Ballistic Vest Carrier Cover System with Pouches for Hard Armor Panels

A cover for a ballistic vest carrier, the carrier including a front armor panel in a front portion of the carrier, a rear armor panel in a rear portion of the carrier, attachable/detachable waist straps for removably attaching the front portion of the carrier to the rear portion of the carrier at the waist of a wearer, and attachable/detachable shoulder straps for removably attaching the front portion of the carrier to the rear portion of the carrier at the shoulders of the wearer, the cover comprising:

• (a) a mantle extending from a front waist of the mantle through shoulders of the mantle to a rear waist of the mantle and having a neck opening, a right side, and a left side, the mantle having an outer fabric layer and a liner, the liner being attached to the outer fabric layer to form a front pocket and a rear pocket between the outer fabric layer and the liner, the front pocket being accessible through a right front armor opening on the right side of the mantle and through a left front armor opening on the left side of the mantle, the rear pocket being accessible through a right rear armor opening on the right side of the mantle and through a left rear armor opening on the left side of the mantle;
• (b) a front pouch inside the front pocket, the front pouch being formed by a single sheet attached to the outer fabric layer within the front pocket, the front pouch being accessible through a vertical front pouch opening in the outer fabric layer that is closable by an openable front fastener, the front pouch being adapted to receive a hard armor panel through the front pouch opening;
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• (c) a rear pouch inside the rear pocket, the rear pouch being accessible through a rear pouch opening in the outer fabric layer, the rear pouch being adapted to receive a hard armor panel through the rear pouch opening;
• (d) whereby the front armor portion of the carrier is inserted into the front pocket, the rear armor portion of the carrier is inserted into the rear pocket, and the front portion of the carrier is attached to the rear portion of the carrier by the waist straps through the armor openings and by the shoulder straps.