In an example, a kit for assembling a scalable body armor for a wearer's body includes hard ballistic plates, soft ballistic panels, a plate carrier including a front plate carrier and a rear plate carrier connected by shoulder straps and having front and rear plate carrier pockets for receiving the hard ballistic plates, a front panel carrier having a front outward facing side joinable to an inward facing side of the front plate carrier by contact and a front panel carrier pocket to receive one of the soft ballistic panels, and a rear panel carrier having a rear outward facing side joinable to an inward facing side of the rear plate carrier by contact and a rear panel carrier pocket to receive another one of the soft ballistic panels.