Indeed it does look like a chest rig, I don't think it's your imagination ;)

Is he wearing plates in the plate carrier (front and back) with a bullet proof vest underneath it all? Is that normal or extra protection? Are plate carriers meant to be worn with plates and another ballistic vest under that? Or just the plates?

I have always been curious about that?

Thanks ;)

As that particular plate carrier only holds hard plates, it does not provide "all around" protection from frag. Given that McKay is a "VIP", it's understandable that they gave him some soft armour as well. As for the placement, it would be uncomfortable to wear hard plates under soft armour, hence the carrier is on the outside.

I've read that since systems like the MBSS plate carrier was exposed on the sides, they wore BPV's underneath to protect their flanks from shrapnel and light caliber rounds.

Also if you think about it this way...

If your plate carrier has both your front / rear / side plates and your soft body armor padding all contained, if you had to ditch your armor carrier to get out of a vehicle, or because you're snagged on something and its life threatening: You now have no armor protection.

You aren't, it's a London Bridge 1961A in Tan with a VIP strobe light for IFF.

Armor is layered like that for a couple reasons: operator is able to uparmor in order to respond to threats, it's lighter than a full armor system, he's probably not using standalone ceramic plates and need the soft armor layer to take potential kinetic energy in the event of incoming rifle fire, and yes, a standard of 360 degree protection from shrapnel.

Are plate carriers (with plates in the front and back) always worn with a BPV underneath or are they also worn without the BPV combo?

And what level of protection are the plates? Level III or IV?
And what level of protection are the BPV?

Thanks for all the info, has cleared up some old questions :)

I'm aware of using multiple layers of stuff, I'm all up to date on my Magpul videos. :p But I didn't know about the first part. Thanks for ID'ing the rig though, I wasn't sure if it was a 1961A or some sort of Molle rig.

noted

That's not really correct, the soft level IIIA armor is rated to take most conventional handgun ammunition. Not sure what Canadian SOF is issued, but I believe the majority of SAPI plates used by US SOCOM are level IV, if Canadian units cross train, then it's likely they use similar systems.

Hello ShadowNet,
It's been a long time since you started this thread. Not sure if you're still interested, but here are some of the items that jump out at me in the brochure you linked. Most items may be familiar to you, while others are unique to/within CANSOF.

Bolle T-800 Tactical Goggles
Oakley SI O-Frame Googles
Oakley M-Frame Glasses with Sweep clear lens
Petzl TACTIKKA-series headlamps
Traser tritium watch
Peltor ComTac I and Comtac II Headsets
Peltor Tactical 6 Headset
SOG SEAL Pup knives
Arc'teryx X-350a Climbing Harness
Arc'teryx Military Kneecaps
Cadex Defence Model 643-93C NVG Helmet Mounts
Ops Inc. 15th Model 5.56 CQB MBS Suppressors
INVISIO M3-series Tactical Headset Systems
...and yes, a lot of Paraclete gear, mostly MSA-Paraclete HPC/SOHPC.

Hope this helps.

You're beautiful.

Glad you found my post helpful. As I said, I didn't provide a complete list and if you have a careful look at the brochure, there are many other items that are recognizable:

Blackhawk SOLAG gloves, Thales Urban Speaker Microphone, Pro-Tec Ace helmet on the SO Cox'n, and a wide selection of red-dot/reflex/telescopic and holographic weapon sights.

So perhaps we can keep this thread going over the long term and it can serve as a resource to anyone researching and collecting JTF2/CANSOF gear.

Other than paraclete, what vests do they use? RAVs? CIRAS?

They use most of the time for DA, RAV, SOHPC, HPC paraclete, I've seen a pic of LBT1961 A on HPC...

They can use what they want....

Anybody interested by a new French forum on JTF-2 forces?

Midma