May 22, 2015: Armour Wear, the leader in protective armor innovation has officially announced its newest revolutionary product; The AR 680 Hardened Steel armor plate. The AR680 plate is a full size 10in X 12in, shooters cut, single curve hard steel plate that can thwart multiple hits from “Green Tip” M855 5.56mm rounds (at 3200 FPS), or M193 5.56mm rounds (at 3300 FPS). This is a truly unique plate, where most other plates are heavier, and cannot withstand the same level of abuse.
The 6.2lb plate is only 5mm thick- an industry first. The extra level of care has also been taken to prevent metal spalling by adding a Linex base coat and build up. This makes for an extremely well designed, and balanced plate which is already shattering records and expectations. Always having the consumer in mind, Armour Wear has the plate rated at a $134.95 MSRP. With engineering of this magnitude, and a price which is unbeatable, this plate is a threat that competitors will not be able to protect themselves against.
Learn more at: www.armour-wear.com
Tags: Armour Wear
Very interesting. Curious to see if it can take the level of abuse that AR500 has been shown to take. One of the great advantages of AR500 over Ceramic is the impressive amount of abuse it can take and still stop rounds whereas some ceramic plates are cracking during routine wear, long before they get shot up. I am in the market for plates so this comes at a great time for me and I really hope this lives up to the hype.
Additionally I would LOOOOOVE to see a test of this armor (or AR500 for that mater) vs. the new M855A1 enhanced 5.56mm round. That round is supposed to have improved penetration so I am curious to see how it stacks up. Of course it is also a restricted round so I imagine there will have to be some politicking to get a hold of enough ammo for testing.
Great post SSD!
What’s the point? If a level IV ESAPI can stop a 30.06AP round then it can stop anything 5.56 has to offer.
Ceramic cracking from wear? Lol, no. After the same set of plates has been issued to multiple people who slam it around maybe. For best results armor shouldn’t make a thud when you set it down. If you set it down with an audible thud, that’s more likely the culprit than just “routine wearing” them.
This.
NIJ level III is not a lesser included of level IV.
Or your soldiers cramming it into a box. Like the one your team uses in the TOC. Said box holds everything from your helmet to your vest to you pistol belt. Gotta love that when private snuffy is cramming his vest and helmet into the box. Because he is to lazy to carry it back to his room.
Primarily, it is weight. Ounces make pounds: and if a different steel can give the same protection at less weight then why not. 2 lbs weight savings means 2 extra 5.56mm magazines you can carry for same overall weight.
It is steel not ceramic. The steel just is rated 680 on the hardness scale. Meaning AR500 is softer.
Hey look, its jimmy yager with tactical response!
What kind of company uses James Yeager for promo work in this day & age? Hello, he is toxic and has nothing for experience other than small town Sheriff and failed PMC. WAKE UP Armour Wear!
^THIS
That’s a flag that makes me run away.
To a ditch….?
LOL
ouch….
Yeager has a lot of viewers and AR500 got very popular from youtube videos. It only stands to reason that Armour Wear wants to make money and get some free press in the process by using Yeager’s viewers to announce a new product. Makes perfect sense to me.
Ceramic plates are much more durable than internet commandos give them credit for- we bang the living shit out of them during deployments and they still work.
AR500 armor is heavy, uncomfortable, and M193 zips through it like butter when fired from 20″ and sometimes 16″ barrels. It also can have issues when hit at off angles with spall and ricochets, and you need to wear soft armor under it. Add in single curve which is uncomfortable for long periods of time- there’s a reason why the military doesn’t use it.
I don’t see AR680 solving anyo of those issues aside from defeating M193.
I like how they say the plate is 6.2 pounds, then when you go to the website they say:
“The extra level of care has also been taken to prevent metal spalling by adding a Linex base coat and build up. This makes for an extremely well designed, and balanced plate which is already shattering records and expectations. The 1 ¼lb. build up is what is required for maximum protection from spalling and brings total plate weight to 7.5 lbs.”
Still a lightweight plate, but creative marketing at it’s finest.
I saw that too and did a double take! I am glad someone else saw that too and I wasn’t just reading it wrong. At 7.5lbs total it is not that appealing unless it is significantly better than AR500.
James, full of shxt, Yeager.. really?
All I neded to know before looking farther, thanks. Partner with that tool and get 0% clickthrough to your product.
That’s the first I thought when I saw ‘that guy’ in the post. I am just ignoring him and anything related to him, just in case. But this plate looks a great product.
Guys,
Love him or Hate him. He has been good to us and has given us the CLICK THRU that you speak of. I don’t judge people on what they have done or not done in the past that I wasn’t a witness to. If he wrongs me I will be the first to cut him off. If you don’t want anything to do with our products because we came on his Youtube channel than we are sorry for offending you so bad that you hold us accountable.
I never witness any murders that Charles Manson did either.
