Some tips for keeping your scout costume together while trooping

[Chopper]

Hi everyone, this is a thread I've been wanting to post for a while now.

There are plenty of great build threads on the Pathfinders Forums, but I thought it might be helpful to share some tips for keeping your scout costume together while trooping. Usually these are the sorts of things you discover after you've been walking around in your armor for a number of hours!

I'm not a huge person, so, when I first started trooping I found that a lot of my armor parts would shift around throughout the day (particularly my belt, knees, biceps, and forearms). After my first few troops I started modifying my scout costume to try and make it as stable as possible.

Anyhow, below are a few of the modifications I made to prevent parts from shifting awkwardly and falling off. All of the mods are non-visible once everything is attached and I was approved as a Lancer with everything I've shown below. Remember, this is by no means the only way to keep everything together, but hopefully it'll provide some good ideas for all you new scouts trooping away out there.

 

Tank -- I wanted to make it look like I was using the 1/2" elastic strapping to keep the tank on, just as was done on screen, but I wanted to make it a bit more stable. My 1/2" elastic strapping attached to velcro on the inside. Also, for stability, I anchored 2" velcro strapping on the inside of the tank, and attached it to the back armor.

 

Undersuit -- I sewed 2" hook velcro onto on the knee, bicep, and forearm positions of my undersuit and and placed loop velcro inside the armor parts.

In order to find the proper positions to sew the velcro, I put my armor parts on and then marked where they were in chalk. This meant I wouldn't have any velcro sticking out awkwardly when the parts were anchored on.

I know that some folks add stirrups to the bottom of their pant legs. I tried it, didn't like it, and ended up sewing boot blousers to the bottoms of the legs instead.

 

Flak Vest -- I sewed 2" hook velcro on the front of the vest and loop velcro on the back of the cod. My vest is a little bit longer than most, but you could easily do this mod on your undersuit as well.

The end of the 2" elastic coming off of the cod attaches to the back of the vest.

The front of the cod has a large strip of hook velcro for anchoring the front of the belt. As I mentioned, my belt was constantly slipping down, so this keeps it in place. The corresponding loop veclro is mounted on the triangle portions on the inside front of the belt. Also note that my 2" webbing on the belt extends much further beyond the single rivet on the inside. I velcroed the webbing to the inside of my belt in order to take the load off of the rivet, which is a known stress point.

The vest also has hook velcro to attach the bund just underneath the armpit level as well as two small pieces of velcro on the upper chest to hold the front armor in place.

The velcro tab on the back of the bund attaches to the back of my belt and helps keep it from slipping down in the back.

 

Pouches -- I added some velcro behind the pouch and on the bund to keep them from flopping around.

 

Belt and Detonator -- I used velcro to affix the det to the back of the belt. Of all the mods I added, this is the one I'd probably do differently. The velcro makes it difficult to slide the det on the back of the belt and, although it's not going anywhere, it's also a pain to get on.

 

Boot Holster -- Probably one of the most common issues is keeping your boot up when you've got a pistol in the holster. Try this -- before you rivet the holster onto your boot, sew an elastic boot blouser to the vinyl. This will help anchor it in position to your leg and prevent the dreaded boot droop!

 

And that's it! Hopefully this will be helpful and useful for all you scouts out there. I realize some of this may be overkill, but you can take what you need, and leave the rest.

Thanks and keep trooping!

Chopper

[3DImpact]

Great tips - thanks much for sharing these! Still waiting on goods to be delivered and assembling everything so these are very helpful during the build stage; the boot holster tip is one I wouldn't have thought of but will definitely put in place when my boots arrive.

 

Dan

[BikerScout007]

Velcro is a life saver! Well done

[Aliaz]

Nice guide!

[spyder918]

Thanks so much for posting this! It'll prove to be soo helpful! This should be stickied.

[Chopper]

Thanks everyone. If I can help folks out by showing what I learned through trial and error, then I've done my job as a Scout.

[khazara]

Fantastic tips that are great for wearing the outfit and not just for approval purposes.

Here is one more that I use:

- like stirrups for the feet, I added a small loop of 1/2" elastic to the end of the sleeves that I hook my thumb into before putting on the gloves. This keeps the sleeves of the coveralls nice and tight, avoiding getting bunched up and keeps it down in the gloves.

