My "after the fist troop to-do list"

[cm325i]

Well, I've had my first troop and have a new list of modifications to make (besides the shoulder bridges as discussed in my EIB thread). Armor bites=0

 

- different padding inside the helmet, what I have in there was smashing my face to the inside of the helmet Ordered pad set from Amazon, arrived and installed

- new fan set-up. The hand-me-downs weren't doing it and the set up is way too bulky new fan system build and installed

- trim more from the tops of the thighs. the height is still a bit of an issue for walking thighs trimmed down

- suspenders for the thigh garter. about an hour into it, the thighs were pulling the belt down

- baclava to hold the mic in place over my ear

- gotta get some fabric gloves. the rubber ones were so hot! got some better gloves (info about them below)

- attach the ABS hand guards to the new gloves. the elastic around the hands wasn't keeping them on too well.

- potentially look into a cheaper toy blaster that the kids can hold for pics. I was really reluctant to hand over my $100+ built blaster to the kids ordered the Rubies blaster, completely jacked up the paint job and its an ugly piece of junk now. good thing it was only $12. I can clean it off and repaint, just don't have the patience for that right now.

- I found myself holding onto the ammo belt to keep pulling all the lower torso armor up. not sure how to address that yet. But it looked cool in the photos!

- I had some issues w the iComm set up. I could push to talk and get the little noises every time, but rarely did the system pick up me talking. after several failed attempts, I just went silent.

 

lastly, I had a difficult time getting the blaster into and out of the holster. Fortunately my GF/handler/photographer was around to help out. Maybe the Toy blaster will be easier to use

 

Overall it was an amazing experience! I'm not sure who was more excited to see us.... the kids, the grown men, or the ladies ;-) Apparently I missed a kid who put out his hand for a high 5 and I didn't see. I felt bad but my handler got him over for some photos.

Edited January 5, 2015 by cm325i

[DarthDadio[TK]]

- Suspender are a must from what I could tell while sizing my thighs.

- Not sure about balaclava.  It made it harder to get my helmet on/off and sometimes twisted over my eye.

- I just switched to the fabric gloves and I liked them a lot better

 

Good luck with your modifications.

[Darth Aloha[Admin]]

Holstering is a challenge for sure. I have a very rigid holster which helps. (Thanks Gazmosis!)

 

I've found the iComm PTT to almost never work. I VOX every time.

 

I crank my thigh garters pretty tight or else they do the same thing. It's girdly.

 

I highly suggest Echo's fan setup. Totally worth it.

 

Search for tactical helmet padding on Amazon. I find various pads places in the bucket more comfy than any other padding.

 

Rubies has an orange toy blaster that, if spray painted black, will serve as a disposal blaster. Or buy a hyperfirm which can be happily tossed around. I also tell kids that it's my toy and I don't like sharing. "Mine!"

 

And he's the man child factor is often very high. Understandably so.

 

-Eric

 

 

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[starsaber25[Admin]]

Hey Clint.  For your blaster maybe you could look into this Rubies blaster that was put out during halloween.  I used it instead of my DVH because i didnt want to break anything.  It worked well but it just doesnt make noises.  Unless you fix your icomm and yell pew!  Pew!  Pew Pew Pew!!!

 

Heres before:

 

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Edited January 13, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2021

[cm325i]

great feedback as always. Off to find these new things!

[aliens8us]

I have the icomm and VOX as well. The icomm is attached to my fan system using velcro. I have the headset attached to my helmet liner and the microphone sits on a sock behind the 'vocoder' with white duct tape holding it down. The microphone is perfectly in front of my mouth.

[Daetrin[Admin]]

"I found myself holding onto the ammo belt to keep pulling all the lower torso armor up. not sure how to address that yet. But it looked cool in the photos!"

 

How about using straps over your shoulders, like suspenders? Has worked for me in the past.

[cm325i]

"I found myself holding onto the ammo belt to keep pulling all the lower torso armor up. not sure how to address that yet. But it looked cool in the photos!"

 

How about using straps over your shoulders, like suspenders? Has worked for me in the past.

 

I have thought about this. I'm trying to think of a way to use one set of suspenders to hold up both the lower torso parts as well as the thigh garter belt.... Unless I just loose the thigh belt and glue those straps under the ab/cod? Then the suspenders would hold it all up.

[Daetrin[Admin]]

There is no one best way.  On one suit I strapped my thighs to my ab plate, and my ab plate was connected to the back plate with suspenders.  On the current one, the thighs are connecting to a garter.  I still do cross-over shoulder straps from chest-ab/back.

[TK 2759[501st]]

As far as gloves go, not sure what others are using, but I found mechanic gloves purchased at Home Depot work well. Get the ones that are mostly black and paint or use marker over logo.

