I've been kind of thinking of getting a plate carrier, any of you guys have any suggestions? It'd likely sit in the truck.

I never figured Chippewa Falls to be that dangerous.

I have an old school military one we took off a gang banger names Putto Duck……
Oh the good old days,,,,,lol

There's a crap load of good ones , it's a deep rabbit hole be warned. Will tell you though you get what you pay for kinda doesn't help with these and some.other tax gear. There a lot of expensive good looking stuff that really just slightly nicer airsoft gear. Got a few ranger and combat arms guys that bought there own vs the issued IOTV's I can ask them if you want

Just need a bunch of old pans. "PAN SHOT!" LOL

My favorite . . .

lol…. What movie is that…..

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

Spartan armor systems is my preference. Ceramic is the way to go if you can swing it, if not, I’d go for level 3+ steel plates

Go to any LEO website all kinds of options out there, look into GovX .

I didn’t like wearing it when it was issued, sure as heck not wearing it for fun.

What good will it do sitting in the truck?

Even the “cheap” stuff on the civilian market today is better than anything real warfighters used up until about 2005!

Beware the stuff that lists its armor rating as "similar to" <insertratingstandardhere>. Because its not or hasnt been tested

Nothing is scarier than “military grade” lol

RMA armament they are in Iowa

I guess what do you see the use as

a plate carrier and plates , make sure you have all your other bases covered

if you are headed to a potential gun fight , absolutely but if you know you are headed to one drive the opposite direction

if you don't know you are heading to one , then you really need it on all the time which is it's own issue.

make sure you have a good IFAK and know how to use it and good comms

I've looked into it a bit more and I think I will go with spartan level 3 plus steel with the full spall protection coating. What's your opinion on side plates? I can't decide if they'd be worth the added cost.

Side plates will add a decent amount of protection in the real world, you can't be guaranteed to being squared up to the threat or that there is only a single threat. Did you opt for the steel plates based on cost or durability over ceramic. Armor is one of those things that you will in all likelihood never need but if you do you will need it very badly. Also, what kind of helmet are you going with? Also, I assume that you have your NV and thermal lined out as to how it will interact with the rest of your gear.