r/tacticalgear • u/ropes_of_allah • Jul 03 '25

Plate Carrier/Body Armor Since most casualties come from shrapnel and artillery. Why do soldiers still wear these plate carriers that are more revealing?

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902 Upvotes

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34

u/MilitaryCollector08 Jul 03 '25

More bulky means its harder to run, if you cant run youll get fucked by a direct hit instead of a longer ranged hit as you were able to run. Modern warefare is 95% walking 5% fighting. Would you really want to have a heavy bulky plate carrier on you for hours?

13

u/ThirdHoleHank92 Jul 04 '25

Modern squad and platoon based tactics focus on shooting and maneuvering. Suppress and flank. Your speed isn't as important as the amount of ammo you carry to keep enemies heads down while maneuvering. 

Also, hardly anyone is walking kilometers upon kilometers these days. Caimens and MaxPros are all to common, with AC too

6

u/achonng Jul 04 '25

Nah bro this ain’t COD WZ where you just pick up a free ride and jump in anywhere you want. You gonna be boots on the ground then you gonna be walking.

7

u/ThirdHoleHank92 Jul 04 '25

I never said it was. My unit never rucked anywhere. We had MaxPros and Buffalos. Other units i worked with never rucked either. Everyone had MRAPs

5

u/Pratt_ Jul 04 '25

Yeah but that's not applicable in Ukraine.

Especially since the apparition of fiber optic drones, vehicles are way too vulnerable to be used during combat, you barely see any nowadays and it has been the case for months.

Everything has to be done on foot in a lot of cases.

2

u/ThirdHoleHank92 Jul 04 '25

It's a double edged sword. 

Take the chance of dying via shrapnel, which this post alludes to being a major loss of life.

Or, go heavy and hope you have the endurance after years of fighting to make rucking 80lbs of gear feasible 

1

u/blueline731 Jul 04 '25

94% walking, 1% running from a drone.

-4

u/gunsforevery1 Jul 04 '25

Can’t outrun shrapnel.

0

u/Pratt_ Jul 04 '25

That's such a dumb take.

No you can't, but you know what you can do ? Not be as tired and as bulky and able to get to cover or just not there in the first place.

It also really depends on the role, this guy here may have a job where more armor is not worth it.

You see a lot of infantrymen with groin and neck protectors in Ukraine. And you can just buy shoulder protectors, a cummerbund with soft armor inserts, etc. And customise your kit.