SHOT Show is always a whirlwind of meetings and rushing from vendor to vendor – there’s never enough time to see everything or everyone you wish. However, we made a special point of making our way to the Phalanx/DKX Armor booth where friends Evan and Ganya Anderson (two of our most favorite people on the planet) were showing off their great line of products.

Above picture, L to R: Tommy Teach, Evan Anderson, Frank Sharpe, and Ganya Anderson, SHOT 2015.

DKX produces a ridiculously lightweight, military-grade Level III (NIJ Standard 0101.06) stand-alone plate. Available in the standard 10″ x 12″ and 11″ x 14″ versions, with your choice of double curve (rectangle, back/front plate) or “shooters cut” (angled corners, front plate.)

DKX Plates
Made of Dyneema, the 10″ x 12″ plates weigh in at 2.9 lbs each, and are reported to stop a .308 rifle round from point blank. (However, I’m not interested in personally testing that.) Unlike ceramic plates, they withstand not only one round, but multiple rounds. And as an added bonus, they float!

Along with plate and soft body armor, Phalanx was displaying their Emergency Body Armor, an active shooter protection system designed for school, workplace, and home applications. The EBA is a single armor panel with two Velcro equipped tabs that attach behind the neck. A belt strap hooks around the waist, leaving the whole affair looking much like a large lobster bib covering the front of the torso. This is an idea whose time has (sadly) come, and, when integrated with armed security, offers a practical solution to a real-world problem. Highly recommended – get a copy for every family member today!

As with all armor, DKX is not cheap. But that raises the question: how much is your life worth? Many of the Fortress Staff Instructors own DKX armor, and we trust our lives to it.

Another interesting product at the Phalanx booth was the Stealth Operator; A one-size-fits-all holster that works with all common pistols from S&W Shield to the Beretta 92F. This isn’t a nylon “Uncle Mike’s” style – this is a light, polymer holster that provides a positive lock on the trigger guard of the pistol. I’m not sure I’d recommend it for daily carry, but for Instructors this looks like the answer to a prayer. Far too often we have students arrive at the range with improper equipment, or they suffer equipment failures during a course. The will give us a cheap alternative to help them finish the class without having to spend a fortune on holsters and truck them around with us. Retail is $39.95, so we’ll be securing a few copies for T&E immediately and present a future write-up on our findings.

Along with the Andersons’, friend Clyde Caceres is involved with DKX. With that team at the helm it’s no wonder they are producing such quality products. If you need armor, and we all do, DKX is hard to beat!

-Frank

Contact:

For DKX armor:
Steve Camp
Ravelin Group, LLC
426 S. Westgate, Suite S-1
Addison, IL 60101
630-834-4423
Ravelingroup.com

Phalanx
phalanxsystems.com