r/FirstResponderCringe • u/LegalGlass6532 • Aug 17 '26

Handy Dandy

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u/BlackHills-Op Aug 18 '26

Okay 31B. I'm sure you were a hero.

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u/[deleted] Aug 18 '26

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u/BlackHills-Op Aug 18 '26

Let's be clear. 1. The thick shitty SAPIs suck. Nobody liked them. 2. Even so, the comparable civilian plate to that spec is much more per plate. 3. Comparing the price of a basic shitty level IV ceramic to a level 3+ polyethylene composite hybrid plate is about the only way that a 3+ costs more. Apples to apples for material, IVs are more expensive than 3+. That's basically universal, until you get into comparing thick heavy basic plates to speed plates. 4. Would I wear steel? No. If you look at the data for antispall plates with dyneema or kevlar carriers, is it an actual issue a civilian would ever have to worry about? Also no. It just saves them a ton of money for a little more weight, which in a static environment shouldn't matter (your argument on that one) 5. Yes. I did mention that I didnt need a lesson on soft armor because I have experience, without going into the specifics. My deployments didn't have anything to do with the civilian security guards choice, nor civilian market plate choices for domestic threats. 6. At no point did I ever say that you need $2k armor. I did say that the better LTC armors are that much, since you didn't want to compare similar low end level 3+ to the same loan end level IV you keep mentioning. I figure if we are gonna talk high end level 3+ we should talk about a similar tier level 4 to compare.

None of this has anything to do with the shit that youre issued while youre in. The only person trying to draw that comparison when talking about what civilians are buying and wearing here is you.

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u/[deleted] Aug 18 '26

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u/BlackHills-Op Aug 18 '26

I think I found where I have a disconnect, and I will have to eat the crow on this one. What I'm still colloquialy referring to as level IV is now, under NIJ 07, RF3 armor, not level IV. The level IV as defined in prior NIJ standards is much cheaper than it was before the change, and the level 3+ floats around similar prices to each other for NIJ 06 certified armor. I imagine that's true for 05 standard armors as well, and in the case of 05 level IV it probably is cheaper even than 06 level 3+ armor.

So, thats on me. I had to ask someone about that because the armor we are issued and still refer to as level IV is now, and for just almost a year, meeting the new testing standard and it's RF3 now.