A Short History of the Plate Carrier Vest

When it comes to wars, soldiers require the best tactical gear and offensive equipment possible. For that, a considerable amount of research is required to keep innovating new devices to protect the solider from injury and trauma. Nowadays, soldiers prefer to use the plate carrier type of protective vest as it offers excellent protection from shrapnel and bullets. At the same time, these vests do not hinder the mobility of the soldiers in any way.     

In order to get a more detailed idea about the usefulness of a plate carrier vest, you can take a look at its history.

The Early Days of Body Armor:      

The Interceptor Body Armor was the standard issue for soldiers that operated during the years of 1990s and 2000s. This protective gear comprised of an outer tactical vest along with an additional chest rig. Although it was capable of providing a lot of protection, the Interceptor had a number of limitations. These limitations made it necessary to look for alternatives. Different types of tactical vests were developed to help the soldiers remain safe especially during the course of war. 
Researchers used the limitations already present in the Interceptor to understand the improvements that were required. This resulted in the development of a new protective gear called the plate carrier.   

The Creation of the Modular Tactical Vest:

The Modular Tactical Vest was the first to be adopted by marines after the Interceptor Body Armor. Known as MTV in short, the vest was capable of providing a better protection than the Interceptor. This was due to the SAPI or Small Arms Protective Insert plates. However, the MTV weighs much more than the Interceptor, almost triple. On the other hand, the design of the MTC allows its weight to be distributed more equally.           

The Development of the Scalable Plate Carrier:      

Soldiers did find the MTV useful but realized that the vest had certain issues which needed to be addressed. This resulted in the creation of the Scalable Plate Carrier, known as SPC. It is lighter than the SPC and has a number of features that were improvements on the existing MTV.          
The SPC has padded shoulders while the buckles could be adjusted. Webbing is available for MOLLE. The decrease in weight provided to be beneficial for the soldiers. Moreover, they could select their own options for the vest based on the kind of mission they were going on. This allowed them to carry the items they required for the mission.            

The Modern Vest:     

The latest versions of carrier vests are much lighter. At the same time, the number of built-in and extra options available has increased. Now, MOLLE attachments for the vests can be detached and reattached at will. Moreover, the vests come with cummerbunds that can be removed and adjusted. The cummerbunds do have slots and pouches thereby increasing the equipment or ammunition that can be carried. The options available now are vast.    

The latest and best plate carrier 2015 is a significant improvement over the very first kinds of body armor that were available. Soldiers are now better protected during intense missions.