Adjusting/custom fitting your armour

 

When I started my armour acquisition phase I overestimated the weight and volume a person can carry without severely hampering mobility and combat readiness. I thought: “hey, I can wear 50 kg of armour, transforming me into a human tank as long as I train hard enough and use a suitable steroid cycle”. Wrong… It is very important that you try out your gear along the way and test it while on the move to ensure that you are in fact able to move relatively comfortably in it for up to two hours. Take a walk around your flat for 15-30 mins and ensure that the items are in place after all types of bodily motions. You can add extra fasteners like hook/loop/Velcro if necessary. Don’t be shy when it comes to adhesive hook/loop strips (1 and/or 2 inches) and nylon straps (1 and/or 2 inches). I made several small miscalculations when planning/designing/creating my armour system and you will be able to avoid these and similar pitfalls if you follow this guide. I am certainly not a master armourer but I have managed to learn a lot about armour structure and design techniques. However, there is always room for improvement.

 

Miscalculation 1: I was unable to use the chest piece of the Damascus FX-1 as a base anti-blunt trauma layer under my primary ballistic vest and my plate carrier. The reason was that I had underestimated the weight, volume AND thus the mobility disabling effects of these two vests combined. As a result it simply became too bulky to apply and equipping the armour would have required the assistance of a helper. My primary vest weighs 4,5 kg (no plates, only soft armour) and my plate carrier vest weighs 13,5 kg (2 XL ESAPI plates level IV, 2 ESBI side plates level IV + plate carrier and various molle/modular attatchments (pouches for 6 grenades – splint/smoke/flash, 1 back pouch for 1,5 litre camelback, 1 medic pouch, 1 gas mask pouch, 3 other pouches).

 

Miscalculation 2: I miscalculated the weight that is practically possible to wear for combat readiness. As a result, I had to discard two extra neck protector pieces and a groin protector piece, in addition to materials gathered for a hip piece (padded war belt with level IIIA ballistic armour.

 

Miscalculation 3: I underestimated the cutting power of my electric jig saw which resulted in me having to have the ballistic panel pieces for my leg armour and shield professionally cut at a work shop. You can prevent this by borrowing or buying a more professional jig saw.

 

Mistake 4: not really a mistake, but I ordered a lot of material and 4 armour pieces (two side plate carriers with soft armour and two neck protectors. In addition, the Kevlar inserts in the deltoid and axillary protectors in addition to the groin protector were pretty rotten and had to be replaced with new Kevlar fabric (30 layers). Total price of the surplus/discarded goods were around 800 Euro.

 

Moving around in heavy armour – specific training required – marching/fitness walk

 

You will quickly get an idea which of your muscles you will stress when moving with so much armour. You should immediately begin specific strength training for the purpose of moving for 1-2 hours in heavy armour (depending on your mission). I originally though; “hey, why not fill all the molle/modular pouches with iron bolts and just wear it under a poncho while taking a walk”... While the idea isn’t bad, you should consider the fact that exercising outside with anything resembling military related items may cause suspicion and a subsequent call to your national intelligence agency. I ended up on a slightly different path with my exercise schedule. After my first test cycle of danabol I had gained 9 kg of muscles in only 6 weeks. The results where phenomenal to say the least. And this was only with 3-4 days of bodybuilding per week. I then chose to start armour training or so called march walk/fitness walk. I basically just bought two backpacks (40-80 litre packs), one in front and one in the back. I had already weighed my armour which totalled 18 kg frontal weight and 9 kg back weight. I then basically just went to the nearest beach and gathered 50 kg of rocks and placed 18 kg in the front pack and 9 kg in the back. It looks a bit silly but shouldn’t cause any suspicion for the most part. I may add extra rocks as I progress with my armour training programme. At the day of the operation I should have acquired an approximate feel on how to move around in heavy armour due to my simulation exercises.

 

Armour weight calculation and administration:

 

 

- Myself: 91 kg (75 kg standard weight, + 3 kg of surplus fat (hey, chocolate is good for morale!:P), + 5 kg of pre-steroid muscle mass + 9 kg of muscle mass acquired from test steroid cycle last 4 weeks using danabol alone. And yes I know: I would have managed to gain +5 kg of lean muscle mass if I had added test prop to the DBOL… I may use it on the last cycle.)

