LostinNV[TK] Posted August 23, 2016 Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 Greetings troopers. I have managed to get a few troops under my belt since I completed my costume and I have found the that only major modification that I would like to make ( besides me loosing about 60 pounds) is to the back of the thigh armor as sometimes it gets difficult to walk. I was able to participate in a July 4th parade in Las Vegas,NV and after that the backs of my thighs were miserable followed by a 4 hour drive home. I am wondering just how much I can remove from the backs of the thigh armor before I really mess something up with still having a goal of an EIB badge. I was hoping to have the EIB stuff sorted out before the summer fire season was in full swing and did not make it, and now I am heading to the SLCC in two weeks and would like to see what I can do for some trimming before that event which will include some long trooping sessions. I feel that if I could trim out somewhere between 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch out of the back of the thighs on both sides that it would help with some walking and possibly be able to negotiate stairs ( which at this point is a challenge at best). Thank you in advance. Also I know that the biceps in these pictures are reversed, these are pictures from my first troop and that has sense been corrected. JIm Derrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted August 23, 2016 Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 You didn't mention if it was a chafing issue, Jim, but you can definitely (and should) remove all of the return edges from the backs of the thighs. This will help immensely. A couple of other issues which are easy fixes as well. Your sniper knee plate looks like it tends to get caught behind the front of the left thigh. I had this same problem, so I added a piece of 1 inch thick foam, (about 1 1/2 inches wide, 10 inches long) inside the front of the calf. Problem solved. It may just be me (with my terrible vision), but it appears that the rivet in your thigh ammo pack is a bit small. It should be 3/16ths wide, and painted white. If indeed it is too small, let me know and I will send you the correct ones at no charge. I guess to are aware that the rear cover strip on your right calf is missing. Battle damage? LOL Looking forward to your EIB submission soon! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostinNV[TK] Posted August 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 Yes I do get some chafing I have thought about lining the bottom of both pieces with some foam to help with that, I will also remove all of the return edges as that indeed might resolve most of that. I do have a little " pinch point" right around where the outside rivet for the thigh ammo belt is attached. I also have upgraded the rivets to the correct ones sense these pictures were taken. I didn't have them with me when a friend was helping me to put this all together. I heated and reformed both calf pieces to help make them more " round", as you can see that in these pictures they are somewhat wide, this did help with how the sniper plate was presented. Also in order to make it fit onto the calf armor, I built a stand off for the sniper plate with extra plastic strips and double faced tape and Velcro in order to take up the space. I will however add a strip of foam to the knee area to help support this space as well inside of the calf, great idea!! I had to play with that for a while to make it work as we needed to make the center cover strips almost 2 inches wide in order to have enough room to get around my thick calves. I figured out how to crop one of the above pictures, how much can I trim length and width wise out of the areas circled in red? When I am trying to negotiate stairs and other large steps this area binds as I lift my leg making stairs almost impossible. I would love to be able to remove approximately 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch out of this area length wise. I feel that this would help with the tall steps and stairs issue. Thank you very much for your input Joseph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted August 23, 2016 Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 Glad to be of some help, Jim. I will defer to Tony and/or Andrew on how much you can trim off the backs and still reach EIB. Please stand by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 23, 2016 Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 Hey guys let me see if I can help here. Hey Jim if you're shooting for L2 or L3 we generally like to see any modifications or alterations made to the back of the armor. That said cutting more just above the knee will alleviate some of your concern but not eliminate it. You're best best would be to add a shim which unfortunately require tearing your armor apart. Long story short, think about your end goal, if it's to be comfortable first then hack away, it's your armor. If you're shooting for the higher levels of accuracy then I wouldn't cut any further than you already have. Have further questions ask away. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostinNV[TK] Posted August 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 Thank you Tony and Joseph for the help. Tony If I am on the right wavelength here, by adding the shim to the back, the piece would then fit a little higher on my thigh thus granting a little more room/ flexibility correct? If this is the case I think that this would be fairly simple to accomplish as I could just remove the back cover strip that if I remember right needs to be re-glued anyway. I also added an inner strip in the front of both thighs after my first troop as there was a huge amount of stress on them and the glue joint failed. This will get me a little room for some expansion int he back and act like a clamshell. I will check on this, this week for my preparation for the SLCC. I will also remove the rest of the return edge on the bottoms of the two pieces while I am at it. Thank you both again for all of the help. I will try to post a few pictures as I most through the project next week on my days off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 24, 2016 Report Share Posted August 24, 2016 Thank you Tony and Joseph for the help. Tony If I am on the right wavelength here, by adding the shim to the back, the piece would then fit a little higher on my thigh thus granting a little more room/ flexibility correct? If this is the case I think that this would be fairly simple to accomplish as I could just remove the back cover strip that if I remember right needs to be re-glued anyway. I also added an inner strip in the front of both thighs after my first troop as there was a huge amount of stress on them and the glue joint failed. This will get me a little room for some expansion int he back and act like a clamshell. I will check on this, this week for my preparation for the SLCC. I will also remove the rest of the return edge on the bottoms of the two pieces while I am at it. Thank you both again for all of the help. I will try to post a few pictures as I most through the project next week on my days off. Yes to your question and my pleasure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grave Posted September 4, 2016 Report Share Posted September 4, 2016 This thread is helping me get insight for my own thigh issues. Mine are too long, and totally covering my knee front and back. Seems I posted on the wrong forum for that issue, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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