LAPG Plate Carriers and Plates

LAPG has been a huge partner of ours over the last year, and we wanted to take a moment to really dive in to some of their plate carriers for you. I spent some time with each plate carrier they offer, along with a bit of range time with the plates, and I'm officially a happy customer.

Foremost, it's important that I relay that I have been a fan of LAPG's products for some time now, and I've also used their site to grab non-LAPG branded items before as well. This article and video, however, are specific to the Atlas and Low-Vis Plate Carrier (LVPC). The Atlas, LAPG's full-size carrier, is a sturdy and cost-effective option for you if you're into it. It has padded front, back, and shoulders, and the quick release works great to get out of it when you need to. As long as you're not an idiot and miss the hole trying to put it back together like I did. The Atlas is side-plate compatible, has all the MOLLE you need, and it also has a removable cummerbund to go a bit more sleek, or to upgrade if you find one elsewhere that you'd rather run.

The LVPC has just as many features specific to it. It's ACTUALLY light, weighing at 12lbs WITH level III NIJ plates, and the cummerbund mag and radio pouches are a neat touch. I used them for snacks, but if you've got your life together better than I do I'd recommend using them for what they're designed for. My meat snacks got all sweaty. The zippered admin pouch works well for smaller phones, more snacks, or even a map and pen if you're inclined. You don't have to skimp on the armor on the LVPC, though. It will hold their lvl III or level IV NIJ-standard plates, too.

Speaking of plates, let's talk about the round I chose to shoot it with, and the NIJ standard for which it surpassed. I chose to shoot and showcase the level III plate against it's upper-capabilities using M80 7.62x51. That's the max-end of round that it's rated to be shot, at a distance of about 50 feet. For those that care, that equates to about 7-8 Bald Eagles. Due to home-range limitations, I had to test the plate INSIDE of 3-5 bald eagles. You do the math. What that led to was an 'exceed' for my limited understanding of NIJ ballistic protection standards. We had a lot of back-face deformation, but it still didn't penetrate. Fantastic work from LAPG.

The plate construction is an alumina ceramic face with a polyethylene backing. My idiot-level understanding of this means that for the budget-level cost of the plates versus its performance, we've got ourselves a winner in my book. Swing by LAPG's store and don't forget to use the "Funker10" discount code on your order to get a few dollars off. Maybe put it towards some ammo.

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