Proper Wear of Armor (with anatomical diagrams)

[panzerr]

Okay, so let me see if I understand this. The down and dirty way to determine whether a front plate is the proper fit is if it protects approximately nipple to nipple on the horizontal plane

At a minimum, yes but with that said it should cover the entirety of the nipple to be sure it covers the apex of the heart.

and jugular notch to just above the navel on the vertical plane?

no

The very top of your sternum/bottom of the suprasternal notch to at least 1.5" below your sternum.

And for the back you could arguably go one size larger?

Yes

Fact is, you should wear the largest plate you can without hindering mobility. These are just the bare minimums.

[RyanS]

At a minimum, yes but with that said it should cover the entirety of the nipple to be sure it covers the apex of the heart.
no
The very top of your sternum/bottom of the suprasternal notch to at least 1.5" below your sternum.
Yes
Fact is, you should wear the largest plate you can without hindering mobility. These are just the bare minimums.

That puts me into a large plate then to cover the nipple. Here I thought that I needed a medium. Is that right though? 5"10, 210 lbs, 44-46" jacket.

[panzerr]

That puts me into a large plate then to cover the nipple. Here I thought that I needed a medium. Is that right though? 5"10, 210 lbs, 44-46" jacket.

Yes that sounds right. For a frame of reference my jacket size is 42 and I wear a medium with no problems. I can wear a large but a large plate pinches my pecs when I work on things in front of me so I choose not to.

[jenrick]

RyanS: Your height and weight are almost identical to mine, but I'm a bit larger jacket size (48). I wear a large plate (front and rear) and find it fits me about perfect, with only a very minor loss of range of motion when punching out fully with a pistol.

-Jenrick

[Armati]

I am a plus size guy so I like a plus size plate. I also wear the side plates. Pretty much, whatever your rib cage covers should also be covered by a plate. Nature already figured out what really needs protecting. About the only thing you can do to make it more 'comfortable' is to go with a plate carrier and just cover the really important bits. Everything is a trade off between protection and mobility.

[Logicalpath]

I'm curious about positioning and cheek weld, if I sit it up where that diagram shows then my stock doesn't sit in it's usual fire position affecting my cheek weld. So it isn't a comfort issue but of a practical issue. I've set up my gear so that when I'm standing it's lower than where it should be but when I get into my firing stance it lines up perfectly with what needs to be protected and allows me to position my primary weapon system properly.

My plates are 9.5 x 11.5(it's a square), I'm thinking the plate carrier is too big(I've linked to the carrier I have below). Given that many of you have experience running these rigs does anyone have any suggestions that would allow me to run armor without sacrificing proper shooting technique?

[JSantoro]

Right off the bat, and without being snide in the least, ditch those Luddite rectangular plates, and get something made to fit a human and not a BBQ grill made from a 55gal drum.

If your plates ride low when you're standing, and end up attaining proper coverage when you hunker down, then your plates are shifting and are really unlikely to be where they're supposed to be in either spot. That Condor carrier being a POS aside, you're not fitted correctly. Aside from MAYBE having the plate maybe come up under your throat a bit when you sit because your thighs push up on the bottom of the plate, they shouldn't be moving like that. Snug up the PC, or change sizes if you can't get it to stop shifting position on the size you have.

If your plates are shifting around that much, your whole rig is probably slapping you silly when you move (bouncing up and down when your run, in particular), which is awkward to move in because it affects your balance in ways you have to constantly compensate for, which makes you mote tired over time, which makes you have to compensate for your affected balance, which.......it's a negative feedback loop. One has to ask one's self if all that avoidable extra fatigue (and maybe all that falling down) is worth a certain level of perceived discomfort, given that armor is inherently uncomfortable even when fitted perfectly.

Given what you have, you simply will have to sacrifice SOMEthing. Those corners up by your shoulders bind in ways you simply cannot compensate for without impacting something else.

