The Marines bought a bunch of Interceptor vests that were rejected for failing to meet specs, in the area of failing to stop pistol rounds.
Buying on the secondhand market you have two choices if you wish to avoid buying gear the Marines rejected.
One, pull all the lot numbers of the rejected Interceptor vests from the Internet and check any prospective purchases against the rejected list. I do not remember the exact number of rejected vests, but if memory serves it was at least 100,000, spanning several lot numbers.
Two, purchase only vests stamped "Pathfinder", in red ink, on the label. These are Army vests. The problem with the Marines rejecting vests were resolved prior to the Army purchasing the Interceptors, so any Army surplus vests marked "Pathfinder" ought to be good to go.
Buying on the secondhand market you have two choices if you wish to avoid buying gear the Marines rejected.
One, pull all the lot numbers of the rejected Interceptor vests from the Internet and check any prospective purchases against the rejected list. I do not remember the exact number of rejected vests, but if memory serves it was at least 100,000, spanning several lot numbers.
Two, purchase only vests stamped "Pathfinder", in red ink, on the label. These are Army vests. The problem with the Marines rejecting vests were resolved prior to the Army purchasing the Interceptors, so any Army surplus vests marked "Pathfinder" ought to be good to go.