TK 22686

I got my official e-mail last night, so I'll give it a little bit of time and see if it changes.

The thighs are snug...but comfortable. The biceps are able to slide up and down freely (1 finger slides under the armor but not much else. I don't have bicep hooks or them strapped to the shoulder bells...which is still something I could do. It's just easier to add in some foam and let them sit comfortably and not have to worry about extra strapping... I'll probably go the Velcro route if I can and see if that works.

Hello all....I'm looking to install foam padding...more specifically this https://www.walmart.com/ip/Morning-Glory-Foam-Seat-Cushions-4-Pack-16-L-x-16-W-x-1-H/19397511 in to armor pieces, such as my biceps, thighs, and behind the sniper plate. I'm wondering what the best way to adhere it to the armor is....Duct tape would leave a residue....hot glue could warp/melt the armor. I made a set of mICH pads with this foam and an old t-shirt...and have those adhered into my helmet with industrial strength adhesive backed velcro. I'm thinking this would work the same for the foam; however, I'm not sure how well the foam would adhere to the velcro. Any ideas?

Hello all...I want to order an Eastbay EVAPOR top....but I'm not sure how the sizing runs.. --------------- I'm 6'0"....205lbs....42" chest and about a 35-36" waist. If I go by the sizing chart, I'm on the small side of an XL; however, I have an original Under Armor UA Heat Gear Compression Short Sleeve shirt that fits me very well in a Large. Is the sizing comparable to Under Armor...would you recommend the large....or would you just do the XL?

Thanks!

I was putting my Hyperfirm E-11 in and out of my holster to help work the holster and make it easier. In the process of doing this, the charging handle on the E-11 disconneted from the E-11 itself. It looks like it was a separate piece that was glued on. The Anovos FB guys mentioned to take finishing nails, drill 2 holes in the charging handle, add a little bit of super glue, and re-affix it that way. Does anyone know which finishing nails to get? Any pictures of the repair? I've tried looking them up, but there are a lot of variations of them.

Tony, I want to get a good to go on my sniper plate arrangement. The only concern is the right side that slopes downward quite a bit; however....it must do this to follow the bump at the top of the shin. How does everything look to you?

This is where I bought my Line 24 snaps from. They were in original Tandy packaging and have served me well. https://www.stecksstore.com/line-24-nickel-snaps-100-pack-1263-12/ You'll also want these.... https://www.stecksstore.com/line-20-24-craftool-snap-rivet-anvil-8056-00/ https://www.stecksstore.com/line-24-craftool-durable-dot-snap-setter-8058-00/ https://www.stecksstore.com/polymer-head-stamping-mallet-medium-3301-03/ When I'm setting into something like a single strip of nylon or the ABS, I'll put the male end together and trim off excess post with a dremel, so their isn't so much excess material. The snaps are designed to be set into thicker leather, our ABS is millimeters thick. It's normally about $70 on Tandy's website, often times they'll be on sale for $35ish. These were about $20 and I have not had any issues with these snaps. They're the old style Tandy that does not have "Tandy" stamped on the bottom of the snaps. Arrived in a few days as well. They have the setting tools that I also recommend picking up.

Do you have a link to the Velcro you recommend? All I see is the Velcro branded stuff...I can't find anything for 3M...but I'm finding a lot of links for VELCRO branded industrial strength Velcro.

Thanks for the info...nice to know that I'm not the only one with those issues. From what I've noticed...it's worse down by the boots than it is on top, so if anything, maybe I'll give that little bit of an edge a dip. I'm thinking I'll try velcro and see how it holds...if it doesn't do what I'm hoping, it'll be easier to remove and go the bra hook method.

