A question of personal body armour use.

[JeffM]

Hi there.

My name is Jeff Muir, a director of a body armour provider in the UK called AD Contingency.

I have a few brief questions to ask for curiosity and market research more than any other reason.

I would like to hear from anyone who owns and wears their own armour when not at work and on duty. I am interested in knowing what armour make and what protection level that armour is.

I would also be interested in hearing from anyone who does not wear personal armour while off duty, but for a particular reason; such as it being too heavy, too immobile, too conspicuous and so on.

I would like to thank you in anticipation of you taking the time to reply and look forward to reading your comments.

Jeff Muir
AD Contingency
www.adcontingency.com

[flatbadge]

When I am off duty, I am off duty. I do not wear body armor. That is for work.

[Lightfighter]

I do not know a single person that wears their armor when not on duty.

[GCPD0171]

I have never heard of an officer wearing a vest off duty. I'm sure it has happened somewhere.

[shooter1201]

Yeah, like maybe Beruit, Bagdhad and Kosovo......

[Padres19]

On-duty in uniform: ALWAYS!!!

Off-duty? If I have to wear body armor off duty, I definitely missed that left turn at Albuquerque!

[FedDC]

I have worn it off duty when I was traveling armed. I had to fly armed and did not want to check my armor for fear of what the screeners might do to it...or wnat it could get exposed to in transit. It wasn't really needed, but it wasn't a big deal either. I wear a IIIA PACA vest that is made of Zylon and Goldflex. I liked the thought of having it on while flying, but it isn't really needed since the latest terror threats indicate that the next hijack will be by 12-15 unarmed terorist that will be using numbers instead of weapons. Plus my pistol only holds 13 rounds...

[dws_steve]

I wear a Top Line level II vest.
Generally I do not wear a vest off duty, but I have from time to time depending upon where I am or what I am doing.
Besides being in LE, I also have a business on the side. I conduct training courses for LE and Security, and I am also a canine trainer (including civilian). Before moving to PA, I lived in Phoenix, AZ and one of my clients lived in a very rough part of Phoenix. Although I usually had my personal protection K9, I would also wear my body armor and carry a gun.
I also wear my body armor during a courses that I teach or attend. I believe in training with what your going to wear on-duty, including the normal yearly firearms qualification.
I generally try and avoid going into areas where I think that I should wear a vest unless it is one of the above situations.

Steve Forgues
Defensive Weapon Systems

[Boomer 03]

The only time I wear my armor off duty, is for trips to the range. I wear it religiously on duty. It is a Safariland level IIIa, all kevlar model.

[LPDtactical]

Never worn body armor off duty.... If that day ever comes, it's time for me to reconsider where I live!!

[Delta_V]

Do they encourage officers to wear armor off-duty in the UK or something? They don't issue firearms, yet there are officers over there wearing armor off-duty?

What a messed up place.

[JeffM]

Thank you to all who replied.

Hi there.

Many thanks to all those who replied to my enquiry regarding off duty wear of armour.

To dispel a common misconception, UK Officers, although instructed to do so, do not always wear armour, on or off duty.

My enquiry was made in the first place to satisfy my personal curiosity, as many of my former South African colleagues do wear armour when off duty, as a matter of neccesity.

. I notice that several people who have contacted me are wearing vests constructed with PBO Zylon.

To those people I would recommend you obtain the recent review specifications, in which there are details of a substantial drop in stopping power and thus consider changing vest.

Thanks again.

Jeff Muir
AD Contingency

[Sleuth]

Jeff, while I never wore armor off duty, as a plain clothes investigator, concealment was an issue. The assignment where I usually wore my armor was when we assisted the Secret Service protecting the President, or Presidential candidates. Certain ones always drew violent protestors, and until you knew what your assignment was, armor was a good idea.
I wore a Safariland Level II vest.