[Tolo[TK]]

For gloves, I use cheap cotton gloves that I get on e-bay, 8$ for a dozen pairs. I just throw them away after each troop.

 

 

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[TriumphTrooper8[501st]]

I had some of the issues you had after my first troop. The left leg slipped down and my thigh was clicking on the sniper knee pad. I also had issues with the mic on the iComm. I had to put it right up against my mouth but other than that it worked well. I wonder if like other mics there is a certain position (usually a white line) that it needs to be in? The helmet was fine nothing moved around. My left bicep kept coming out of the shoulder bell. I will strap that in place. What pads did you order from Amazon? Can you pm me with that info?

[SWAMPTHING[TK]]

one way to fix the sniper plate sliding into the thigh, was very simple... there was too much space in the bottom of the thighs and this was the problem. I simply used a set of dollarstore black rubber knee pads, cut off the curved top and glued one into each of the back of the bottom of thighs, completely fixed the problem.

 

my thighs were initially strapped to my lower armor but I changed it to a belt system and this took trial and error, I used a 2 inch wide webbing for both the straps and the belt. at first I used one snap each and this just did not cut, so I switched to three snaps and it worked just fine, no more tugging down... I just had to play around with where the velcro'd straps sat in the thighs, the belt I initially connected it with two snaps but when I lost weight I had a problem so I was able to find the snap in connectors from an old suite case that fits and I was good to go.

 

for my lower armor I use two stretch straps but I found my armor was slightly falling down, so I tried crossing them instead of straight up and it worked like a charm. 

 

I have very little padding in my 'old'  helmet, just enough to stop the bobble head effect, two strips, one vertical and one horizontal. my old PC fans trimmed my mustache and cut my lip so I exchanged them for squirrel fans, I cut off the mounting brackets on each so they sit better up against the well of the aerators, the battery packs sit well in the tube areas of the helmet. I also had a problem with the left side of the lens area mashing into my eye, so I thought about it and I remembered someone saying to be careful with hot glue, it will warp the plastic, so I used a hot glue gun under the lens where it was causing me problems, poured in hot glue and let it harden, then pealed it out, had to do that three more times until it was warped out enough not to rub against me and you can hardly tell from looking at my helmet. I tried using an audio system in my bucket but, again no room and the squawking.... you can hear me pretty good without so I sold it off.... my new helmet is a bit bigger so I will look at more padding. but the set up will be the same, the only thing is the area I had problems with in the last one is for some strange reason is already warped out, so no need to do anything.  I have to get on fixing it up soon, since I will be converting old one into a TD

 

gloves, I use a pair of leather gloves I had lying around and I am ok with them. 

 

shoulder bells, I had problems with the stretch straps here, one warped really long and it made things hard, so I actually tried something... I had two pieces of leather lying around with a snap already in them, so I added another snap, cut to size and put them in, and they really hold well, no popping off, no pulling down, I am really happy with it.

[Berbs42[TK]]

Clint!
 

Another option for Gloves

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Try them on at the store to ensure a good fit.

 

The palm side is textured, and the back breathes and the handplate will cover the logo.

 

Also, you could tighten up the elastic on the handplates, and if you only have one elastic strap on them that goes across the palm, add another that goes around the wrist.

The benefits are two-fold: stability, and you can wear them with any set of gloves (or rotate worn-out gloves) since they wouldn't be glued. Even if you decide to go with latex handplates in the future, you'd have these as an option for any given event.

 

And I have elastic strap suspenders that snap on the inside of the ab and kidney plates.

 

 - Berbs

Edited January 13, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2021

[cm325i]

On 12/29/2014 at 3:42 AM, Berbs42 said:

Clint!

 

Another option for Gloves

------------Try them on at the store to ensure a good fit.

 

The palm side is textured, and the back breathes and the handplate will cover the logo.

 

Also, you could tighten up the elastic on the handplates, and if you only have one elastic strap on them that goes across the palm, add another that goes around the wrist.

The benefits are two-fold: stability, and you can wear them with any set of gloves (or rotate worn-out gloves) since they wouldn't be glued. Even if you decide to go with latex handplates in the future, you'd have these as an option for any given event.

 

And I have elastic strap suspenders that snap on the inside of the ab and kidney plates.

 

- Berbs

Yeah man! I remembered you mentioned those. I picked up a pair and the texture holds the hand plates on great. They kept sliding off the rubber ones. Looks like I'll be on good shape for the next event.

 

 

Sent from my ComLink

Edited January 13, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2021

[Berbs42[TK]]

Spurs Star Wars Night in less than a week!!!

See you there!

 - Berbs