This article originally appeared on The Firearm Blog.
Body armor has saved a lot of lives – but its arguable that it has taken a few too. By being heavy, it reduces the mobility of the combatant, which in today’s mobile combat can be detrimental to health almost as much as a bullet. As such, the warning of armor has been a balance of weight to mobility.
In this video, Kit Badger goes over not just the how of wearing hard armor, but the why. Our biological programming puts all the vital organs high in the chest behind the rib cage to protect it. Where ribs were once good enough for weapons of ye-olde, we need a bit more protection for the ballistic threats present today.
Onto the how, there are two factors that are critical for the correct wearing of a plate. The first is the size of the plate. Too small and rounds can zip around the armor and too large, mobility is decreased significantly. Placement shoul d be even with the top of the super-sternum notch and drop about two inches of below the sternum to cover the diaphram.
Perhaps the largest irony of the video is the shirt – stating “Suck Less”. That’s just freaking hilarious with the whole point of a plate to help defeat a sucking chest wound. Can only hope that Mr. Kit Badget meant it that way instead of the other just straight tactical tard option…
For the full details, including placement of rear plates, check out the video below or head over to Kit Badger.
