In the current status of the world, many people may be finally looking in the direction of a different kind of defensive measure than most typically think of. When most people think of self defense they thing of the offensive side of it. Your guns, knives, or other weapons for defending yourself. But something overlooked (for a variety of reasons) is something that is, for the most part, truly defensive. A plate carrier and the plates to go along with it can be an integral part of your defensive capabilities. Even if you aren’t looking to truly kit up, simply having the capacity to put on something that will spare your vitals from rifle fire is a good thing to have.

This brings us to the topic of today’s article. A cheaper, covert option in the plate carrier market. The Slickster has a number of applications and ideal uses and comes in at right around $159. However you should keep in mind that it is a covert carrier. Don’t turn this into something it’s not. I have adapted mine past the point of being a covert carrier, but that doesn’t mean that’s what the intended purpose is.

Now, onto the basic features. It comes standard with an elastic cummerbund with 4 slots on either side. These are sized perfectly to fit any standard AR-15 5.56 mag. They are also ideal for fitting a tourniquet, a small radio (eg. Baofeng UV-5R), or chem lights. They will not fit AK mags. This is very nice because it means that out of the box this carrier is capable of hosting 8 AR mags totaling 240 rounds of ammo (or 320 rounds if you use a 40 rounder). Many people do run it just like this. You can toss some mags and plates in and run.

However, just because you can run it as is, doesn’t mean you have to. Ferro offers a long list of accessories that can easily be added directly to your Slickster. One popular upgrade is the Turnover Triple 5.56 coming in at only $23.49. This allows you to hold an additional 3 5.56 mags on your chest under your cummerbund. There are also options for 7.62×51 mags, and pistol mags. There are options for higher quality mag retention pouches too, such as the KTS Kwik Triple Shingle which features Haley Strategic magazine retention inserts with a click in design, which is much nicer than standard elastic retention. But your price point there is $75.

Any of these shingles can be inserted into the Molle Kangaroo Front Flap, which allows for you to attach anything with molle/PALS webbing to the front of your carrier. Alternatively you can use a simple Molle Front Flap which will give you Molle but will not allow you to use any of the aforementioned mag carriers.

Another very popular upgrade for many carriers is some form of dangler. There are offerings from Haley Strategic, Shaw Concepts, Spiritus Systems, among many others, but I personally decided to go with the Dangler from Ferro. They offer the Dangler and the Mini Dangler. The Dangler features elastic straps on the inside which are the correct size for a standard pistol mag and velcro on the other side to allow the attachment of a wide variety of things. Another popular feature is the elastic loop on the bottom which is the perfect size to add another tourniquet to your kit. I use mine as an IFAK, but the uses are endless.

Next up is the back. Standard is a basic panel which has velcro on the top and bottom for attaching morale or ID patches and for attaching the cummerbund. However, Ferro offers a replacement back panel which features Molle webbing. This can be used for, well, anything. I used mine to attach this Haley Strategic Flatpack in M81 Woodland. Ferro also makes the ADAPT back panel series which uses zippers to allow quick swap of a variety of back panels for whatever your mission requires.

The final thing I’m going to cover here is the chest area. Ferro currently makes two offerings that make use of the ADAPT chest setup. The admin panel and the molle panel. I opted for the ADAPT admin panel. It offers an additional storage area for any items you may want easy access to with some loops on the inside, along with two on the exterior for chem lights, sharpies, or slim jims.

Conclusion

I love my slickster. I’ve done a little more work to it than I probably should’ve, but it fits my needs without needing to purchase a new carrier. The options are limitless, as long as your budget is too. A lot of the upgrades are pricey. But out of the box you have a carrier that is sufficient for most scenarios the average person would need. Because of the price of making it so you can use every option I’m gonna have to rate it 7/10. I love it, and for what it is it’s fantastic. But to add much onto it you’re gonna be getting much higher in the price range than you probably should.