Fresh plates from Andres Industries

Armor for everyone! Andres Industries makes it possible with their ballistic plate line. We got the OPS-PE01 and want to give you a first look.

The OPS-PE01 is the lightest plate in the range - weighing only 1.4 kg, almost a featherweight, but is certified to NIJ Level III. What does that mean? It can withstand projectiles up to 7.62 x 51 NATO, which is equivalent to something between SK3 and SK4 or VPAM 7 (although it is not certified for this).

The plate has the advantage of being "multicurved", meaning double-curved. This greatly increases comfort. Furthermore, it is a "stand alone" plate, meaning that the soft ballistic protection against fragments is already incorporated and you don't need to buy anything extra. Just strap it in front and behind your body and you're good to go.

But everything always has a downside. For the OPS-PE01, it's the rather large thickness of 1 inch, specifically 25.5 mm. At first, we thought it would never fit in a regular plate carrier. But luckily, that was not the case. The plate fits in all plate carriers we had lying around. And there were quite a few.

Here is the very informative backside. In terms of size, this plate is roughly equivalent to a medium SAPI (318 x 241 mm). And the best thing about all the plates available at Andres Industries: no ITAR. This means that any law-abiding citizen can purchase them.

There is a lot of confusion about the protection class designations and no one really knows what a plate can actually withstand, so the people at Andres Industries have provided us with a plate. We will soon be testing it with various projectiles. Stay tuned to see what we discover. We certainly are.

The OPS-PE01 protective plate is available directly from Andres Industries for €189.00 excluding shipping.

ANDRES INDUSTRIES on the internet: www.andres-industries-shop.de