Heavy as balls but nij certified - Spartan Armor Systems AR550 Steel Core Body Armor, 10x12, Set Of Two

FYI, per the Spartan Armor website, the AR550 single curve with full coating in shooters cut IS NIJ Certified. Be careful, many armor dealers will say 'meets NIJ specs' but this means they were tested by a non-NIJ-accredited lab and do not have the backing of the NIJ as a certified plate. These Level 3 plates ARE NIJ certified and bear the stamp on the reverse of the plate as I had hoped. The anti-spall is supposed to be the "build up" full coat but still looks kind of thin, however it is CERTAINLY something you want as opposed to the base coat (which is only there to mitigate rust, not spalling - ONLY a build-up coat is meant to mitigate spalling). Please note, the website WILL say these are 3+ and most AR550 armor is advertised as 3+ but these plates only say "LEVEL III" on the reverse and Spartan's own website says they are only certified to LEVEL III. (Mainly because the last NIJ certification did not recognize level 3+). I have no idea if these will stop 5.56 steel core penetrators (855 rounds) but there are ample videos on Youtube where these plates do defeat .308, 5.56 penetrator, and 30.06 ball (but NOT 30.06 AP, you need Level IV for 30.06 AP)... All in all I am satisfied. They fit well in my 5.11 TacTec carrier and do not jostle around, the cuts are not quite sufficient to shoulder my weapon as usual, but with minor adjustments I am able to move pretty well and have compensated, the are significantly thinner than ceramics and allow more movement with your arms. Although be warned, these bad boys have some heft. You will FEEL THESE when they are on. I weighed myself with just my carrier, rifle, and mag pouches and it was 30 lbs over my body weight with just those three items. I reckon these are about 8.5 - 9 pounds each. But I knew that getting into steel armor. They appear well sealed and should provide excellent edge-to-edge protection which was my reason for going steel vs. ceramic, and for the price you cannot beat these. NIJ certified plates at under $300 is pretty darn good. If you are a bigger/stronger dude and can handle 20lbs of carrier hanging off you, these appear to be everything promised.