Any sort of shooting away from service rifle and the like is an exercise in applying the fundamentals you are able to apply given time/terrain and all the other extracurriculars, anyway. If you're not able to replace your rectangular plates with something a bit more current/ergonomic, you're going to have to reconcile yourself to the idea of "perfect is the enemy of good" in regard to your positioning.

[Logicalpath]

Right off the bat, and without being snide in the least, ditch those Luddite rectangular plates, and get something made to fit a human and not a BBQ grill made from a 55gal drum.

If your plates ride low when you're standing, and end up attaining proper coverage when you hunker down, then your plates are shifting and are really unlikely to be where they're supposed to be in either spot. That Condor carrier being a POS aside, you're not fitted correctly. Aside from MAYBE having the plate maybe come up under your throat a bit when you sit because your thighs push up on the bottom of the plate, they shouldn't be moving like that. Snug up the PC, or change sizes if you can't get it to stop shifting position on the size you have.

If your plates are shifting around that much, your whole rig is probably slapping you silly when you move (bouncing up and down when your run, in particular), which is awkward to move in because it affects your balance in ways you have to constantly compensate for, which makes you mote tired over time, which makes you have to compensate for your affected balance, which.......it's a negative feedback loop. One has to ask one's self if all that avoidable extra fatigue (and maybe all that falling down) is worth a certain level of perceived discomfort, given that armor is inherently uncomfortable even when fitted perfectly.

Given what you have, you simply will have to sacrifice SOMEthing. Those corners up by your shoulders bind in ways you simply cannot compensate for without impacting something else.

Any sort of shooting away from service rifle and the like is an exercise in applying the fundamentals you are able to apply given time/terrain and all the other extracurriculars, anyway. If you're not able to replace your rectangular plates with something a bit more current/ergonomic, you're going to have to reconcile yourself to the idea of "perfect is the enemy of good" in regard to your positioning.

First off thanks for the information, I appreciate it.

In terms of width the plates are 11.5" and my shoulder width is about 22". However, when I am in my firing stance I am about 18" with about 14" between my chest area. Do you think if I replaced the plate carrier I could make it work utilizing the proper placement of armor? If so(or even regardless) do you have a plate carrier that you could/would recommend which would accommodate my plate carriers?

I am going to contact the dealer where I purchased the plates but they have a big sign there that says "all sales are final", so I may have to make the best of this situation.

[calicojack]

On a serious note, take a look at the stateside "tactical circuit" and people are sporting smaller and smaller plates under the guise of weight savings, comfort, and mobility. You'll easily see 25-30% of the torso unprotected in some cases due to inadequate protection.

this stems from everyone jumping into the "review industry" in order to "attempt to gain free stuff." Those same people lack the "down range mindset" of what their gear is "supposed to be used for." They want to have a "more realistic gaming experience" while shooting idpa.

That's a whole different thread however, and i won't further derail such a great and informative thread any further.

[JSantoro]

This is the only thing I'm familiar with that even comes close....

http://www.us-palm.com/index.php?opt...=product&id=28

....but still misses because it's sold as a package (plates included). You'd have to contact them to see if they sell the carrier by itself, which I'd do based on the fact that it looks more adjustable in terms of ride-height.

Some LE products still use rectangular plates, but I'm not familiar with carriers for them and hesitate to point things out as a result. The one time I wore one (2005), I'd already gotten "spoiled" by having worn corner-cut, double-curve SAPIs in the Interceptor vest, which were getting pushed forward prior and during OIF1.

The military issuing double-curve plates en mass kind of shot the single-curve/flat plate market in the ass, except for small trauma plates that are of a size similar to the 6x8 plates commonly used for side-SAPIs. Again, more of an LE thing, and I hope somebody from that community has more info. Those US Palm plates are surplus AirSave plates, and I similarly hope that somebody with aircrew experience may chime in with alternative carriers that they may have worn to mount those things.

Otherwise, SKD currently carries excellent plates for good prices, though one needs to bear in mind that any not rated for stand-alone use require backers to provide protection up to their rating. Even with stand-alone-rated plates, backers are a damned good idea. It DOES add up......

Checking the EE is a good idea, too.