BrianD Posted May 24, 2017 Author Report Posted May 24, 2017 I'm almost finished. I have been waiting for a replacement knee ammo belt which should be here any day now. All I have left is to mount it, measure and trim the shins and add the Velcro to the back of the shins. Hopefully I will be able to post some updates in the coming week or 2. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk 1 Quote
bobafret[TK] Posted May 25, 2017 Report Posted May 25, 2017 Excellent bro can't wait to see the update. Quote
BrianD Posted June 9, 2017 Author Report Posted June 9, 2017 So, I finally got my knee ammo belt and I am ready to finish my legs. Is there an exact measurement from the corner that the split rivets need to be placed or is it open to what will work best? Also, do any of you attach it at the front center with glue or Velcro or is it best to just use the rivets? Quote
Toddahhhh[TK] Posted June 9, 2017 Report Posted June 9, 2017 For a liner, couple options. Can use hardhat webbing, the original foam (bleh) or, as I did, gut a batting helmet. Bought it from a sports resale shop, took the foam pieces out and glued them in my bucket. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote
Toddahhhh[TK] Posted June 9, 2017 Report Posted June 9, 2017 Oops, didn't realize I was on page one, sorry for late post Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote
BrianD Posted June 9, 2017 Author Report Posted June 9, 2017 I wanted to make things easy to remove from the helmet. I hear they can get quite sweaty while trooping so I thought it would be nice to be able to clean it. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk Quote
BrianD Posted June 10, 2017 Author Report Posted June 10, 2017 Ok, so I attached my knee/thigh ammo belt with split rivets. From what I read this is still upper level approvable. How does it look? My ultimate goal is to get Centurion approval so please, if anyone sees anything so far that needs changing please speak up! Does this look ok so far? I should have everything together soon. Been slow the last month or so due to waiting for parts and not having a 2nd hand to help me with suiting up and measuring/fitting everything to make sure it all fits well. Thanks! Quote
BrianD Posted June 10, 2017 Author Report Posted June 10, 2017 I made my drop boxes so that they can be opened or used to store small items. Good or bad idea? Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted June 10, 2017 Report Posted June 10, 2017 Ok, so I attached my knee/thigh ammo belt with split rivets. From what I read this is still upper level approvable. How does it look? My ultimate goal is to get Centurion approval so please, if anyone sees anything so far that needs changing please speak up! Does this look ok so far? I should have everything together soon. Been slow the last month or so due to waiting for parts and not having a 2nd hand to help me with suiting up and measuring/fitting everything to make sure it all fits well. Thanks! Looking good all the the way to L3. My only suggestion would be to maybe trim the top cover strip a smidgen so it doesn't get caught on anything. Here's a screen used armor photo to reference I made my drop boxes so that they can be opened or used to store small items. Good or bad idea? For L2 & L3 the drop boxes need to be aligned with the outer most edges of the ammo belt as they appear to be in this last photo . They will also need to be positioned just below the belt, technically touching yet not quite viewing the connection strap, yours appear to be a bit low and should be brought up a bit. Regarding the drop box thickness, though not in any CRL the back of the inside box should sit flush with the edge of the outer box. My drop boxes are detachable also so it is possible to have both. Reference photo Excellent work btw. 2 Quote
bobafret[TK] Posted June 12, 2017 Report Posted June 12, 2017 Good job Brian! On the thigh ammo belt also just get a little white paint on the rivet heads. I used a little dab of E6000 in the center inside of mine to ensure it doesn't droop down. Also as a general rule for finishing on the cover strips you can do a little 45 degree clip on each corner so it's not a sharp corner. Just a tiny little clip off of each corner will help to prevent snags. 1 Quote
BrianD Posted July 18, 2017 Author Report Posted July 18, 2017 Ok, so I wanted to give an update but Photobucket has crapped out and my photo files from my phone are too large to upload. Any recommendations on an easy way to begin attaching photos again? Quote
CableGuy[TK] Posted July 18, 2017 Report Posted July 18, 2017 Hi Brian, I switched to uploading my pics to Imgur. Seems to work okay at the moment. :-) Quote
bobafret[TK] Posted July 19, 2017 Report Posted July 19, 2017 Seconding imgur here - had to move to that for 3rd party hosting needs Quote
