When it comes to certain things like body armor, you need to be a bit selective about the type you choose. When I went through selecting my armor, I went through many days and even weeks pondering, planning, and plotting. Thankfully I already had experience with various types of body armor from simple low profile plate carriers to full coverage ballistic vests that turn you into a fat turtle. When I finally made my choice, I chose the Spartan Armor Systems Level 3+ Swimmers cut steel plates. In short, when it comes to balance, these plates seemed to hit the spot for me and my needs.
Above is a representation of what this armor was going to have to work with and around. Granted I had to make adjustments to my gear after getting the armor, but I had to consider this gear in my planning. What kind of tasks do I need to be capable of performing, movements, etc. I had to take into consideration my shooting positions with rifles and pistols. Range of motion was absolutely essential, but no more than maintaining the lowest possible weight with the highest possible protection. I had to strike a balance here, which is another way of saying I had to compromise and trade one thing for another. The hardest thing to figure out here is what feature will you decide is the highest priority? Range of motion, protection, or weight? At a weight of 7lb 8oz per level 3+ rifle plate, I felt that they indeed gave me the best of all worlds since this is the weight of most of the ceramic plates out there. For me, the swimmers cut met everything in the middle when the final cost for two plates was $250 with free shipping. The base price was $184, but I opted for the full spalling mitigation coating.
The swimmers cut seems to speak for itself just in the name. If you think of a swimmers stroke in the water, it requires full range of motion of the arms that the standard shooters cut cannot adequately provide. As time goes on and people get experience with using body armor, there is a good amount of feedback leading to these types of designs. This swimmers cut really caught my eye due to the lower price and the more narrow cut. I figured I was hitting two birds with one stone since I was being charged less for something giving me more mobility in range of motion and weight. However, the obvious trade-off for this was obviously going to be torso coverage. There is no free lunch in this. I willingly bit the bullet, so to speak, and endorsed this trade off since comfort can go a long way in being able to save your own life. Speed can be our best security in desperate times, which means that the little edge in range of motion and weight can be priceless.
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