Yeah, not sure if I got autocorrected or had a brain fart, but it’s 100% spalling.

I mean like you got down on some rocks quick then crawled forward. That would make the ceramic ineffectual?

I mean, there is heft to them, they’re still ~8lbs each. Which is think is about what metal is.

What some people do is buy a “trauma pad” which is very skinny foam meant to be worn on the inside to absorb the shock, and they’ll put it on the outside side. Like, in the vest, but pad-plate-body instead of plate-pad-body.

If you haven’t watched the video I linked up above, it’s worth it. He’s pretty scientific and goes over a lot of general stuff.

But just some stuff bumping against it isn’t a big deal, these are designed for the military and worn in actual war for like over a decade at this standard. Just look at the stuff they do in plates for training, they’re not gentle.

But honestly the point of a plate is to stop bullets that would kill you immediately, because there’s an expectation medical aid is nearby. Without an emergency room a gut shot will kill you just as well as a lung shit, it’ll just be 8-12 hours of absolute misery assuming you don’t bleed out in the next hour.

So if society full on collapses, plates make less sense.