Issue link: http://lawandordermag.epubxp.com/i/65600
EXTERNAL VEST CARRIERS External Carrier comfort issues associated with wearing a concealable vest. Heat-related issues are the number one problem. Armor manufacturers have attempted to ad- dress these issues by incorporating new fiber technologies into the carriers that contain the ballistic panels. This, coupled with the widespread use of sports-type undershirts that wick perspiration and allow cooling of the skin, have certainly improved comfort. Regardless of new technologies, it is still not a pleasant experience to search a non-air-conditioned dope house in the heat of the day in uniform while wear- ing a concealable vest. These types of activities lead to officers going out into their air-conditioned patrol vehicles, zipping down the front of their uniform shirts, and lifting their vests off their soaked T-shirts to allow some air flow and comfort. Enter: the External Carrier Tactical operators have long had the ability to unzip the front of their raid vests or based on design, undo the side Velcro® and lift the vest off to allow cooling post-raid or other tactical opera- tion. So too, they could easily remove Uniformed Shirt Style Carrier the armor while in the station or other safe environment. Not the uniform guys. In order to remove their armor they would have to take off their shirts and gun belts, which would then require time to put back on. This laborious pro- cess is not required with newer external vest carriers. Newer designs have come out over the last few years designed for uni- formed officers to carry their ballistic vests on the outside of their uniform shirt. Uniformed day shift patrolmen have summed up the positive experience of wearing an external armor carrier on the streets for one year with comments like, "So much more comfortable that there is no comparison. The external vest allows me to 'burp it' (unhook the Vel- cro® attachments) and air it out. There is about one-third less perspiration on the T-shirt at the end of a shift." The other advantages are the ability to remove the external carrier while in the station com- pleting paperwork. Dan Wheeler, a product representa- tive for PACA and Point Blank, stated the call for these external carriers has risen to the point where they comprise about 30 percent of all vest carrier sales. Tactical Style Carrier Wheeler reported that agencies in his area such as Chicago Police; Ft. Wayne, Ind. Police; Indianapolis Police; and Dayton, Ohio Police have authorized external carriers. Doug Vance of Vance's Police Supply in Columbus, Ohio stated his sales of external carriers are now between 10 to 20 percent of all vests or- dered. Agencies such as the Dayton Po- lice Department issue both concealable and external carriers to their officers. The Uniformed Shirt Style Carrier Neither style of external carrier requires new ballistic panels. The panels already measured for your torso simply fit into the external carrier. The first style of ex- ternal armor carrier is the design that looks like a police uniform shirt. These carriers as typified by the Tailored Armor Carrier (TAC) by Point Blank, the yet-to-be-released Armorskin™ by Blauer, Elbeco's V1 External Vest Car- rier, the ABA (American Body Armor) Uniform Carrier; GH Armor Systems' Uniform Shirt Carrier. Coming this fall is a collaboration be- tween 5.11 and Safariland with the 5.11 PDU (Patrol Duty Uniform) External ARMOR EXPRESS www.armorexpress.com BLAUER www.blauer.com ELBECO www.elbeco.com www.lawandordermag.com 31