Tony, about the hot water bath for the rear shin closures.....this is how mine look right now...I'm debating between Velcro and bra hooks. TK Tom mentioned that the hooks give a bit tighter closure on the back and eliminates some of the gap...but it's not perfect. Kman mentioned that a hot water bath isn't a bad way to go....and I'm not a huge fan of the water bath method. This is how my closures look in the back right now....more of a V than sitting flat with each other. Left Shin Right Shin If I was going to do a water bath on these....do you tape them and clamp them into shape first, then dunk for 45 seconds to 1 minute? Or do you dunk them first, and then clamp/tape them? I looked at part 2 of your ATA rebuild, and your section of the hot water bath using the bucket...it looks like you tied them into shape you wanted....dunked them in the bucket, and then cooled them off. I've done some hot water bathing since I initially did my back plate, and have realized that if you can move the plastic in the water or bend it where you want it, keep it there, and heat it up....the plastic will actually respond more noticably; however, if you go too far one way or the other, you'll be re-bathing it to correct the mistake. Guess I'm just looking for some clarification here if I'm going to try and get these to sit a little bit more flat.

After a bit of a hiatus....really it was the shins scaring me away from working on the armor...I've gotten quite a bit done lately. I have the thighs completely done, with the exception of strapping. I'm planning on making a nylon belt that sits just below the belly button that the thighs straps will loop around to stay in place. I'll take good pics of them tonight and update this part tomorrow. I also decided to shim the Kidney Plate. I need about 2 1/4" shims on either side, but could get away with as little as 2". I bought a No Parking sign from Home Depot, as the garage sale signs had a metal backing on them. This was about 2mm thick plastic and should serve well as a support for the shims. My shims came from the underside (I believe) of the chest plate cut out. It's a good thing that I kept those large pieces of plastic intact, instead of hacking into them just to get them off. There was a curve in them, so naturally, I had to hot water bath the pieces to get it as flat as I could. It's not perfect, but I believe i succeeded in getting a piece that will work well for shims. Mock Up - Right Mock Up - Left 4" x 6 7/8" Shim Piece (before) 4" x 6 7/8" Shim Piece (before) 4" x 6 7/8" Shim Piece (After) 4" x 6 7/8" Shim Piece (After) Shim Support (Left) Shim Support (Right) Individual Shim Pieces I'm tempted to take the shim pieces above and try to hot water bath them one more time, clamping them in between 2 cutting boards while they're in the water to try and really flatten them out. But I'm thinking that this should be alright. If anyone things I should give it a shot, I'm willing to do it once more. I'm not sure what to do for the backs of my Shins. I have the fronts glued together and the cover strips glued on the back; however, they come to more of a V in the back and I want a nice closure on them. Do I need to try and hot water bath them? I really don't want to have to do that. Kman said heat them up and then tape them, rinse them under cold water....and they should be good. I heard another say I should use Bra Hooks and elastic, and that should take care of any issues. Any ideas? (The left side is just about the same).... Right Shin (rear) Sorry for the lack of, and bad, pictures. I'll have to take a bunch later today/tomorrow and get some nice quality ones up here.

Thanks for the input. At this point...return edges may keep the overall feel, but I want it done and am looking for ease...so I may just forgo them at this point. My hope is to take them off someday anyways. <br><br><br> Was hoping to get them installed this weekend.

As someone who approves a lot of Centurion Level armor...do you prefer ab/kidney plate shims to have a return edge, or to be flat pieces? How noticeable is it to not add in a return edge on your shims? I tossed it out on the facebook group last night, but I'm just not 100% up for more hot water bath frustration after the back plate...which looking at the piece now, may need another round of it because it seems like the straps have reverted back to a semi-original shape....

Making this cut wouldn't prevent the thigh from sliding down. I have enough room for the mid and top of the thigh to fit fine. It's just that there seems to be a lot of excess around the knees...to the point where I could probably fit my whole hand into the extra on picture 2. I guess a more clear question would be...do you need to taper the thigh so that it's even throughout? To use your picture as a reference, it would be something like this. Like I said, not a straight up and down cut, but more of an angled cut (nothing off on the top, but a bit off on the bottom).