The recent and hasty withdrawal of the United States Armed Forces from the country of Afghanistan has been somewhat of a controversy. Many say that the withdrawal of US forces was irresponsible while others are lauding the decision as a step towards a more peaceful world. No matter what side you fall on, if you’re a serious gun aficionado then you are probably curious about all the shiny new hardware the Taliban has found themselves now owning. Today we’ll take a brief look at some of the new weapons of the Taliban and how they are already starting to integrate some US and European weaponry into their arsenal.

If you’ve ever trained for (or actually been on) a two-way shooting range, you well understand the value of good body armor. Military and law enforcement work certainly require this lifesaving equipment, but many private citizens also choose to purchase plates in case of emergency. There are many different styles, manufacturers, materials available on the armor market, in widely varying levels of protectiveness and quality. Many shooters prefer NIJ level IV ceramic plates, and Spartan Armor Systems’ new Ares model fits this bill.

Armor is becoming an increasingly hot topic in this country and whether you’re on the side of donning it for only the direst of circumstances or putting it on as part of your daily job I think most people can understand the need for concealment in certain situations. Premier Body Armor has just announced the introduction of their very own Concealable Level IIIA body armor vest. Along with its concealability, the new NIJ Certified vest sports comfort and adaptability features to make it more useful on a daily basis.

Premier Body Armor has been steadily making improvements to its lineup of affordable body armor and plate carriers for the consumer market. They’ve just announced the addition of their new Core Plate Carrier which includes cummerbund armor with the carrier. The plate carrier will be compatible with almost all 10×12 sized PBA plates and will be available in 5 different camo patterns.

Finnish  Hydraulic Press Channel is a well-known YouTube channel that puts various objects under the intense stress and pressure of a 150-ton hydraulic press for no other reason than to see what happens. Just last weekend they decided to see what would happen if they tried to pierce an AR500 steel plate with a few different objects including tool steel which is often used as the penetrator portion of armor-piercing ammunition. Although a lot of their videos can be predictable in their results, this one took me by surprise for a number of reasons.

In this episode of TFBTV, James Reeves is at West Orlando Firearms Training with Heckler & Koch for a reveal of their new pistol. Bulletproof backpack manufacturer Ballistipax was also attending the event and had a few of their Survivor-1 backpacks for demo. The packs have rapid-deploy panels that pull out of the pack and serve as frontal protection. The packs come with plastic or Polyethylene (UHMWPE) plate body armor. James was skeptical about the performance of these plastic body armor plates, so the guys from Ballistipax let him try burning one down with a full auto H&K MP5 using standard ball 9mm ammunition. How’d it done? Also, cameo from our friend John at Active Self Protection.

When looking at personal protection, typically the focus is on concealed carry handguns and all the gear associated with carrying a handgun. In the last few years, there has been an increase in options for body armor on the civilian market. At first, I will be honest and say I didn’t really understand what the point of having body armor in a bag would be. I kind of said it was for paranoid people but decided to buy a set of backpack armor inserts for testing. I’ve had them for the last few months and finally have enough data to take a closer look at these armor panels. Let’s dive deeper into Premier Body Armor’s Backpack Armor Insert and see what it does.

Safariland has just released a new plate carrier for the armor market – the Gen 3 Fast Attack Vest or FAV. The Fast Attack Vest claims to be versatile, and provide more ballistic coverage at its base level. The FAV features front, back, shoulder, and side soft armor ballistic coverage with of course the option to add front and back armor plates.

With the growing popularity of body armor, many companies have expanded their operations to include increasing levels of coverage. Premier Body Armor has announced the release of their Multi-hit capable Level IV STRATIS plates.

One of the biggest downsides to wearing rigid body armor is that it severely limits your mobility. Premier Body Armor has just released their aptly named AGILE Level IIIA Soft body armor inserts. Premier Body Armor claims that their new AGILE inserts are special threat tested against 12 gauge buckshot and slugs as well as Liberty Civil Defense 9mm and 5.7x28mm.

The newest addition to Safariland’s customizable armor systems is here with the release of the third generation SHIFT 360 scalable plate rack system. The SHIFT 360 features a lightweight and durable internal lining system and adjustability to accommodate plates of almost any size.

Blue Force Gear (BFG) arrived in style and unveiled its newest batch of kit at TFB’s GunFest 2021.  Among the slew of new offerings were their newest  PLATE-6 carrier, as well as new CHLK and GRID belts.

Safariland has unveiled a phone-based program designed to make sizing body armor and uniforms quicker and with less hassle, rather than having others take the measurements.  Safariland’s sizing technology is called XpertFit, and is said to take only two minutes for the user to find out which armor or uniform sizes will be recommended for them. I don’t know if social distancing was a prime motivator for Safariland when they created XpertFit, but that may be one of the benefits for agencies or distributors that want to limit contact.  Safariland describes XpertFit below:

If you want to look like the superhero Captain America from Marvel Comics and carry a plate carrier at the same time, here’s your chance!  Shellback Tactical (Cayce, SC) are taking preorders for a limited edition plate carrier in “the most majestic color combination known to man – RED, WHITE AND BLUE“.

Austin Thomas Jones is an Aerospace Engineer with a less than favorable view of Federal Firearms regulations. It is this attitude that caused Austin to depart from the aerospace industry and enter the firearms industry with the goal of resurrecting armor-piercing ammunition in order to provide equality under the law with regards to armor-piercing ammunition. Austin and Atlas Arms have worked hard to produce what he calls the Dagny Dagger – an unrestricted Armor Piercing ammunition that skirts around the ATF regulations to give “the common” access to reliable AP ammunition.

