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It is done! Took a year, but I did it!

Hello everyone! I'm Rick from northwest Indiana in Northern Darkness Garrison. I've been trooping as Din Djarin for about five years. I've been wanting to do a TK for awhile so I can troop with my other TK friends (the Mandalorian and TK's just don't mix), and I finally got my approved kit this weekend. Happy to be a part of the FISD!

Micro Med Kits My first troop I ever did was before I was a member of the 501st. I went to a Ren Fair in Colorado in the summer in the summer of 2001. I had the Armor FX and it was all velcro. It was near 100 and that kit fell apart after a couple of hours. I never considered having a repair or med kit for a troop. I didn't have the experience. A fellow trooper saved me with some white tape. I knew a med kit was a needed thing. I have a repair/med kit for each costume, but I've found that when I go to a troop like a parade or even that takes us far from our tubs, it's all about what you have on you if something goes wrong. In my TK, there's not a lot I can have on me compared to my Scout with my pouches. So, I created what I call Micro Repair or Micro Med Kits. I use our Challenge Coin sleeves and as my base for the pouch as it's thick and flexible. I used CA glue to glue the back side of the coin sleeve to a little ABS piece. Then I glued a black nylon piece to the top to act as a tab. The back side of the ABS has a tiny piece of hook velcro. I glued that on the ABS piece too just make sure it didn't come off. What I do is I tuck this micro kit in the arm armor. The black nylon tab can either be tucked in to hide it or have it out to easily grab it. (Think of it like Spiderman's web shooters, just angle your wrist out a little and grab the tab and pull out your kit.) In the arm armor, there's a strip of loop velcro where the kit attaches. This little kit is small enough to pull in and out as long as you have a little room at the wrist part of the armor. The ABS Piece is solid enough it helps you push it back in to the arm armor when you are done with it. I only take these on events that take me a good distance away from the storage tubs. They really don't bother my arm or are in the way. You also won't have them fall out and not notice. Because it's light enough, even the little velcro keeps it from falling out. I did have to experiment a little to get the right amount of hook velcro to make sure I can pull it out, but also that it won't fall down when arms are down. I don't really notice them, but haven't had long troops with them yet. This is a newer idea with not a ton of hours on them. Oddly, I've not used them for myself aside from Advil, but I've pulled them out for a couple of other troopers at an event. Here's what is in each micro kit: Micro Repair Kit: Roll of white duct tape, swatch of industrial velcro, cleaning wipe, sewing needles with heavy nylon thread both white and black, pencil erasure (to put the point of the needles and to use for scuff marks) and safety pins Micro Med Kit: Band-aid, tissue, $5 (for a bottled water if the situation occurs), and medicine pills (these include meds for headache, stomachache, heartburn, allergies, head cold, and a breath mint) I added some labels with the mini-imperial cog logo for fun on each one too. (Not pictured is a mini multi tool used for cutting if needed that is attached to one of the kits)

Thanks for sharing your ideas! I like the mirror for checking dressing issues, gotta look our best for the Emperor I use a lightweight folding camping table attached with velcro to my kit box. it's ideal for all those parts you can't reach once you have the torso armour on.

Trooping Accessory - Citation Holder This is one for those 'no blaster' or more fun type events. I still like to be holding or carrying something at a troop. I always miss the blaster. I really liked the citations we had on another trooper thread. So, I decided to expand upon it. I got a Citation Holder like what law enforcement used to use more commonly back in the day. Mine was a black metal Saunders brand Citation Holder that I believe I got on good old Amazon. This lets you clip the citations to the top. But what is nice is you can carry it around and the lid will flip up and inside you can have more citation sheets, but also your coins, patches, and trading cards. As a TK, it's hard to carry and hand those out. This citation holder helps with that. Plus, you can issue citations to rebels and civilians. I put an imperial cog sticker on the back side so someone would see the logo while they saw us writing up a citation. It's not too heavy so you could also put velcro wraps around your belt and velcro on the back of the holder so it could attach if you wanted to "holster" it for a bit. I haven't tried this yet, but I seems feasible.

Neat ideas. Do you change into the entire armor in the tent, or just the undersuit? My "hack": I always wipe down the inside of my armor with isopropyl alcohol (60 % or more) after each troop. It is safe to use on ABS, kills smelly bacteria and funky fungi, and evaporates quickly. A cloth dampened in the alcohol works fine, but for the nooks and crannies of the backplate I use a spray bottle.

The Tub Lid Mirror This is probably the most popular idea I've had at troops. So many times, we have to use car reflections or random things to try and see if our costumes look ok during events. There isn't always a mirror. Amazon carries plastic mirrors that I velcroed a couple to the bottom of my tub lid. When you lean your tub lid up against a wall, you can angle it to see how you look! I use this so much. And I'll find many of my fellow trooper's hover over my way to do a review of their kit as well. I also don't have to worry about heavier real mirrors that might crack, shatter, or add weight to your lid. Especially if you use your lid as a shelf like I do too! Amazon.com: JUNEBRUSHS 4 Pack Self Adhesive Acrylic Mirrors, 12x 16 Inch Mirrors Tiles,Flexible Plastic Sheets Wall Stickers,2MM Thick Mirror,Frameless Small Mirror : Home & Kitchen

The Travel Tub Shelf I first saw a version of this from one of my fellow troopers in the Midwest Garrison. My rolling tub has some little slots on the sides and on the tub lid. Using white side paneling from Home Depot, I cut four 3-foot lengths. Then added a small wood block at the top of each bar. These are screwed into the top of the bars as the base to rest the lid on. The lid then rests on the bars above your tub. This maximizes your space when you might be in a small changing room. It gives you a tub lid shelf.

Secret Time Keeper I have found as I've gotten older, I don't make it as long on troops especially in my TK kit. Often on troops, I'll be looking for the time to know how much time is left in the troop. I don't want to be seen reaching for a cell phone, look for a clock, or having to ask. I just want to quickly see a clock but not have it be so visible. My wife came across finger watches on Amazon. I got a black one and tried it out during Halloween. It was great. Very hard to see from anyone else, but I just look at my hand real quick as if I had a watch on. I just turn it on the inside on my non blaster handle hand.

Changing Tent Using a changing tent for changes in the parking lot or even indoors. I got a couple of weights to go with it. They slide in the little pouches at the bottom of most of these types of changing tents. I used an imperial cog stencil used on black tent. The tents will have little loops on the outside and inside of the tent to let you roll up the front door. I use the loops as a location to put a light. I cut a 1-inch-wide PVC pipe and got caps for it that I can take on and off. This pipe can slide through the loops. Then using velcro, I velcored a push-button battery-operated puck light to it. Because of the weight of the PVC, it doesn't spin with the puck light on it. You can literally tilt the light up, straight or aimed down. The photo below shows the light bar on the outside, but there's loops inside so you can light up the inside of the tent if needed. I like this to have a place to put a light and be able to easily take it on/off. I like this for the underwear changing portion of outside changing. It wraps up nice and I can throw it right back into the truck once the changing portion is done.