a lot of people will have nothing but shotgun, pistol, pistol rd carbine, .22, etc, and such armor stops such rds. be sure to have a groin protector too, cause the vest leaves your guts exposed. Decent protection runs about $500, weighs about 4 lbs. Serves to help keep you warm in cold weather, too. Yeah, it's a bit hot in the summer, but you should be mostly hiding in daylight, so not much heat generated by movement, and you will be in the shade, and with such protection, you could risk not wearing the armor under such conditions, too. such armor is worth a LOT more than any advantages 308 offers over 223, for instance.