AR500

AR500, now Armored Republic, is a company based in Arizona, devoted to budget armour plating that is affordable, reliable, and sturdy.

Or so they'd like you to believe. Unfortunately, in recent years a rather large and burgeoning amount of criticism against them has arisen due to a combination of uncertified armour, unreliable materials, and dishonest marketing.

History
In the far off year 2012, AR500 was first set upon the web. At first, they weren't anything special. Using the Wayback Machine, their first web cap was relatively underwhelming. A few images, and a pitch. Quickly however, their website improved, with a proper sidebar and a much more professional looking setup. Even in 2012, they offered more than just armor, albeit none of those were offered nowadays, unsurprisingly... In those days, the plates lacked any sort of fragmentation protection, and likely when struck would chew into carriers, you, and even your buddies if you were unfortunate enough.

By 2015, they had begun rolling out truck bed liner onto their uncertified steel, picked up some ceramic plate options, and begun offering soft armour.

And now, the present day. 2020. AR500 has sold themselves as patriots and Christians. They've forsaken almost all of their ceramic options, but still keep them on their NIJ CPL, to preserve the illusion of credibility. A juggernaut of advertisements for their equipment marches across any armor related search. They churn out propaganda to make themselves look credible, even as people denounce them.

Plate Selection
AR500 manufactures or resells numerous models. Their steel lineup consists of a IIIA, III, and III+ range. The steel IIIA is only rated for pistol threats, the III steel is only rated for 7.62x51mm NATO M80 and 5.56x45mm NATO M855, and the III+ is rated for those plus M193 at a limited velocity. However, M193 coming right out the gate will frequently defeat the III+ steel.

Furthermore, they also manufacture very heavy 1/2" thick "training" plates out of MIL-DTL-46100A steel. These are fully ballistic, despite their title, and are thicker than the 3/8" III+.

For non-steel options, AR500 also sells a polyethylene III - lightweight, but vulnerable to M855, as well as a Level IV ceramic - which is typically an RMA, TenCate, or Hesco model.

Soft Armour

 * NIJ Classification 2
 * 10x12" Rimelig


 * NIJ Classification 3A
 * 6x8" Rimelig Side Plate Square
 * 10x12" Rimelig
 * 11x14" Rimelig
 * 6x8" Hybrid Side Plate Square
 * 10x12" Hybrid
 * 11x12" Hybrid
 * 11x15" Rimelig Backpack
 * 11x15" Hybrid Backpack

Hard Armour

 * NIJ Classification 3A
 * 10x12" Lightweight


 * NIJ Classification 3
 * 6x8" Side Plate Square
 * 10x12" Adv. Shooter's Cut (ASC)
 * 9.5x13" Backpack
 * 11x14" ASC