Premier Body Armor Everyday Armor T-Shirt: Now With Side Plates

The arms race between weapons and protection is one that dates back to around the time fire was invented. While IIIA panels might not be the most interesting evolution in that tug-of-war, the size, comfort, and concealability of modern armor are wildly impressive. 

Premier Body Armor has just released its latest version of the popular Everyday Armory T-Shirt. Since I’m a sucker for anything new and interesting, I got to give one a proper test.

THE WHAT

Short and sweet, the Everyday Armor T-Shirt is exactly what the name sounds like it is. A shirt with armor that you can wear every day, if you so choose. Designed to be the ultimate in low-profile soft armor, the Everyday T-Shirt is a compression shirt with special pockets to house level IIIA soft armor. 

Covering the front and rear are a pair of 7.75” x 12.75” panels, and new to the 360 version of the shirt are two Level IIIA 6” x 6” side panels. All of this comes in at about 2.5 pounds combined. 

The shirt is 87% polyester, 13% elastane, moisture-wicking, antimicrobial, and shockingly — really comfortable to wear. Even while being blasted by the hellish desert sun of Southern Arizona, this shirt is genuinely comfortable and breathes wonderfully. More on that later.

Machine-washable, hang to dry, the Everyday Armor T-Shirt is long enough to be easily tucked into your pants and won’t pull out from normal movement. Not only does the shirt provide the framework for holding the ballistic panels, but it’s also just a good undershirt.

THE WHY

If you’re reading this site, there is a pretty good chance you’re aware of your own mortality and probably choose to carry a CCW at least some of the time. A smaller percentage of you also carry an EDC IFAK, but I’m willing to bet only a fraction of you wear armor very often unless you’re on duty of some kind.

The Everyday Armor T-Shirt is no different than a CCW or EDC IFAK, it’s a tool that might save your life. Whether it’s the right tool depends more on you than anything else.

From what Premier Armor has told me, the Everyday T-Shirt is popular with delivery drivers, security guards, and more. To me, that makes a lot of sense. 

A long time ago, I worked as a process server, and this shirt definitely would have been something I would have worn if it existed back then. My brother used to deliver for UPS, my best friend in high school delivered pizzas, and was actually shot at while delivering pies.

One other application for this shirt is serving as the soft panels for ICW (In Conjunction With) hard plates. If you’re unfamiliar, there are many hard plates on the market that are rated to a certain level on their own, but if combined with soft armor, the rating can be raised. This is typically due to back face deformation and the soft armor backing being enough to absorb the energy transferred from the BFD.

For example, the RMA Armament ESRT Ultra-Thin plates I keep in my Agilite Sub-Zero low-profile carrier are rated for up-to M855A1 on their own. But ICW Level IIIA soft panels, it becomes rated for multi-hit 7.62×51 M80.

I would still rather not get shot at all, but it’s good to know.

ON THE RANGE

Not that long ago, my friend and fellow web-editor Adam Borisenko reviewed the standard Everyday Armor T-Shirt over on GunDigest.com, but he went a step further than I did and actually shot his with a range of calibers. Testing went flawlessly, and the Premier Body Armor panels passed with flying colors.

Since the 360 version of the shirt is really the same thing but with two extra pockets and two extra panels, I don’t think much will be gained from me repeating that testing. If you’re interested in his review, I recommend it.

My focus isn’t on ballistic testing but instead on comfort and ease of use. As such, I did the only reasonable thing, and I wore the shirt with IIIA panels to a PCSL match. High 80s in Southern Arizona in May isn’t the hottest weather, but combine it with some running and gunning, and anything uncomfortable quickly reveals itself. 

The shirt is awesome. It’s actually one of the most comfortable shirts I’ve ever worn. Soft armor panels don’t enhance that comfort, obviously, but even with having 4 panels on during the match — it really didn’t hinder me. Other than the increased heat, I didn’t really notice I was wearing them since I was already loaded down with a full gun belt.

Not wearing a shirt with armor in it is more comfortable, but not wearing a CCW or having an IFAK in my pocket is also more comfortable. For that matter, so is not wearing a seat belt. Sometimes, sacrificing some comfort is the only option if you want to be fully prepared. 

EVERYDAY? REALLY?

If you want to wear this day after day, I would strongly, hugely recommend you get at the very least more than one shirt. While the antimicrobial properties of the shirt are pretty impressive, nothing can last forever before needing to be washed. 

The good news is that the shirt is only $60 for the 360 version and $55 for the standard version. Not cheap, but definitely affordable enough that you can get 3 or 4 and wash them mid work week.

A complete package Everyday Armor T-Shirt 360 with all 4 Level IIIA panels runs $380. Again, not cheap, but also not unaffordable.

If you can swing a second set of panels, it will help with not having to switch over all the panels every day, but that starts to stack up the price.

DO YOU NEED THE 360?

Personally, I’m a little torn on the usefulness of the 360 version. 6” x 6” plates are a pretty standard size, but I would have liked to see Premier do something a little larger or at least offer options for larger. Larger means a little more weight and a little less comfort, but the added coverage, for example, a Uber/Lyft driver, would have been nice to see.

The added cost of the side panels also starts to bloat the price. $90 for a set of side plates Vs. using that money to mostly pay for a second set of front/rear plates or almost two shirts seems like a better application of dollars.

I see the side panels as an option, but not a requirement. But you should decide for yourself.

LOOSE ROUNDS

The Premier Body Armor Everyday Armor T-Shirt has impressed me a lot more than I was expecting. Not only is the system truly comfortable in a way that I really didn’t think possible for soft armor, but the ease of use and quality of material are outstanding, especially considering the price.

While I doubt I will start wearing it every single day for my normal life, I definitely would if my situation were different. 

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