taking soft plates and sowing them to a new vest ideas

x1hunter89 · Jan 12, 2012

so i got my hands on some soft armor from an iotv. i was just trying to get some opinions if i should take them and cut them to fit another vest then sow it to the inside so when i get plates for the outside its extra protection. i was also gonna take the left overs and put it on the side of the vest for side protection. Im also goin to try and put another panal on the inside of some water resistant material to make sure sweat and water dont effect the soft armor. My concern is the machine i would be using is my girl friends moms its not commercial grade so im wondering how it would hold up and if it would be able to sow the through the soft armor. Any input or ideas would be great thanks

Teufel_Hunden · Jan 12, 2012

I would not even consider altering a soft armor plate. Just seems like a baaaaaaad idea!

Find a vest that it fits or possibly "make" carrier.

Just my 2 cents!

T_H

darkminstrel · Jan 13, 2012

Depends on the thickness of the material. You might be better off with a readi-stitch sewing awl. With my heavy duty, yet not commercial, machine I can't get through 3 layers of 1000D cordura which is more thin than 2 layers of denim but much more dense. Take that into consideration. Give it a try if you like but have a crap load of leather needles handy.

Toxic6 · Jan 13, 2012

I've hand sewn panels into a coat before, but idk if a sewing machine would cut it - you have to kind of work the needle back and forth between the braids/layers from what i remember. If you are going to cut it, I'd sew your new pattern first on both sides then cut in between the stitches so it doesn't unravel too much - maybe with some bias tape (yes i asked my wife what it was called

) on the outer edge after cutting it. You're probably going to lose some impact protection around the edges/wherever you cut but that's just an uneducated guess.....i have some old panels - maybe I should test it out?