Introducing the New Armored Republic Body Armor Matrix

Tactical Excellence and the Right Armor Choice

Tactical excellence begins with good intelligence. Ancient military guides like Sun Tzu’s The Art of War have long emphasized that understanding yourself, your enemy, and your available options is essential to mission success.

When it comes to body armor, there are four primary materials commonly used in construction: aramid fabrics, polyethylene sheets, metal alloys, and ceramics. Each comes with its own tradeoffs.

Aramids, for example, are lightweight and flexible, making them comfortable to wear, but they cannot stop rifle rounds. Polyethylene plates are excellent for amphibious missions thanks to their buoyancy and performance against high-velocity threats, but they’re less effective against steel core “penetrator” rounds such as the M855 Green Tip.

We all want products that are the clear “best at everything” choice — it would make decision-making a lot simpler. But reality is full of tradeoffs. Just as you’d be skeptical of a snake-oil salesman peddling a “cure-all” elixir, you should be equally cautious when someone claims that one type of armor is the ultimate solution, or when they dismiss another type outright. Such claims may be influenced by other motives.

The truth is that each type of armor has a place in your loadout. Just as you may own different firearms for different scenarios, you should consider multiple armor types for different threats. To make this choice easier, we’ve developed a Body Armor Product Matrix that organizes our lineup into four intuitive categories:

S Series – Soft Armor

Constructed with aramid fabrics, our soft armor panels are lightweight, thin, and flexible — ideal for daily concealed wear.

P Series – Polyethylene Plates

Made from Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE), these plates are extremely light, effective against high-velocity rounds like the M193, and they float — making them a strong choice for maritime operations.

A Series – Alloy Plates

Engineered from steel or titanium, alloy plates can stop dozens of armor-piercing rounds without failing and with minimal backface deformation. They excel in close-quarters combat where multiple hits are possible.

C Series – Ceramic Plates

For maximum stopping power against the most powerful threats, such as the .30-06 M2 AP, ceramic plates are the go-to option.

In 2012, we began our mission to glorify God by equipping free men with Tools of Liberty to resist tyranny — making quality body armor accessible to American citizens. At the time, most armor was expensive and restricted to law enforcement and military use. We changed that, pioneering the consumer market with our $65 steel plate, which we’re proud to still offer at the same price today.

In 2022, we’re continuing that mission by removing jargon and giving you analytical tools to identify the armor that best fits your needs. While we began with steel plates, we now manufacture all four armor types in our Phoenix, Arizona facility, allowing us to equip you with the physical Tools of Liberty for any situation.

To learn more about each armor type, visit our Knowledge Base for in-depth explanations of the pros and cons of each. We update it monthly to also provide the mental Tools of Liberty — knowledge to resist tyranny. Subscribe to our email list to be notified when new content is added.