Build, Fight - 2023

Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.

Nehemiah 4:17

In the story recounted in Nehemiah 4, the exiled Israelites were given permission to return to their homeland for a time to rebuild their capital. But they were unable to do so without being kitted, not only to build, but also to fight, so they could fend off aggressors from any direction. While the text clarifies that they did not literally construct with one hand, but rather had forces divided into builders and fighters, this allegorical verse remains an example to us.

Isaiah 2:4 promises a time when men shall beat their swords into plowshares. That is, peace will be established such that instruments of battle shall not be necessary. But that time has not yet come. Thus our mission remains twofold:

This month, Armored Republic’s campaign is Build, Fight. We want you to build your home, build your defenses, and be ready to fight to protect it. We have been committed to helping Free Men across America do this for ten and a half years. Since last March, we’ve made much progress toward both goals.

We Build: we design Tools of Liberty and manufacture many more. The A3, nearly just an idea in March of last year, now sits as the champion of lightweight protection for the Free Man. 4.6 Pounds of III+ Protection. Hit after hit after hit. We also released the C2 Multi-Hit, a tremendously powerful Level IV plate, and dropped its price by a major margin. In addition to making new designs, we have also manufactured thousands of plates of all types.

On a broader scale, we also help build Bastions of Liberty in the Sea of Tyranny that surrounds us. Arming Free Men across America will be a key part of strengthening their pushes against tyranny. Thus we continue in our mission to arm at least 3% of Free Men with armor- a number that has been demonstrated numerous times to be sufficient as a political force for change.

We Fight: While we’ve faced many hurdles in the process, we remain in a legal conflict with the State of New York over its body armor ban. As Free Craftsmen, we are also arming ourselves. A staple of Armored Republic culture is a plethora of open-carry handguns from the office to the warehouse to the production floor.

We also arm other Free Men to fight for themselves and protect the innocent. One example from the past year is a recovery team that ventured into the war-torn Donbas area to save civilians left for dead in the area. They started out with makeshift, unreliable armor. But then they received Veritas carriers and A2 plates. Per one of their emails to us:

I got back from my second logistics trip in Ukraine since the war started.

In the beginning, we took vests from friends that had them— but our driver teams grew to 13 vans with 26 driver/navigator pairs.

These guys were Aquarium supply salesmen, Verizon store guys, and used-car guys before they drove rescue missions. They were ordinary Ukrainians until war came to them. 

Your gear makes them heroes who live longer and return to their families.

Thanks to your teams again. We threw away the garbage plates they were carrying and gave them the best! Your teams save lives- 3,000+ and counting on our end!

We took some shots again this trip, but everyone is alive to make more trips in the future!

The best time to prepare was yesterday. Second best is today. Build your defenses and fight to protect what is good and right. The first Tool of Liberty is a gun. The second is body armor.

Build. Fight. Join us today.