Grey Man Tactical has been making great tactical gear accessories since 2012. Their ethos is to produce quality organizational accessories for stowing your gear in an efficient and logical manner using the traditional MOLLE grid. Today, Grey Man Tactical has just introduced its Plate Carrier & Helmet rack for stowing your protective gear while on the move.

RMA Defense has recently announced their new level III+ rifle armor specifically cut for women, which they plan on making available next month.  Women in the military, law enforcement, security, and civilians that just want some extra protection against rifle calibers have had some difficulties using plate armor designed for men.  RMA Defense have developed four different sizes to accommodate various body shapes, which range from small to extra large. The details of RMA Defense’s rifle armor for women can be read below:

Welcome one and all, to the Father’s Day Weekend edition of the one, the only, Deals of the Week. I’m your host Benjamin F, coming to you from my secluded bunker downtown writing studio. Bringing you nothing but the best deals I can find, even in the middle of a panic buying session that’s lasted for months. With no further ado, let’s get into it.

As at least five or six out of ten doctors would probably agree, the head is a relatively important part of the human body. It contains your brain, as well as all of the necessary organs and equipment for four out of the five senses. Even less severe head wounds tend to bleed heavily due to the local proliferation of many of the circulatory system’s smallest blood vessels, needed to feed oxygen-rich red blood cells to critical pieces of corporeal infrastructure. Given this, it is generally considered a good idea to protect your head from injury by using a helmet during risky activities, which can often include shooting and shooting-related activities or professions. Indiana-based Citizen’s Armor Co. has come up with a reasonably inexpensive way to provide their customers with some cranial conservation, even from ballistic threats like shrapnel or small arms fire, plus offer some of the more sought-after features of pricier helmet options. Enter the “ Tendy Defendy“.

Across America, COVID-19 stimulus checks (direct deposits) are finally hitting bank accounts as the COVID-19 pandemic keeps us in lockdown.  In an effort to help stimulate our favorite part of the economy, we at TFB created a list of things we think you should consider buying with your stimulus dollars.

To lighten the load and increase mobility were the main targets as the USMC Systems Command went looking for the next generation of body armor. Of course not at the expense of decreased ballistic protection. In 2018 the US Marine Corps awarded Vertical Protective Apparel (New Jersey) a $62+ million contract to produce and deliver the Generation III Plate Carriers, and the first samples are now being field-tested.

Welcome back everyone to Featured Deals of the Week: Quarantine Edition Part II. We’ll be focusing on all of those hard to find products that other people are panic buying so that you can panic buy them instead! Or normal buy them if that’s your thing.

The PPSS Group is a United Kingdom based company that has been providing protective vests and clothing since 2009.  PPSS has focused their energy on ballistic protection as well against edged weapon threats, including a demonstration from the company’s CEO, Robert Kaiser, that was voluntarily shot while wearing one of PPSS’ bullet resistant vests.  Their latest product, however, is said to be of a completely new material, which reduces the thickness and weight, while protecting against shanks and edged weapons.

AR500 Armor, the company mostly known for making steel body armor and targets, is entering the helmet market. Being specialized in manufacturing products from high strength steel alloys, they have designed a steel ballistic helmet called Militia Helmet. This is a rather unique product on the market dominated by helmets made of composite materials.

Rice University has published an article telling about 3D printed ultrahard polymers that the University’s  Brown School of Engineering researchers are experimenting with. The sophisticated construction of these cubes is based on tubulanes, “theoretical structures of crosslinked carbon nanotubes predicted to have extraordinary strength“. They claim that this structure is as hard as diamond and can stop bullets better than solid materials.

People think ceramic armor is fragile, but is it really? To find out we blew up a Shot Stop level IV+ rifle plate (model #D1581SSB) and then shot it with an AK and an AR.

Dongrun Safety is a Chinese company that presented an armored dress-vest that could be ordered in various ballistic ratings up to the Chinese GA141-2010 Level 3, or roughly equivalent to an NIJ IIIA. Incorporating Kevlar ballistic material into dress attire has existed for some time now, albeit it hasn’t taken off too much within the VIP protection circuit that it is designed for. One company in the US has even tried to turn a line of everyday clothing into armor as well, in addition to another one even offering a two-piece suit armor combination. The reasons for both might appear to be that having a very basic set of a standard (Point Blank or Velocity Systems) soft armor vest allows for a much more versatile clothing option for a client or security detail because one isn’t stuck with a single outer layer. Users can also ‘armor-up’ by simply putting on a steel or ceramic plate over their soft option, thus gaining more protection by incorporating their soft armor into a system.

Last week I posted some pictures of Condition Red Ordnance Mfg (CROM) new milled chassis for the Ruger PCC. I looked them up and found out that they are local to me so I reached out to them. They invited me over to take a look at their Ruger PCC Chassis, .500 Blackout and bullet proof carbon fiber armor.

In this episode of TFBTV’s continuing coverage of SHOT Show 2019, Brannon LeBouef deviates from the normal product highlights and speaks with Officer Tyler Finch of the Anderson PD out of California who has first hand experience with US Armor’s concealable body armor. We hear about his ordeal that day and how he prevailed quite spectacularly with the help of US Armor’s vest. Tyler said he did not even realize he had been hit while in the fight and suffered no bruising, broken bones, or other injury from the hits.

This week’s deals include the Ruger LCR-X, the Testudo plate carrier and plates, Federal Guard Dog 9mm, a whole mess of S&W magazines, and more ammunition than you can shake a stick at.