 

[Chopper]

Fantastic tips that are great for wearing the outfit and not just for approval purposes. Here is one more that I use: - like stirrups for the feet, I added a small loop of 1/2" elastic to the end of the sleeves that I hook my thumb into before putting on the gloves. This keeps the sleeves of the coveralls nice and tight, avoiding getting bunched up and keeps it down in the gloves.

 

Thank you Khazara! I made some tabs on my Red Cap to cinch the cuff down on my arm, but I like your idea. I might try a combination of both in the future -- the tab keeps the sleeve from rotating too much and the loop keeps it from pulling up?

[M.J]

Cool thread Thank you for sharing.

 

We have also placed our names on the plastic parts. So many scouts in our Garrison.

I've gone that little bit further by sewing my initials inside my gloves....Nearly popped on the wrong ones at a troop.

[khazara]

Cool thread Thank you for sharing.

 

We have also placed our names on the plastic parts. So many scouts in our Garrison.

I've gone that little bit further by sewing my initials inside my gloves....Nearly popped on the wrong ones at a troop.

 

Trooperbay does personalized decals. Great for labeling each armor piece! L and R indicators too.

https://trooperbay.com/decals/personalized/armor-or-costume-tag-decals

[TK24208]

good tips!

[TK24208]

I did by 2 meter of velcro to day! My armour gonna be fit as hell  

[Cosmic]

Just stumbled over your thread Corey,

You did an awesome job in documenting everything a new Scout needs. Indeed you covered everything i agonize on how i will do it with my RS armour when it finally arrives.

Thank you so much

[Kashew]

Just stumbled upon this tutorial as well - great tips and super helpful, thanks! One question regarding how you attached your cod strap to the back of the flak vest -
 

Quote

 

The end of the 2" elastic coming off of the cod attaches to the back of the vest.

 

For this did you sew the velcro on the outer back of the vest i.e. in the centerline over the existing hook/loop that connects the vest in the back? My flak vest is about identical size comparatively so I'm looking forward to emulating this. Thanks again!

[Chopper]

For me, it was the outside of the back of the vest. It's covered by the bund, so you don't see it. Either outside or inside will work though.

[jennyruth]

On 2/19/2018 at 10:07 AM, Chopper said:

Hi everyone, this is a thread I've been wanting to post for a while now.

There are plenty of great build threads on the Pathfinders Forums, but I thought it might be helpful to share some tips for keeping your scout costume together while trooping. Usually these are the sorts of things you discover after you've been walking around in your armor for a number of hours!

I'm not a huge person, so, when I first started trooping I found that a lot of my armor parts would shift around throughout the day (particularly my belt, knees, biceps, and forearms). After my first few troops I started modifying my scout costume to try and make it as stable as possible.

Anyhow, below are a few of the modifications I made to prevent parts from shifting awkwardly and falling off. All of the mods are non-visible once everything is attached and I was approved as a Lancer with everything I've shown below. Remember, this is by no means the only way to keep everything together, but hopefully it'll provide some good ideas for all you new scouts trooping away out there.

 

Tank -- I wanted to make it look like I was using the 1/2" elastic strapping to keep the tank on, just as was done on screen, but I wanted to make it a bit more stable. My 1/2" elastic strapping attached to velcro on the inside. Also, for stability, I anchored 2" velcro strapping on the inside of the tank, and attached it to the back armor.

 

Undersuit -- I sewed 2" hook velcro onto on the knee, bicep, and forearm positions of my undersuit and and placed loop velcro inside the armor parts.

In order to find the proper positions to sew the velcro, I put my armor parts on and then marked where they were in chalk. This meant I wouldn't have any velcro sticking out awkwardly when the parts were anchored on.

I know that some folks add stirrups to the bottom of their pant legs. I tried it, didn't like it, and ended up sewing boot blousers to the bottoms of the legs instead.

 

Flak Vest -- I sewed 2" hook velcro on the front of the vest and loop velcro on the back of the cod. My vest is a little bit longer than most, but you could easily do this mod on your undersuit as well.

The end of the 2" elastic coming off of the cod attaches to the back of the vest.

The front of the cod has a large strip of hook velcro for anchoring the front of the belt. As I mentioned, my belt was constantly slipping down, so this keeps it in place. The corresponding loop veclro is mounted on the triangle portions on the inside front of the belt. Also note that my 2" webbing on the belt extends much further beyond the single rivet on the inside. I velcroed the webbing to the inside of my belt in order to take the load off of the rivet, which is a known stress point.

The vest also has hook velcro to attach the bund just underneath the armpit level as well as two small pieces of velcro on the upper chest to hold the front armor in place.

