5.11 Tactical QR Plate Carrier In-Depth Review

5.11 Tactical is one of the most well-known tactical gear companies in the world. Their products are made with good quality materials and are very budget-friendly.

The 5.11 High-Performance QR Plate Carrier is a minimalist carrier that uses extremely lightweight materials with very good durability. It has 2 sizes depending on the user and body armor dimensions.

Full Disclosure

5.11 Tactical did provide me with their High-Performance QR Plate Carrier for this review. I’m also an affiliate with 5.11 Tactical which means I make a small commission on purchases made using the links I provide. That being said, I’m still going to give you my honest opinion.

Price

At the time of this article, the 5.11 QR Plate Carrier costs about $220. They do have sales throughout the year though, so keep an eye out for those.

Check out 5.11 Tactical for the latest pricing.

If you’re in Canada, 5.11 Tactical doesn’t ship to Canada from their website, but there are a ton of dealers throughout the country.

First Impression

At first I thought the 5.11 Tactical QR Plate Carrier looked awesome. From the pictures on their website, it looked to be a well-built plate carrier.

The velcro is very strong on the panels and shoulder straps.

Initially the shoulder straps appeared to be cheap and I was worried they would rip off, but it’s proven to be a very strong and durable material.

I do like the minimalist design, too.

Quality & Workmanship

Very well done on the stitching and laser-cut material!

The durability of this carrier is exceptional. Nothing is coming apart, and I’ve given this thing some good

Cummerbund

There weren’t any loose threads or stitching coming apart. Also, I was pretty rough on the laser-cut webbing, purposely to see how it could hold up, and it did.

The cummerbund is attached to the back of the QR Plate Carrier using hook and loop velcro. It’s a very simple design, but I have some issues with it.

Depending on what size plates you use, or the size of your torso, you can either get the S/M or the L/XL plate carrier.

I think that 5.11 Tactical should allow customers to select the size of plate carrier, and then also select the size of cummerbund.

I’ve seen others say in the Review Section on 5.11 Tactical’s website that the L/XL carrier fit them perfectly, but they didn’t really have much more room to make the cummerbund tighter. Having the option to select which cummerbund to have would be optimal.

Quick-Release System

The quick-release system on the 5.11 Tactical QR Plate Carrier could use some improvements in my opinion.

It can only be attached by sliding the quick-release buckle from the top. In order to remove the buckle, you have to press in the tab and slide up the buckle. With a bunch of kit on and in a high-stress environment, this is almost impossible to do with one hand or very quickly at all.

Other quick-release systems utilize a pull string which can be grabbed quickly with on hand, pulled outward and down, which immediately removes the cummerbund from the front panel.

The best example of a quick-release system that I have seen is one made by Milburn Mountain Defense with their Altitude Plate Carrier. The MMD Altitude system also uses the slide buckle, but it can be inserted from the bottom or the top, and it uses the paracord with heatshrink tubing.

Shoulder Straps

The shoulder straps on the 5.11 QR plate carrier are unique.

It’s essentially two straps overlapping with Velcro between them and a padded material wrapped around.

First, this is very tricky to adjust because the padded material has to be scrunched up out of the way. This isn’t the easiest thing to do.

Once the straps are adjusted, and the padded material is back in place, you may have some extra material overhanging and getting in the way.

It is a very simplistic design and doesn’t require hardware like buckles, but if one of the straps rips or tears at all, then the whole carrier system has to be replaced. Oppose to having a dedicated strap separate from the front and back panels that can be replaced on its own if damaged.

In the end, the shoulder straps are comfortable and durable, but just like many other aspects of the 5.11 QR plate carrier, it’s just tedious to adjust.

Hard Armor Plate Sizing

The S/M QR plate carrier by 5.11 said it could take Small and Medium SAPI/ESAPI hard armour plates, as well as 10×12″ hard armour plates which is what I have.

When I tried to insert the 10×12″ hard armour plates in the front and back panels it was very difficult.

If 5.11 Tactical made the S/M QR plate carrier a half inch to an inch wider, then I’m sure I could have inserted the 10×12″ plates much easier.

Triple Magazine Pouch

I’m a really big fan of the 5.11 Triple Magazine Pouch. It’s designed to fit AR15 mags, but takes my Magpul AK mags just fine.

They keep the magazines very snug in the open position, so there’s no worry about them falling out.

If you do want your magazines more secure, there’s a flap which can go over your mags and velcros to the front. This would only work with AR15 magazines though.

I will say that attaching the pouches to the front panel is a bit of a hassle. The thin webbing isn’t spaced the same as the laser cut material on the carrier, so I had to keep checking to make sure it was lined up.

Admin Pouch

The Admin Pouch is awesome, and has a ton of storage available. Inside are pen slots and pockets for arranging and organizing any documents you need to keep secured.

How Does The 5.11 QR Plate Carrier Feel?

The 5.11 QR Plate Carrier feels really good, to be honest.

Although I didn’t like how the accessories were attached, or how difficult the plates were to get into the front and back panel, the carrier itself does feel comfortable to wear.

The inner padding is nice and adds a good amount of cushion to the body, and the cummerbund is snug.

Would I recommend buying the QR Plate Carrier?

Yes, I would recommend buying the High-Performance QR Plate Carrier from 5.11, but they could also make some improvements.

The Quick-Release system isn’t very quick or user-friendly. It almost requires two hands to remove, and only having it slide upwards to remove or secure downwards isn’t good. It should have the ability to be removed or attached in both directions.

The S/M size needs to be about an inch wider to allow for the commonly used 10×12″ hard armour plates to be inserted more easily. I was able to get them in, but it was extremely difficult.

The webbing on the magazine and admin pouch needs to change to the same spacing as the laser-cut slots. This would make it much easier to attach, as I had to constantly look to see if it was lined up.

Final Thoughts

The 5.11 High-Performance QR Plate Carrier isn’t a terrible carrier at all, but it needs some changes.

It was comfortable to wear, but if you ever had to adjust something or swap out a pouch, then it can be easy to get frustrated, as I did at times. It’s also not the easiest Quick-Release carrier to get off in a hurry.

I hope this review has been helpful to you. I know 5.11 Tactical is a good brand for folks on a budget. I’m grateful for them providing this carrier system to me to try out and provide my honest feedback.