Words and pics: Rich Norman

Some time ago, Milsimminded shared an idea with me about making some training plates. Needless to say I kept it quiet, because what he was proposing seemed so obvious yet revolutionary at the same time – and it’s bound to inspire a new paradigm in DIY training plate design.

Over the months I watched the initiative take shape. Materials were tested, countless ideas were prototyped, noxious chemicals were ingested (and not in a good way) until finally – finally! – he was ready to go live with his product.

Training plates?

Yes – but multi-curve ones hand made in the EU.

Milsimminded’s plates come in various weights and finishes, and are specced as standard in size medium – in a SAPI shape. You can contact him on IG to discuss requirements and price – they are made to order.

I already have some decent weighted training plates from Trident Gear Ltd (1kg each ) so these light weight ones (0.5kg each) fill a niche that was previously occupied by foam plates.

The first thing I noticed about Milsimminded’s plates is that while in reality it’s very obvious that they are curved in two directions, taking a picture which adequately conveys the shape is maddening. Hopefully these pics will suffice:

The plates are rigid, so they keep their shape, and I’m not even going to try to guess what they are made of. That’s probably a trade secret so I’m not going to ask, either.

The edges are nicely bevelled and they go into my AVS plate bags (which are relatively roomy) snag-free; there’s plenty of room for soft backers, too.

However, because these plates are made to order you can ask for them to be thicker – although that would increase the weight from 0.5kg each, which is perfect for me.

It’s interesting just how much more comfortable these plates are compared to flat ones, simply by being anatomically correct. They are pre-conformed to thorax and abdomen.

For the sake of full disclosure, Milsimmimded is a close personal friend and he absolutely refused to let me pay for the plates I’ve been trying out.

That being said I’m really impressed and my friends are normally the first to find out if I’m not impressed.

Like most Brits, I’m more polite to strangers 🙂