MICHAEL YON: “The body armor controversy is heating up again. The military is being accused of malfeasance but I believe that certain manufacturers have been more successful at manufacturing controversy than body armor.” And on a related note, see Michael Totten’s comments on wearing heavy body armor: “One lieutenant forced me to wear Marine-issue body armor – which weighs almost 80 pounds – before he would let me go out on patrol with him. I felt like Godzilla lumbering around with all the extra bulk and weight, and I didn’t really feel safer. Running while carrying those extra pounds all of a sudden wasn’t much of an option. Sacrificing most of my speed and agility to make myself a little more bullet-proof might not be worth it.” That’s a trade-off that the press stories usually ignore.
UPDATE: Bill Ardolino emails:
“Marine issue” body armor weighs 80 lbs. only when it is accompanied by webbing and a full complement of ammunition and other gear. A standard issue interceptor or spartan vest with kevlar inserts and the heavy ceramic rifle plates is about 35 lbs., max 40 lbs. with kevlar bells and whistles like sleeves.
Up until recently in Anbar, this rig, while cumbersome and problematic for middle-of-the-night and Special Ops stuff, was fairly useful in stopping armor piercing and other high caliber sniper rounds, as well as protecting against lesser threats like shrapnel and 7.62 rounds.
Regarding the ostensibly superior dragon skin armor: as a journalist embed without the ammunition, I would find the extra weight prohibitive. If I were a soldier or Marine with an extra 40 lbs. of ammunition and gear, I would find it REALLY prohibitive.
More info on body armor here.
It probably feels like 80 lbs. soon enough.
ANOTHER UPDATE: More on body armor at The Captain’s Journal.
MORE: Still more on the armor faux-controversy here.
STILL MORE: A reader emails:
Right after my son got to Iraq, they weighed his basic rig. That was armor(with side and shoulder plates), camelback with water, basic ammo load, first-aid kit, all the stuff you ALWAYS take. It was right at 90 pounds. Add in helmet, rifle, extra ammo, etc., and that’s a lot to carry around.
Yeah. If you know you’re gonna get shot, you’d like to be wearing the heaviest armor possible. But if you know you’re going to duck, you’d like to be wearing the lightest armor possible. It’s a bit like sports cars vs. SUVs, I suppose: You see a wreck, and you’d like to be in a big heavy SUV. But you don’t see the wreck that didn’t happen because the guy in the sports car managed to swerve out of the way.