Re: Plate carriers. Can a civilian legally own one?
Yeah, it is all legal, some won't sell to you though. Not sure about state laws. I keep a set of old IBA around and an oldie but goodie set of kevlar police armor.
Wear it? Are you crazy? You couldn't pay me (anymore) to walk around in that shit. You won't get too far too fast either unless you wear it around and exercise in it. Still nice to know I have it though. Got the pro masks too. Never can be too careful.
I'd much rather have it and not need it. It is the kind of crap that when you DO need it, it won't be available. My hope is the shit rots in the closet though.
No soft body armor or hard armor that you can carry will stop that .50. You might stop the projectile with some damn thick stuff, but you won't stop the 11,000 foot lbs. that it will punch you in the torso with. It won't NEED to hit the heart to kill you. A ruptured stomache, liver, etc. will do it too.
A guy on a range shot a coyote with an automated M2 by mistake. It broke its back. They started to call a cease fire, but not before I trained mine on it and finished it off with a burst (you don't do that and leave it to die). It disintegrated the animal, completely, nothing left but fragments and pink spray. It will do the same thing to you but worse if you are wearing armor because the temporary cavity will be compressed during the expansion (which refocuses energy back in). I don't care if you believe in temp wounds or not, a .50 doesn't leave the average temp cavity.
Also, an interesting note. I tested the .50 Beowulf for AA and my unit in the army (we tested a lot of shit). That little rifle firing 334gr. plated lead slugs will punch right through that IBA (not the plate) and do MUCH damage on the other side. The recovered slug, after going through the IBA, a milk jug of water, couple of cinder blocks and a huge creosote covered rail timber and a foot or so of earth in a non official test, was nearly turned inside out and the size of a silver dollar. Yeah, no shit. All three came out the same way. I got to keep that test mule, and I still have it, it is like having the Hammer of Thor only with a detachable magazine and reflex sight. Judging by numbers alone, the .460 and .50 S&W will do it too.
Armor is nice to have for the apocalypse, but not much else. Oh, and without the IBA or soft armor under that plate carrier? Good luck with trauma. A 5.56 STILL hits hard even if it stops it, a 7.62 moreso. I did know a guy that took three AK slugs in the chest before he changed positions. With the plates and the armor it still knocked the wind out of him and he blacked out once.