The velcro tab on the back of the bund attaches to the back of my belt and helps keep it from slipping down in the back.

 

Pouches -- I added some velcro behind the pouch and on the bund to keep them from flopping around.

 

Belt and Detonator -- I used velcro to affix the det to the back of the belt. Of all the mods I added, this is the one I'd probably do differently. The velcro makes it difficult to slide the det on the back of the belt and, although it's not going anywhere, it's also a pain to get on.

 

Boot Holster -- Probably one of the most common issues is keeping your boot up when you've got a pistol in the holster. Try this -- before you rivet the holster onto your boot, sew an elastic boot blouser to the vinyl. This will help anchor it in position to your leg and prevent the dreaded boot droop!

 

And that's it! Hopefully this will be helpful and useful for all you scouts out there. I realize some of this may be overkill, but you can take what you need, and leave the rest.

Thanks and keep trooping!

Chopper

Under the holster may be the best placement for the strap (mostly likely because that’s where the weight is), but do you think it would also work being attached under at the back of the boot, behind the inner velcro? 

[Chopper]

Yeah, I think it would work. I don't think it would work as well, because your point of attachment is no longer directly attached to the weighty area, but my guess is it'd work ok if you had a lighter 3D printed blaster or something like that.

[jennyruth]

On 7/1/2021 at 8:14 PM, Chopper said:

Yeah, I think it would work. I don't think it would work as well, because your point of attachment is no longer directly attached to the weighty area, but my guess is it'd work ok if you had a lighter 3D printed blaster or something like that.

Sorry I didn’t see your response earlier. My blaster is from RS Propmasters, and it is pretty substantial. So, I’m gonna go ahead and sew it around where you have it. It seems like that will be the most effective.

[Haven1221]

This is absolutely fabulous! Thanks ever so much for taking the time to make these suggestions.

[BikerScout98]

On 2/19/2018 at 10:07 AM, Chopper said:

Tank -- I wanted to make it look like I was using the 1/2" elastic strapping to keep the tank on, just as was done on screen, but I wanted to make it a bit more stable. My 1/2" elastic strapping attached to velcro on the inside. Also, for stability, I anchored 2" velcro strapping on the inside of the tank, and attached it to the back armor.

The vest also has hook velcro to attach the bund just underneath the armpit level as well as two small pieces of velcro on the upper chest to hold the front armor in place.

 

Hey @Chopper could you please provide more photos and details on how you constructed the elastic band that secures the front and back chest armor to the body? I bought the lancer optional white elastic band and white velcros used for it to replace my current white cotton webbing. Photos of what I'm asking about precisely:

I saw in another thread that there is also a "mock" sewing line (like the one on the "dogbone") on the outside where you secure the end of the band to hold it in place. Is that required for lancer? Or just optional? Heres what i was hoping you'd show me:

Few photos on how it was constructed, some details of the process, and the products you purchased to make it (in case i ordered something wrong or missed an item,etc).

I know your a busy, busy, very busy person. I appreciate any further help you have to offer me brother.

Thanks!

-Scot

[Chopper]

14 hours ago, BikerScout98 said:

I saw in another thread that there is also a "mock" sewing line (like the one on the "dogbone") on the outside where you secure the end of the band to hold it in place. Is that required for lancer? Or just optional? Heres what i was hoping you'd show me:

Hi Scot, I'd like to state up front that this is not specifically a Lancer-oriented build thread -- this is just a tips and pointers post. To clarify, nothing about how anything is rigged in this thread is "required" for Level 2/Lancer.

As for your other questions, it appears that they were answered in the other post? Please let me know if you have anything further that needs clarification.

[TreeHuggerMatt]

this is brilliant and will be a great help for new scouts going forward!!

[nateopotato]

This is wonderful insight, thoughtful and experienced advice.  Thank you Chopper for posting this, I'll definitely take this into consideration for my build.

[shashachu]

Have you come up with any better solutions for keeping the TD on? I also considered Velcro but worry that it'll be even harder to clip on my belt.

[Chopper]

On 9/29/2022 at 8:05 PM, shashachu said:

Have you come up with any better solutions for keeping the TD on? I also considered Velcro but worry that it'll be even harder to clip on my belt.

Yes, the velcro makes it more difficult to slide onto the belt and I eventually abandoned that idea. I haven't tried any other methods of holding the detonator on, but for me personally, it seems to stay on pretty alright as is.