Originally Posted by
kaltesherz
Friends don't let friend's buy AR500.
AR500 sucks. Frequently M193 will zip through it out of a 20" barrel, M855A1 will go through it all day long, it's heavy and since it's not true multicurve it's not as comfortable. It's the Hi Point of armor.
Ceramic is much more durable than people realize. Even beat to shit cracked armor (btw it's a lot harder to crack than you think) will stop most threats. I've shot "defective" ceramic plates at close range with multiple rounds of 5.56, 7.62x39, and 7.62x51 with nothing getting through. Also the spall issue is pretty much nil. It's good stuff and the reason why everyone in the military uses the stuff. And we don't baby it either.
There's deals out there, Tyr had a long running special of 2 ESAPI's for something like $250 which is where I picked up my extra set.