(4E) Are Defenses worth it?

[Colmarr]

No, you can. You can't use a shield and, say, bracers, at the same time, since they're both Arm slot items.

I'm not sure this is correct.

You certainly can't gain the benefits of magic bracers and a magic shield (because they both take up the arm magic slot), but I don't recall reading anything that prohibits you from wearing magic bracers and a normal shield.*

In fact, it would seem silly to me to deny a PC a shield bonus to AC and Reflex because they want a property/power from bracers. It's not like the bracers provide an AC or Reflex bonus.

*By analogy, would anyone really argue that a PC can't wield two shields (one on each arm) because they're both arm slot items? (Note I'm not suggesting that the PC can get the bonus for both, simply that it's possible to do it).