Shoulder Bell Question

[Double Dee]

Attached the shoulder bells to the chest/back bridging strap. Noticed I may have made the straps too short, as when I lift my arm level it snags a bit. So my question is, how far apart /should/ they be? I know I could just let it out an inch or so (used snaps, might go to velco for the inside of the bell), but just thought I ask to get a concensus.

 

Second thing. forearm armour, pinches at the elbow when bent, I probably just have to trim the inside 'U' portion until comfortable? I assume yes, but being the careful guy I am I like to ask.

 

Thanks.

 

DD.

[SuperTrooper]

Firstly what kind of armor you have makes a huge difference in the forearms. With the shoulder bells most troops around me have one finder space if they are average sized, or on and a half to two if they are a larger trooper. Sorry for the unscientific measurement, but getting it to look right on your frame and be comfortable are more important that measuring toa hair of being accurate in my opinion.

[Laspector[TK]]

I cut out some of mine on the forearm on the U part and it helped a lot.

[troopermaster]

I found that cutting more out of the 'U' on the forearm made the pinching worse. The way around it was to pull the forearm up higher to the bicep, so the forearm tucked under the bipcep when bending your arms so no skin could get trapped. It is not 100% pinch proof though

[TK-4510[501st]]

Sometimes you gotta suffer for your passion

[Double Dee]

Firstly what kind of armor you have makes a huge difference in the forearms. With the shoulder bells most troops around me have one finder space if they are average sized, or on and a half to two if they are a larger trooper. Sorry for the unscientific measurement, but getting it to look right on your frame and be comfortable are more important that measuring toa hair of being accurate in my opinion.

 

I'll have to take a photo of it and post it. When you say finder (finer?) how much is that? about half an inch? Looking at your avatar, I'd say mine is much closer together. Its FX armour by the way.

 

Thanks Terrell.

 

As for the forearms, I'll try having it further up my forearm, if not I'll trim a little and see how that works out.

 

Cheers!

 

DD.

[SuperTrooper]

Sorry about that, it was supposed to be finger space.

[ThayNerd[TK]]

Sometimes you gotta suffer for your passion

 

 

Ain't that the truth. I still get armor kisses on my forearms even after trimming them.

[firebladejedi[TK]]

My shoulder bellt are tight up against my shoulder bridges but as they are attatched to elastic there is some give when raising my arms.

 

Most movie suits seems to have fairly high shoulder bells and i think that replica suits look better that way, imho when the bells are low over the arm it look off to me.

 

https://i.imgur.com/qTMsEVt.jpg

[Double Dee]

I think if I'm lucky I have about 1/2 of a stubby finger. I'll grab some pics tonight and post. I used webbing, but I guess elastic would have been preferred. What I ended up doing was attaching some velcro to the bridging strap and some more to the ABS strap. It pulls the bell up I think, so I might try it without the velcro and see if that alleviates some of the tightness (just came to me now looking at Mark's last picture).

 

Thanks everyone for their input!

 

DD.

[journeymanprotector]

I also trimmed the U in my forearms (AFX) and I think it makes a lot of difference. I also try to keep my bicep up above my elbow too, but still occasionally get the armor hickies the day after...

 

Phil

[Laspector[TK]]

I found that cutting more out of the 'U' on the forearm made the pinching worse. The way around it was to pull the forearm up higher to the bicep, so the forearm tucked under the bipcep when bending your arms so no skin could get trapped. It is not 100% pinch proof though

Really? Once I cut mine I've never had a pinchy pie since.

[TK-4510[501st]]

I always think I look like I have needle tracks after a troop.... People always look at my arms like ...eeeewwwww a druggie!!!

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Alas, it's the eternal tradeoff between looks and comfort. The more you trim it to be comfortable, the less correct it looks.

 

Yeah, I get the pinch marks too but it's the price I'm willing to pay for looking good

[Krkconsult[TK]]

firebladejedi said:

My shoulder bellt are tight up against my shoulder bridges but as they are attatched to elastic there is some give when raising my arms.

 

Most movie suits seems to have fairly high shoulder bells and i think that replica suits look better that way, imho when the bells are low over the arm it look off to me.

 

 

 

Mike,

 

What is the "strapping" or "tie" on the back of the shoulder straps made of?

 

Also are the straps attached at both ends? It looks like the front is floating in the picture.

 

Thanks,

 

Kris

[troopermaster]

Really? Once I cut mine I've never had a pinchy pie since.

 

Yes. When I bent my elbows, my skin would get trapped between the bicep and forearm. I tried shaving more and more away from the forearm but it still pinched. I suppose you can never eliminate the problem, but I have since found that pulling the forearm up closer to my inner elbow makes the forearm tuck under the bicep and reduces the chance of pinching (notice I said 'reduces' )

[kiyotei[TK]]

ah yes the classic armor bite...makes us look like a bunch of heroin users:))

[Daetrin[Admin]]

There's an interesting point about AP/TE2 shoulders/biceps that's different from FX (not sure about RT). The FX biceps are tall all the way 'round and the bells come down more, so having a strap at the bottom of the shoulder bell around the bicep is a great mod to keep things in place. However the AP/TE2 bells don't go down as far and as you can seem from Jim's pix above there, so a bottom strap won't work (trust me, I've tried and it doesn't work). Jim's configuration above however I think is much more appropriate for the AP/TE2.

 

My $.02...

[kiyotei[TK]]

What Paul says is very true about AP. I had a strap that went around the bicep piece except it kept slipping off and it was very hard to put the armor on with it. since removing it, I've had no problems and I am very happy with the fit and how it stays in place.

[TK-66929[TK]]

Wow, an older thread (to say the least) but still interesting...   I can't believe even after Trooping a few times and I'm STILL working things out...

 

 

Does anyone EVER stop working on their TK's ?

 

 

Dan

 

TK-NoWay