DIY Lightweight Plates Tip:

[AshOnSnow]

I tried this out with some small 6x6 side plates and a multicurve front and it worked great, so I’m doing a multicurve rear plate tomorrow:

 

If you want to add some rigid plates that are lightweight to your carrier vest, cardboard boxes, duct tape and wood glue are the way to go.

 

First, mark the shape of your desired plates - be it Osprey or SAPI style - onto 4 pieces of cardboard (eg 4 sides of a cardboard box), but oversize them by 1 inch! You will cut them down later. Look for the “pattern” of the cardboard - you want 2 pieces with horizontal lines, and 2 pieces with vertical lines. Cardboard tends to bend at the lines, so by combining the different angles, you’re less likely to end up with a hard angle during the shaping stage.

 

Second, cut out the shapes and check theyre aligned, then spray each piece on both sides with water (I used an old empty antibacterial spray bottle) so they’re all reasonably damp, but not soaked. Leave for 10 minutes, then repeat. Do this process until the cardboard is damp through, but you don’t want it so wet it’s falling apart.

 

Third, lay the pieces on top of each other, and start to bend into shape. The water will have made them much more flexible. Be creative - for example you can you can use clothes on the floor and then push the cardboard on top around them to get a good smooth curve. After a few minutes of adjusting and holding the shape, you will want to weigh down the edges and leave them for 2 days, or until they’ve dried. Check on them periodically to make sure they’re keeping their shape, and adjust if necessary. As they dry, they will retain their new shape when removed from the “mould”.

 

You will notice that the cardboard pieces on the inside of the curve will outstretchthe pieces on the outside - this is why we left room at the start, you can now hold the pieces together and cut the pieces to a uniform edge. Then use duct tape all the way round both horizontal and vertical to keep them from moving.

 

Lastly, this is where the wood glue comes in - it’s clear drying, sets hard and can be sanded. It will also waterproof the plates. Apply generously to one side and allow to dry. Repeat for the other side, and then the edges. You will eventually want 3 or 4 layers at this stage. It’s a matter of just spreading the glue over then leaving it for a few hours to set.

 

After a clear, hard outer layer of your plates is in place, it’s time to sand down ad smooth over - there’ll inevitably be bits where the glue has dripped down the sides, so once it’s completely set hard you can get rid of those and round off those corners. After that, you can either put them in as is, or spray paint them black if you like. Just apply another layer of the glue after the paint has set to stop it rubbing off on the inside of your carrier, or use a clear weatherproof overlay spray.

 

It can be time consuming with a lot of waiting for things to dry, so make the process more efficient by doing the 2 (or 4 if you have side pockets) panels at the same time.

 

And voila, lightweight rock solid custom multicurved plates. Sans the £200 price tag that comes with a dummy training set.

 

[clumpyedge]

6 hours ago, AshOnSnow said:

I tried this out with some small 6x6 side plates and a multicurve front and it worked great, so I’m doing a multicurve rear plate tomorrow:

 

If you want to add some rigid plates that are lightweight to your carrier vest, cardboard boxes, duct tape and wood glue are the way to go.

 

First, mark the shape of your desired plates - be it Osprey or SAPI style - onto 4 pieces of cardboard (eg 4 sides of a cardboard box), but oversize them by 1 inch! You will cut them down later. Look for the “pattern” of the cardboard - you want 2 pieces with horizontal lines, and 2 pieces with vertical lines. Cardboard tends to bend at the lines, so by combining the different angles, you’re less likely to end up with a hard angle during the shaping stage.

 

Second, cut out the shapes and check theyre aligned, then spray each piece on both sides with water (I used an old empty antibacterial spray bottle) so they’re all reasonably damp, but not soaked. Leave for 10 minutes, then repeat. Do this process until the cardboard is damp through, but you don’t want it so wet it’s falling apart.

 

Third, lay the pieces on top of each other, and start to bend into shape. The water will have made them much more flexible. Be creative - for example you can you can use clothes on the floor and then push the cardboard on top around them to get a good smooth curve. After a few minutes of adjusting and holding the shape, you will want to weigh down the edges and leave them for 2 days, or until they’ve dried. Check on them periodically to make sure they’re keeping their shape, and adjust if necessary. As they dry, they will retain their new shape when removed from the “mould”.

 

You will notice that the cardboard pieces on the inside of the curve will outstretchthe pieces on the outside - this is why we left room at the start, you can now hold the pieces together and cut the pieces to a uniform edge. Then use duct tape all the way round both horizontal and vertical to keep them from moving.

