Need recommendations on body armor/ballistic plates

Hi everyone! This has been on my to do list for a while, but as always other priorities arose and it was put on hold and now it's probably a bad time to shop for this stuff..

Ideally I would like protection from common rifle rounds, (up to 5.56, 308 level) but not sure if it's going to be cheap or light enough without hindering mobility too much. I checked some offerings at a couple of fun shows before everything got shut down and liked HDPE plates due to their lightness and price generally, but they do have limitations as I understand, especially defeating steel core projectiles. Ceramics are the best from what I gathered, but fragile - have trouble staying together after a few hits and quite expensive. Steel - generally good, but heavy.

All I have now is a US army fragmentation vest that I snatched at a gun show for a hundred bucks or less about 15 years ago. I tried it the other day first time in years and it feels tight now - getting fatter I guess. Plus it's somewhat low on the threat protection level. I heard rumors that it *may* stop things up to nine short, but it was just a hearsay at best. Sorry for a long rant and thanks for your input in advance.

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Need recommendations on body armor/ballistic plates