Armor Strapping 101

[J 9]

Thank - yours too! It looks like the Arbiter was a huge succes, I just wish I could have seen it... I can see some places where some extra pictures would help so I will be adding to this as I can. If any of the steps need clarification or oi a specific pic would help, just let me know...

You sir, are awesome, this is just what I was looking for! Question about the pressure suit:

For sizing, how tall are you, how much do you weigh and what size suit did you get?

Additionally, how did you pad your feet for fit and to keep them from scraping the ground?

 

[DogWizard]

For size reference - I'm 5' 11", 190 lbs with a 48" chest and 36" waist. The pressure suit is a Sette XL and it's is just a bit snug. Because it's mesh, there is some stretch there...

As far as the boots go:

Boots

The foam-cast overboots basically lock and float on my Magnum's. I did add a very small closed-cell foam "kick pad" at the heel to minimize the noise for the parade. As long as you leave a good 1/4" - 1/2" float between the bottom of the armor boot and the ground you should be OK. As you can see from the DCon parade pics it's really not noticible...



Thanks!

 

[Ithica]

what length are the chicago screws? I was gonna get 1" is that to long?

Ithica

 

[DogWizard]

what length are the chicago screws? I was gonna get 1" is that to long?

Ithica

You want them to be just long enough to penetrate the belt fully and sit flush (allowing some extra depth which will be used when you recess them of course). I think that mine are either 3/8" or 1/2". It all depends on how much depth you have in the piece - if you can recess them deeper then it will be easier to epoxy and result in a stronger attachment point...

Good Luck!

 

[Ithica]

Thank you very much. I have changed my order.

Ithica

 

[marksguitar]

thanks DogWizard now my armor will pull together alot beter

 

[Bwentali]

I wish to express my thanks for this sticky. By following the tutorial I was able to strap down some armor that I created fairly successfully...

...However I do have a question for you all. when I decided to anchor in my Chicago screws I used a quick-set epoxy which seems to work. However in a quick test-fit I found that the female ends to some high-movement areas broke off quite quickly. So my question is should I use a stronger adhesive? Fibreglass each screw in place? Personally I have no idea how I should proceed.

 

[DogWizard]

I wish to express my thanks for this sticky. By following the tutorial I was able to strap down some armor that I created fairly successfully...

...However I do have a question for you all. when I decided to anchor in my Chicago screws I used a quick-set epoxy which seems to work. However in a quick test-fit I found that the female ends to some high-movement areas broke off quite quickly. So my question is should I use a stronger adhesive? Fibreglass each screw in place? Personally I have no idea how I should proceed.

You're quite welcome!

Did you recess the screw heads into the material or just epoxy them onto the surface? Any chance of getting any pics? If you are still having trouble then it is possible to make a larger, thin "cover" plate that sandwiches the screw head against the armor piece - that will increase the surface area that the epoxy has to work with. No matter what solution you use make sure that ALL of the surfaces have been roughed-up (and NO PAINT) with a grinder or coarse sandpaper. The epoxy will adhere better to a rough surface...

I have also had much better luck with the DevCon epoxies vs. LocTite that you find at Home Depot.

Good luck and let me know what happens!

 

[Bwentali]

You're quite welcome!

Did you recess the screw heads into the material or just epoxy them onto the surface? Any chance of getting any pics? If you are still having trouble then it is possible to make a larger, thin "cover" plate that sandwiches the screw head against the armor piece - that will increase the surface area that the epoxy has to work with. No matter what solution you use make sure that ALL of the surfaces have been roughed-up (and NO PAINT) with a grinder or coarse sandpaper. The epoxy will adhere better to a rough surface...

I have also had much better luck with the DevCon epoxies vs. LocTite that you find at Home Depot.

Good luck and let me know what happens!

Um, If your asking if I put the screws into the armor when I casted it then no. the mounting was sadly an afterthought when I made the armor. Yes, I ensured that the surface was rough and the head had an even "spot" to be anchored to.

Recently I tried attaching the screws with the devcon metal-reinforced epoxy putty. Seems to be a little tougher than the liquid epoxies (from personal experience) and worst case senario I could use it to fill a couple of cracks if necessary. Turns out the putty actually adheres pretty well and it refuses to break even under heavy stress. I will have to do more testing to ensure that its going to be good for a con, but so far it looks sturdy for my purposes.

small dilemma with the shoulders, but I am working on a solution to that...Oh yea, not using a pressure suit so kinda stuck there...I will post pictures soon enough, I want to wait for items before I start posting progress.