 

Lastly, this is where the wood glue comes in - it’s clear drying, sets hard and can be sanded. It will also waterproof the plates. Apply generously to one side and allow to dry. Repeat for the other side, and then the edges. You will eventually want 3 or 4 layers at this stage. It’s a matter of just spreading the glue over then leaving it for a few hours to set.

 

After a clear, hard outer layer of your plates is in place, it’s time to sand down ad smooth over - there’ll inevitably be bits where the glue has dripped down the sides, so once it’s completely set hard you can get rid of those and round off those corners. After that, you can either put them in as is, or spray paint them black if you like. Just apply another layer of the glue after the paint has set to stop it rubbing off on the inside of your carrier, or use a clear weatherproof overlay spray.

 

It can be time consuming with a lot of waiting for things to dry, so make the process more efficient by doing the 2 (or 4 if you have side pockets) panels at the same time.

 

And voila, lightweight rock solid custom multicurved plates. Sans the £200 price tag that comes with a dummy training set.

 

 

 

How much do these weight, are you after weighted? Not sure what training plates your looking at that cost £200.

[Rogerborg]

Love a duck, people pay HOW much for some pieces of EVA foam?

 

Also: why not use EVA foam?  Or if you want something harder, kydex?

[Jedi_Master]

Any pictures?  Bring the project to life.

[AshOnSnow]

2 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

Love a duck, people pay HOW much for some pieces of EVA foam?

 

Also: why not use EVA foam?  Or if you want something harder, kydex?

The foam stuff is fairly cheap, this is if you want rigid plates with a multicurve shape to fit your body. Kydex is far too thin for purpose.

 

 Cheap china plastic plates are generally flat or single curve, If you want multicurve ones you have to get proper real training ones which are about £80 a piece. Team Wendy in USA do them at $114, but don’t do side plates.

3 hours ago, clumpyedge said:

 

 

How much do these weight, are you after weighted? Not sure what training plates your looking at that cost £200.

 

Depends on the size of the plate, my front one weighs about 600g

[clumpyedge]

37 minutes ago, AshOnSnow said:

The foam stuff is fairly cheap, this is if you want rigid plates with a multicurve shape to fit your body. Kydex is far too thin for purpose.

 

 Cheap china plastic plates are generally flat or single curve, If you want multicurve ones you have to get proper real training ones which are about £80 a piece. Team Wendy in USA do them at $114, but don’t do side plates.

 

Depends on the size of the plate, my front one weighs about 600g

 

Plastic swimmer cut plates are cheap enough from jk army that's where I got mine from and I filled the void with sand (I use them for running as well) make a pretty distinctive sound when hit which is nice! My friend is currently making me a pair of multi curved SAPI plates from stainless steel which are powder coated and sprayed for £70

[Lozart]

FMA SAPI plates, under £7 each from Taiwangun (plus shipping obvs) http://www.taiwangun.com/en/dummy-gear/sapi-dummy-ballistic-plate-fma?from=listing&campaign-id=14&q=FMA 

 

8Fields injection moulded, hollow set under £7 for the pair http://www.taiwangun.com/en/dummy-gear/training-plastic-dummy-sapi-plate-set-8fields?from=related&campaign-id=6

 

Both are curved top to bottom AND side to side. I have the FMA ones in my OPS plate carrier.

[AshOnSnow]

2 hours ago, Lozart said:

FMA SAPI plates, under £7 each from Taiwangun (plus shipping obvs) http://www.taiwangun.com/en/dummy-gear/sapi-dummy-ballistic-plate-fma?from=listing&campaign-id=14&q=FMA 

 

8Fields injection moulded, hollow set under £7 for the pair http://www.taiwangun.com/en/dummy-gear/training-plastic-dummy-sapi-plate-set-8fields?from=related&campaign-id=6

 

Both are curved top to bottom AND side to side. I have the FMA ones in my OPS plate carrier.

I find they can dig at the edges a bit if have any pressure on them at a slight angle, eg when your prone.

 

Difference between a proper curved plate and the 8Fields one:

 

[EvilMonkee]

I used a cheap old British Army rollmat, cut to shape of my 6094 front and back.  Lightweight, rigid, curved and waterproof.

[Dan1712]

I ended up cutting down a motorcycle jacket back protector i had laying around and they seem to do the job for me 👍