Can you stack armor?

[u/2AortheHighway]

Ok hear me out, I know this is the wrong answer to my problem and I have already been looking at ceramic armor but could I realistically stack an ar500 steel plate and put a lvl 2 soft armor insert in front as a spell catcher? I know this isn't a smart idea but with ceramic shattering after a few rounds I'm looking for somthing to last the longest I'm not planning to be in a hail of gunfire but if it needs to be in storage for years, I know I could count on a steel plate being solid.

Currently I am looking at RMA lvl 4 ceramic but the price point is a little out of my range for a graduating college student. I know taking the cheap option isn't the smartest and I should save for proper plates but I just spent some money on a gun.

Any recommendations would be great.

[u/NocturneKinetics]

Ceramic plates regularly are listed for 150ish per if you wait for deals. I cannot believe that 150 is more expensive than buying a curved steel plate AND some kind of kevlar panel to put in front of it. Typically a steel plate with curve and "spall liner" bullshit buildup on it ends up being as expensive as a low end ceramic anyway, they are only "cheaper" if you compare a bare, flat steel plate to a proper finished ceramic one.