 

[Enrisan]

so I went to Home Depot the other day and nobody ever heard of Chicago screws....I'll have to try another place cause I couldn't find them.

 

[DogWizard]

so I went to Home Depot the other day and nobody ever heard of Chicago screws....I'll have to try another place cause I couldn't find them.

They should have them there - look in the "Hardware" section with the minibags of assorted screws, nuts, and bolts. Whoever you spoke with may just not have recognized the term "Chicago Screws". You may also be able to use "T-nuts" with the appropriate short bolts. You can definately get them at Tandy Leather (brick and morter or online)...

 

[Enrisan]

They should have them there - look in the "Hardware" section with the minibags of assorted screws, nuts, and bolts. Whoever you spoke with may just not have recognized the term "Chicago Screws". You may also be able to use "T-nuts" with the appropriate short bolts. You can definately get them at Tandy Leather (brick and morter or online)...

thanks I'll try again at Lowes. We don't have a Tandy Leather around here.

 

[Atronic]

Thank you for giving the walkthrough on that! Now I have a good understanding of what I can do to get my Mk5 to fit properly!

 

[RELLIK NISSASSA]

Hey, here's something to keep in mind.



If you are a Smooth-Cast master, then all you have to do is order one piece of hardware, mold it, cast it, and vuallah!



Save some cash, and produce some hardware.

 

[Bwentali]

okay, well I promised to post some pics...so here we go



http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x154/Bwentali/pipboy in progress/IMG_1602.jpg



http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x154/Bwentali/pipboy in progress/IMG_1603.jpg



http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x154/Bwentali/pipboy in progress/IMG_1604.jpg



http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x154/Bwentali/pipboy in progress/IMG_1605.jpg



I used your ideas to craft the system. Basically I built the suspenders since they needed to attach to the belt a specific way for it to look correct, made multiple belts to secure it all, got the army belt to secure the leg portions and butt plate, and kept the shin guards seperate.



To those trying to find Chicago screws: Most Home Depots have the plastic ones but they go by binding posts rather than chicago screws. They are usually in those drawers if your looking for em



Lastly, if you look at the shoulders you can see I have webbing towards the arm...It was the only way I could ensure it remains on the arm since the strap doesn't work very well...



but I secured the screws with epoxy putty and the seem to hold extremely well. So if you guys forget to set the screws in with the fiberglass then that's a good plan B.



thats it for me...

 

[Enrisan]

Yeah, I was finally able to find the Chicago screws, labeled "binding posts" at Home Depot.



@ Bwentali: Where did you get the buckles for the straps? They're like $5 for 5 buckles on ebay, are they really that much?



I need about 7-9 buckles. If anyone has any that doesn't need them, please PM me.

 

[Bwentali]

Yeah, I was finally able to find the Chicago screws, labeled "binding posts" at Home Depot.



@ Bwentali: Where did you get the buckles for the straps? They're like $5 for 5 buckles on ebay, are they really that much?



I need about 7-9 buckles. If anyone has any that doesn't need them, please PM me.

I actually used the same seller the OP used to get my materials. I got the buckles for about $8 and the webbing was pretty cheap too. got about 20 yards of webbing, 10 buckles, and 30 tri-glides and all in all it cost about 20 with shipping. Still have extras of the webbing and glides...not bad at all actually.

 

[charlie tuna]

Nice tute but there are several dead links, the pressure suit and all the ebay item links, store link is good though

 

[Yuki Kedamono]

you are a God send dogwizard. thanks a bunch! i was curious as to how i could do it, an before having to get into complicated thought you made it a heck of alot easier for me to do.

an i live on ft.hood so everything i could get i can easily go down to the clothing store here an pick up for a couple bucks XD

 

[DogWizard]

You're quite welcome - glad I could help. I'm sorry for the dead links but the Sette Pressure Suit that I used is no longer available from that site. Just practice your Google-Fu and you should find plenty of options. Sette and SixSixOne are two of the more popular manufacturers but there are others. Any place that sells motocross gear should have plenty to choose from (also Ebay, Amazon, Etc.)...



Good Luck!