Before one can figure out what is the perfect plate carrier setup, one must answer the question: What is a plate carrier? We can tell you it’s not something a waiter would use to serve tables, but a thing which is used to strike a preferred balance between mobility and protection from all sorts of nasty, high velocity projectiles buzzing through the air. Plate carriers consist of front and rear plate bags, and they are held together by shoulder straps and a cummerbund.

The best plate carriers have various features, which makes them customizable to one’s needs. Some have a low profile, some have more attachment points for pouches and accessories. An elastic cummerbund is comfortable and adds to one’s agility. On the other hand, a PALS cummerbund extends the plate carrier's carry capacity. Most plate carriers can also be equipped with placards, front and back panels, and backpack modules aka plate carrier backpacks.

How about them recon folks? Troops that primarily operate somewhere outside of enemy contact usually wear lighter armor or no armor at all. They prefer chest rigs or similar combat vest systems. Chest rigs have either fixed pouches for magazines and other gear, or they have PALS webbing for a custom setup. Chest rigs and combat vests can usually be worn over an armor vest, so they are versatile that way.

Whatever your choice of combat vest or plate carrier will be, it is a sum of its parts, so you should give equal consideration for things like pouches, armor plates, and of course, flags and patches to boost fighting morale.