- Vest 1: 4,5 kg

- Vest 2: 13,5 (with molle pouches and 2 ESAPI plates and 2 ESBI plates)

- Helmet with visor: 3 kg

- Deltoid protectors: 1 kg

- Axillary protectors: 1 kg

- Groin Protector: 0,5 kg

- Leg armor: 2 kg (including upper leg, knees, shins, boot armour)

 

 

Total weight of armour: 25,5 kg

 

(Tip: just use your household weight when weighing your equipment, for low calibration weights just wear the specified armour/gear and subtract your body weight)

 

Additional items

 

 

- Primary weapon with holographic sight + 3x flip-up magnifier + green laser: 4,5 kg

- Secondary weapon with green laser: 0,7 kg

- 1,5 litre of water (in a camelbak water pouch): 1,5 kg

- Mobile Ballistic Shield: 4-5 kg

- 6 x Banana clips 30 rounds - 5.56 or 7.65: 6 kg

- 4 x small clips 30 rounds – 9 mm for side arm: 2 kg

- 10 x Grenades (splint, smoke, flash), gas mask, medic supply etc: 4-5 kg

- Base layers: boots, “skins” compression suit (leggings + long sleeve), boxer, tactical gloves, socks: 1,2 kg

 

 

Total weight of additional items: 23,4-25,9 kg

 

Total weight of all items: 48,9-51,4 kg

 

Obviously, this is simply too much for me or for any one person to carry on most tactical missions even if you are well trained and on steroids and ECA stack. Some people are of course more fit than others and have the ability to carry more without it impairing mobility too much. But as a general rule, you should never carry more than 30 kg of equipment on you when combat ready and initiating your operation. The optimal combat ready weight would be no more than 15 kg of equipment.

 

Mobility and the element of surprise is the Justiciar Knights most important asset so we must ensure that we are not impaired too much when it comes to mobility.

 

Always remember that it will take the SWAT team 10-40 minutes to reach you. Until then, you only have to face poorly equipped system protectors. So if possible, try to divide your operation into several phases where you start out with an acceptable amount of equipment and pick up some additional items from another location (Starting point to pickup point 1, 2 and 3). Calculate so that you know when to expect the SWAT team (probably not before pickup point 1 or perhaps pickup point 2.

 

A good idea might be to start with limited equipment (3-4 banana clips, 1-3 grenades, no shield, no gas mask, and perhaps even no plates (Vest 2 -13,5 kg) at all. As you progress (depending on the nature of your operation) you may pickup this equipment later as you expect to encounter the SWAT operators at the end of your course.

 

Important sites for body armour leads acquirement:

 

Alibaba.com is a great site for finding Chinese, Indian suppliers and other suppliers from especially the second world countries. There are literally hundreds of Chinese companies who has copied European body armour technology and is selling them at a lower cost. Often, you will have to pose as a wholesale importer which then orders “samples”. This is often the only choice as many Chinese companies only offer wholesale (larger orders) and not retail (single orders).

 

Ebay for bits and pieces.

Individual retail sites (Israeli sites are great) for other equipment. If you have problems ordering online or want to take extra precaution simply visit a country where mil spec body armour is readily available (US, Israel) and simply find a proxy buyer. A guy you pay a fee to in order to purchase for you.

 

 

Miscalculation 1: After testing; I have concluded that DBOL can be counterproductive to use for battle. The reason is that up to 50% of your weight gain is water/liquid retention which does little for your strength and agility and only adds more weight for you to “carry”. This can be countered by switching DBOL as the primary steroid with f example testosterone propionate (test prop) as you will only get a fraction of the water retention with the latter. Alternatively, you may use Aromasin in combination with DBOL to suppress the “bloat” (water retention). This will ensure that 80%+ of your gains are muscles with minimal water retention. You can further reduce the “water-gain” by limiting sodium (salt) and carb intake. Another option is to use DBOL for the first 3 weeks and Winstrol for the last 3 weeks in order to get rid of the water while still keeping your muscle gains. There are tens of various combinations out there with multiple brands and types of steroids. Just find an option that suits you. The important thing, after all, is to biologically enhance your physique in order to ensure that you have the optimal chances to succeed in the operation.

 

Additional info

 

Deltoid Outer Shell (One of two DAPS parts – Deltoid & Axillary Protector System, brand: Point Blank): size: 34 cm wide x 33 cm length, one wide nylon strap with velcro on top, and one similar for strapping on the inside of arm

Groin Protector Outer Shell (Interceptor): size: 24 cm wide x 33 cm length

Throat Protector Outer Shell (Interceptor): size: 25 cm wide x 9 cm length, one nylon strap at both ends of width, one nylon strap on middle low.

 

 

See this list of modern body armour components (modular tactical vest):

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Modular_Tactical_Vest_components.jpg

 

 

A complete body armour system (often referred to as MTV – Modular Tactical Vest or IOTV – Improved Outer Tactical Vest consists of some of the following parts (listed after importance):

 

When establishing a paramilitary organization later on in phase 1 or phase 2 with a conventional command hierarchy it is advised that 1-2 “armourers” are appointed and trained (by studying this guide) as it generally requires some level of competence and experience to create/sew multiple sets of armour within a reasonable time limit. I spent 4 months in my armour acquirement phase due to the fact that I basically had to “re-invent” the wheel as I was unable to find any proper step-by-step guides. With my current knowledge I could to the same in just a few weeks and at a significantly lower cost. These trained armourers (armour-tailorers) will be very valuable for any conservative revolutionary movements.