Oh snap (literally) - shoulder bridge snapped/repaired

[kamikaze[TK]]

Well folks, it happened to me, and I've heard of it happening to others too.... one of my shoulder bridges snapped while my wife was getting me suited up for some fitment tests. She's helped put the armor on several times so she knows what she was doing, but somehow when she lifted it slightly to put the snap in bam! Sadly she was horrified and in shock over the whole thing but I told her not to worry and this kind of stuff will happen lol. So here's the sad picture:

 

 

Right, so I had to think that there was some way this area can be reinforced considering how much stress it gets both during the initial put on and during trooping. First thing's first though, the part had to be carefully glued back into place solid:

 

 

Next I created a couple roughly 2x7 strips that mimmicked the size and shape of the bridges, slightly more narrow obviously. I cut a square so the snap plate would be exposed through it, then created several reinforcement strips out of steel and CA glued them on. This is what it looks like and it has some solid strength:

 

 

Then simply glued both of the reinforcement plates to the backs of the bridges:

 

 

Next off to the garage to repaint the bridges after sanding them down and isolating them from the rest of the chest (my whole armor is already painted so matching color wasn't an issue):

 

 

The final result for the backside:

 

 

And the grand finale, the top of the bridge which was snapped in half, now there is no way you could tell and it is VERY strong. I can lift up the whole chest by it alone and wiggle without any give (not that I'd recommend doing that lol):

 

 

Well, just thought I'd post this little bit of fix I implemented in case anyone may find it useful someday. Hopefully though, not many will be in a position to need the info, however, I do think doing a preventative reinforcement of the area at the onset may actually just be a good idea to begin with. 

Edited October 7, 2016 by kamikaze

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

GREAT job, Derrick!  Reinforcing the shoulder bridges is actually a great idea... I am having to pack up my armor in a suitcase for a trip soon, and that was the one area I was concerned about breaking.  Thanks for the info.!

[allan1313[TK]]

Nice work!

 

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[T K[501st]]

Agreed! This is great. When I take apart my current armor and rebuilding I'm doing this.

[kman[TK]]

Definitely.  Some day I know my shoulder bridges are gonna go (they're one of the more fragile points on every piece of armor), and I'll definitely give the metal reinforced strap method a try, come repair time.