Have you considered having it unzip or heavy duty Velcro, that allows you to carry two plates? You could build into the interior so it's not at all visable, normally, but to allows a person to flip it over their heads and it falls down with two shoulders straps to give you front and back plate coverage. When this system would be deployed, your level of situational awareness may not be at it highest. If your riding that all day long, your going to burn out. So, being able to have both front and rear plate coverage would be ideal as the threats could be all around you. Maybe not directly what has caught your attention. Someone on overwatch at your rear or up and at your rear, so when you exit a given position headed towards something that has alarmed you enough to deoloy, alone, it would be samrt to anticipate tunnel vision or what's in front, outside on a street, or anywhere that you may have been sitting perhaps a bit concealed or your back to a wall. But the moment you get up and start forward, you back is exposed as anyone, even operators, could be tunnel visioned. Your not with a team perhaps, and your rear is perhaps your most vulnerable as you may or may not have a gun pointed forward. So having it the unfold along the short axis, so each of the long axis has a plate and you just basically duck your head under and you wearing a two sided vest. This, for me, would be ideal if your main concern is handgun fire, light plates will be negligible with the new high performance layered composite material plates. The strap that you normal use to carry then becomes one that wrap around to keep it tightly in place. Nothing dangling or off center interfering with your moments in any way. It would also help you keep your balance and center of gravity in check by having It "feel" as near to a normal carrier as possible. Your front vitals and spine both covered with a little well thought out design changes. In any of these areas you always have to be careful for secondary IEDs, so again shrapnel. Being able to carry a system and "blend in" would be very helpful. Vary your color chocies and dump the logo but keep the velcro fuzz for those who need to identify a side or agency.
