First Look: HELIKON-TEX Guardian Plate Carrier Set

We have it, the new Guardian Plate Carrier from HELIKON-TEX and all its accessories. We can already say this: "Wow, we didn't expect that." We'll tell you what we mean by that.

Here is a schematic representation of the Guradian and its parts, seen at IWA 2023.

This is what it looks like for us. We will present all of this to you in detail over the next few weeks. It is the Guardian Military Set (left in the picture) with the full range of accessories. Oh, why are we so excited about the Guardian system? Because everything just feels extremely solid. First diagnosis: The price-performance ratio is unbeatable. Besides, the Guardian Plate Carrier is extremely modular, even apart from MOLLE.

Here is the Guardian Military Set. It consists of the plate carrier, a cummerbund, shoulder pads, and a front flap for three assault rifle magazines. In essence, you don't really need more. In parallel, there is also a blue, "civilian" set, more intended for police officers. Also very exciting.

And if you need more, there can never be enough pockets. Here from left to right: Flashbang pouch, pistol magazine pouch, small radio pouch, smoke grenade pouch, and an admin pouch with an integrated mount for a smartphone.

And of course, there are also large pockets. A small daypack, a dangler pouch aka waist bag, a cummerbund with quick release, a horizontal double magazine pouch that attaches to the back, and an alternative front flap.

This front flap is called the "Guardian Kangaroo Flap" and is completely lined with Velcro on the inside. This allows you to optimize it with inserts of all kinds to meet your needs. HELIKON-TEX has had Competition Inserts available for a while now for this purpose. However, we believe that inserts from other manufacturers will also fit, but we will investigate this further in a separate review.

On the HELIKON-TEX website, you can get the plate carrier without the cummerbund and front flap. You can customize your set according to your needs and preferences. The size must also be chosen according to the protective plates. In the cheapest set combination, the plate carrier costs about 149.99 euros. HERE you can find all further information about the Guardian.

HELIKON-TEX online