sheet for added rigidity
ESSENTIAL GEAR: Ideal for carrying essential gear on short missions.
MADE IN THE USA

CRYE Precision Jumpable Plate Carrier versus the CRYE Jumpable Plate Carrier 2.0

The CRYE Precision Jumpable Plate Carrier (JPC) is a minimalist, lightweight plate carrier. I used the first generation for about a year before it was destroyed by a combat medic and a pair of scissors during an operation. I wore it through a brutal training regimen and a combat deployment. It is the best kit I have personally used — lightweight flexible, adaptive, and incredibly user-friendly.

It uses shock cord to attach the cummerbund to the kit. The shock cord system allows the kit to flex and stretch as the wearer moves, while also keeping the kit snug. The JPC has a built-in three mag pouch sewn into the flap on the front of the kit. Another nice feature of the kit is that it uses Hypalon (a synthetic rubber, click the link to see what Wikipedia has to say about it) material for the shoulder straps. Hypalon is a robust and lightweight synthetic, that can stretch and flex without losing rigidity.

The CRYE JCP is an all-around solid kit, and the JCP 2.0 has all of the same features but with a lot more flexibility. After the loss of my original JCP, I purchased the 2.0 to replace it. Starting at the top of the kit, the 2.0 has a much better design for the shoulder straps. The original JPC has a Velcro system that attaches the front and back plate carriers and is held together by an elastic sleeve, that covers the Velcro. The JPC 2.0 has the same system but instead of a slider it is a Velcro sleeve, and it also has a quick pull detachment system if needed.

On the front of the carrier, the significant change is that the front flap is optional and removable. This gives the wearer the option to have either a slick front, triple mag pouch, or a molle system on the front. This is great if a shooter has a variety of kit needs. They are making it easy to switch the kit up without spending hours fighting pouches onto and off of a molle system.

There are two significant changes on the back-plate carrier, a drag handle, and a zipper system. Having a built-in drag handle is an excellent option for casualty care. Getting dragged around by the arm is a lot less painful and taxing than being grabbed by the kit. The zipper system allows the optional back panels to be zipped on or off. This is a much faster option than, again, spending the time weaving pouches in and out of a molle system.

The overall setup of the kits is very similar to a couple of useful improvements to the JCP 2.0. The JCP costs $210.20 MSRP on the CRYE website versus the 2.0 which is $241.90 MSRP. If the additional flexibility and convenience is worth $40 then, by all means, get the 2.0, if not then the JCP original is just as good. Both kits are great lightweight options for anyone looking for a quality kit.

Author – John Gobby is a member of 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment. He has served with them for eight years and seven combat deployments. He has experience with both tactical direct action, tactical reconnaissance and covert operations. Recently he has started participating in competition pistol shoots and has a passion for long range shooting.