BrianD Posted August 15, 2017 Author Report Posted August 15, 2017 OK, so I got an Imgur account. Hopefully this works. I did a test run on myself without the final adjustments to the straps so please don't tell me how bad it is... I know! LOL! Then I built a duct tape mannequin to help. I have since been in contact with the local SOuthern California Inland Empire squad to help me dial it in, which I am in process of now! ANyways, here are a few updated pics. Quote
BrianD Posted August 15, 2017 Author Report Posted August 15, 2017 Oh, I also trimmed down my drop boxes! I did have one question... can the kidney shims overlap/underlap on the ab plate at all for EIB/Centurion levels? I need to shape them some more, but if I don't cut them I will have a 1/2-1" overlap. It would look seamless when I finished it, but I thought I read they should but up and not overlap. Any advice how to get it tight? Here is a pic of them. They have not been heated and rolled in to contour my body yet. It just shows the amount of overlap and what it looks like tucked in. Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 15, 2017 Report Posted August 15, 2017 Looking good Brian . Question, your shins appear to be a bit large in relation to your ankles, do you have muscular calves? As for the Ab to kidney, EIB no more than 1/2" gap between the two, left or right sides, though zero gap is preferred. If you have enough armor to overlap then I would suggest trimming to zero gap. Centurion - Zero gap on the left side, minor overlapping on the right is ok. Quote
BrianD Posted August 15, 2017 Author Report Posted August 15, 2017 Thanks Tony. I think I should be able to trim it to be pretty close to flush. As for my calves, yes they are on the large side but it appears like that for now for 2 reasons. First, I have not trimmed the lower section to contour my boots yet and 2nd and probably the primary reason is that I have not added the Velcro yet so the shin armor is not closed in the back. Once it is attached on the back it will close that big opening at the ankles. More to come... had to redo my drop boxes and shorten a lot of the elastic straps to close up some gaps. I picked up some black snaps (Sew-ology brand) and realized that once I already did 3 or 4 new straps when I went to snap them together they didn't even come close to holding. The female part was way too big to snap onto the male end. 1 more trip to the store for supplies lol! Oh well, I'm almost there! Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 15, 2017 Report Posted August 15, 2017 Copy that. May I suggest you at least buy Tandy snaps or better. Sew-olgy are junk IMHO. Quote
BrianD Posted August 15, 2017 Author Report Posted August 15, 2017 7 hours ago, ukswrath said: Copy that. May I suggest you at least buy Tandy snaps or better. Sew-olgy are junk IMHO. I am considering going with dual snap straps for the body armor. Would you consider that overkill? I ordered Tandy snaps that should be here by next Monday (hopefully sooner). I am concerned that all the movement while trooping may cause a snap to come undone and lets be honest, reattaching a snap is not always the easiest thing to do while wearing this armor. I figured with 2 snaps on each end instead of just one it should be pretty solid and not have to worry about it coming apart. Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 16, 2017 Report Posted August 16, 2017 Well I use Fasnap or DOT, both military grade quality. Both are so strong sometimes I have a difficulty fastening single snaps let alone double. You shouldn't have a problem with the Tandy single snaps but that's just my opinion. Fasnap - https://fasteners.fasnap.com/category/premium-snap-fasteners DOT - http://www.sailrite.com/Snap-Fastener-Cloth-to-Cloth-with-Silver-Buttons 1 Quote
BrianD Posted August 24, 2017 Author Report Posted August 24, 2017 Got the new straps and snap plates done and made the final fits to the ab and kidney armor. Fits nice now! Have to finish the straps for the chest plate, trim the bottom of the shins and add velcro and redo the straps and snaps for my belt and thigh armor but other than that it is almost finished! I had a question on the belt drop boxes. Are the boxes supposed to line up with the very outer edge of the ammo belt or are they supposed to line up at the edge of the 45 degree cut? I posted 2 pics at the bottom here for reference to my question. Thanks! Quote
BrianD Posted August 27, 2017 Author Report Posted August 27, 2017 I got the shins fitting properly now. Wanted to see if you guys could confirm the placement of my holster. Thanks! Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk Quote
BrianD Posted August 27, 2017 Author Report Posted August 27, 2017 Pics didn't load. Let's try this again. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk Quote
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