“I don’t judge people on what they have done or not done in the past that I wasn’t a witness to.”
Wow, maybe you should hire Josh Duggar for your next spokesman, after all, you didn’t witness him touching those kids.
Nice underhanded try at insinuating that dudes are easily offended or overly sensitive because they want nothing to do with a company who associates with a clown that got men much better than himself killed and who supports lying posers involved with Stolen Valor issues.
Listen up and lets try and be serious about this. If it comes out that he Murdered People or Got people killed or any of the things you say. That it was proven!!!!! Im running for the hills. The things you speak of are OPINIONS!!!!! I WAS NOT there in Iraq, I dont know of these posers you speak of, that he hangs out with. Again this is all hear say. Your being a little bit much dont you think? Its like hating Nike because you dont like Kobe. We went on his channel to promote the plates. If you have such a disdain for the guy that you hate us too, then we are sorry for offending you and have a great day.
http://sofrep.com/36718/stolen-valor-cory-alan-jackson/
Seriously, this is your response? Look the guy you used to promote your gear in addition to everything that has been said by other people has also made threats to kill people in addition to challenging anyone who thinks poorly of him to a duel. On the stolen valor issue it is not something he said in private it is something he said on YOUTUBE. and all this searching took no more than 30 seconds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-27i0-dUIjg
http://www.wallsofthecity.net/2012/12/james-yeager-is-a-coward.html
https://soldiersystems.net/2012/12/14/james-yaeger-is-so-sick-of-being-called-a-coward-that-he-will-challenge-you-to-a-duel/
Haters are gonna Hate. Good job on making an interesting piece of kit. I hope it holds up to hype and that you can get the multi-curve issue solved.
Best of Luck.
Yeager also has reps from Remington, Wilson Combat and Surefire on his channel. Will you no longer do business with them. I get it you, for whatever reason, don’t like the guy-but don’t let that sway you into dismissing a product that may be worth your time and money.
I guess none of the other commentors were reading the part AR680 “Steel” armor. These plates are not ceramic they are a more hardend steel than AR500. AR”500″ is the level this plate is at AR”680″ hardness. I am just curious at how brittle the plates are if they are at all?
Unless I misinterpreted their comparisons.
No you are correct, sir.
i’d rather have a good product sold by a dick salesman than crap sold by an ad agency
Yup, as soon as I saw Senior Chief Clown Yeager, I stopped watching.
I only wonder if they did a field test with him running from gunfire wearing it.
Who would buy stuff this guy endorses. And the guy selling it looks like he needs rings on each finger and an Assfliction shirt.
the plates are extra lightweight, makes running even easier!
Not sure I would toss the proverbial baby out with the bath water in regards to Yeager in the video…I mean you are buying armor plates, not Yeager autographed plates right?
Now in regards to Yeager…I lost respect for the guy more so for him defending the lying YouTube Cory Jackson and his wife and his whole stolen valor ordeal. I don’t have the whole story about the “ditch” deal but if it went down as claimed then I can see why so many have no respect for the guy.
At Least for me its not an explicit indictment of the product, but using people like Yeager who as the rep for the company stated in an earlier response “Love him or Hate him. He has been good to us and has given us the CLICK THRU…” that definitely tells me they are more concerned with generating traffic than proving their product is a quality item, as there are plenty of other YOUTUBE celebs that do not have the the reputation of Yeager that can generate click thru traffic.
That leads me to think either Yeager was the cheapest one to hire or they wanted all the shit to be stirred and either way that is not the sign of a company I want to buy Armor from.
I don’t understand? Why Steel? I thought that ceramic has proven to provide better ballistic protection pound for pound over steel?
A couple of reasons:
Steel plates are cheap. A hell of a lot cheaper than ceramics.
Ceramics have a shelf-life, even if it is quite a long one
Also, I could be wrong, but I think that AR500 is technically not classified as body armor, since it’s just slabs of metal, and can be bought and sold without paperwork or credentials.
Ceramic plates can crack and the only way you would know is if they are X-ray. Everything has Pros-Cons, steel is cheap, durable and works, but is heavy. Ceramic is expensive, has a shelf life but it is lighter, and can stop more powerful ammo.
When will this receive NIJ certification?
Jon, OPT
We are getting the NIJ testing done now. We have passed all preliminary tests.
Sorry no thanks. Anyone associated with Yeager is a no-go.
Remington is a no-go?
If you post anything with this POS Yeager on this page. You’ll lose a fan.
Will this stop 7.62×51 or 7.62×39?
Sweet! Now I can have armor that will frag my face when I get shot! YUSSSS! Cool face scars plus an eye patch!
I’ll stick with ceramic thanks…
I don’t think that would happen. Combining the buildup Linex coating plus the 500-1000 denier fabric armor carrier is a hell of a lot for bullet fragments to cut through. I have yet to see a test showing fragmentation to the arms, torso, legs or face with either provision let alone those two things combined.