Tenacious_AG

Thanks! Certainly looks like it will be difficult to find these!

I have not heard from them on availability; has anyone heard recent news regarding the delay? Trying to source boots for an event early August.

Anyone here a 10.5 in tennis shoes? I thought about ordering an 11hour in TKs but if they're that much larger, I may reconsider a size 10, but the strategy of "stepping down" a size has never worked well for me.

Hey all, I may be jumping on a bit late, but I loved the spirit behind this thread! I may be doing things a bit backwards as far as the thread's rules are concerned. I joined FISD back in January because I entered a bet with my wife centered around health and fitness. It's a long story so I'll let you read up on it here in my introductory post. The short story was this: I was getting fat, with a history of weight-related health issues running rampant in my family. My wife wagered that I could acquire stormtrooper armor (prior to understanding the costs associated with it) if I was able to run throughout each week for a year straight. As of tonight, I'm 5.5 weeks away from satisfying the conditions of our wager. Victory is close at hand! At the start of our wager ( sometime June 2011) I was 5' 10" (still am!) and a pretty hefty 200-205 lbs. Through the months of running through blistering heat and the icy cold, I've weathered horrible shin splints and nasty blisters in the name of winning rights to some armor! By April, I was also down 30 pounds to 173! My weight has fluctuated since then due to the flu and added muscle. I' never intended to set a target weight loss goal, simply because my only goals were to 1. be healthier than I was before and 2. win the bet -- but now that it's getting closer to the end, I have tried to experiment with dietary changes, with some degrees of success. For those looking to lose weight, I've noticed losses when: - I abstain from alcohol on days I exercise. As a homebrewer, it's sort of difficult for me to avoid all consumption! However, I noticed consistent week-to-week weight losses when I only drank on my 'days off'. I'm no physician, but I believe this behavior may allow my body to focus on processing the fat cells I've stored up instead of having to juggle them with some freshly-made stout. -I mix up a "Green Monster" for dinner on days I work out. Instead of a large meal, I have a 30 ounce smoothie made with a few apples, a pear or two, some pomegranate juice, a scoop or two of some weird mother earth biotic frozen yogurt, a handful of berries and about six to ten cups of spinach. It sounds dreadful, but as long as the smoothie is at least 40% fruit, you really can't taste the spinach. For the truly brave, cut out an apple and some of the spinach in exchange for an avocado. Consume at room temperature . Anyway.. - I read in a few fitness mags that those exercising to lose weight should consume a few grams of protein within 20 minutes of a strenuous workout. If there's a doctor on the boards, feel free to chime in, but IIRC the article said something about protein helping to stabilize our body's cortisol levels after strenuous activity -- and if they remain unbalanced, our bodies go into "survival mode" where all stored energy (fat) is saved because our bodies can't tell the difference between leaving a gym and fleeing from a zombie apocalypse. I have always had a Muscle Milk shake or some kind of protein supplement within a half hour of my workouts -- can anyone else corroborate the benefits of this? Other than the running, I can't say I've really tried much of anything else on a consistent basis. After the eighth month, my metabolism either adjusted or I started putting on more muscle because my rate of weight loss slowed to a crawl. Perhaps I need to cut more alcohol out of my diet. It doesn't help that I picked 2012 to attempt to brew the maximum quantity of beer legally permitted (in OH, that's 100 gal per person, per house, per year -- with my wife in the house, that means I am limited to "only" 200 gal.) and as of this evening I'm at 70 gallons this year, with more on the way next weekend . I will post my "final" weight in 5.5 weeks! Several friends are pushing me to run a 5k costume run this Halloween -- is there anybody here who has experience doing something like that in their armor? I fear for my life, I as I understand it, these suits can be quite warm.

Yeah, he said the Stormtrooper-1977 hotmail account links to his wife's PayPal account but he gets the payment all the same. Truly appreciate the sense of support and community on these boards!

I too ordered an AP kit from him (PayPal seems to have gone through Monday) but have not heard any confirmation from him. I was initially very worried due to a name discrepancy between his hotmail and Paypal names but after spealing with him last week and reviewing the boards, I'm certain he's as reputable as everyone says. I can certainly understand workplace woes so if he's unresponsive because of trying to get armor shipped, I won't complain! It would be nice to get an order confirmation sometime soon, though! I look forward to assembling it and getting out there to do some trooping!