kayelbe

Yeah, they're that small. If your SC kit is on-hand, put it in the holster. You'll be able to tell because the top scope knob will sit in a notch.

Get a cloth measuring tape (you'll need one if you DIY your soft armor). Wrap it around your head about where a hat would sit. That's your head size in circumference. Check out the helmet sizing threads, each of your possible helmets has recommendations based on size. As for putting them together? I've put together a TK bucket, but when it came to my TB lid, I went with a preassembled one. I've heard the KS can be a pain to fit together. If you have any doubts, don't waste your time and money on a kit.

I don't know if it's the picture, but on my monitor those soles are really gray. You want a much more tan color.

The only spot you would be concerned with is at the crotch. The cod covers the top of the riding patches only at that spot.

It's the only one I've tried, but I have a 23.5" circumference head and I can pretty much put it on without opening the faceplate. Reading up on helmets, I was scared off the SC immediately.

If you are determined to put fan(s) in your bucket, you won't need to cut any holes. The bottom opening of the helmet is plenty large enough to draw air in (as well as the ear holes).

Alan, I have trooped in my Scout here since April (indoors and out). The worst part of this costume AIN'T the helmet, lemme tell ya! Have you registered on the DSG yet?

I did my soft parts myself, as well. I hot glued a standard hard hat liner in my Altman bucket after trying (and failing) getting pads to work right. I just couldn't get a good fit without pads at my ears, which made it impossible to hear!

I just assumed it was...it looks that way to me. Would love to find it wasn't, though. Wearing a homemade half-parka in the Arizona heat ain't no fun

Since this thread wasn't originally about Ukswrath's system, to answer your question Gil: No. I have an Aker amp in one of my pouches. I connect via bluetooth to a headset. Works great. Ukswrath's set up is specifically (I believe) to use the "hovi" mic in the snout as the speaker. His stuff has a good reputation.

Get the one Mickey linked. One should be enough. Oh, and I like your screen name. You are just missing your middle initial....

Sounds like you haven't gotten involved with your Garrison, yet. Get in touch with them, usually a forum or such. You can find out where they will be trooping and invite yourself along as a wrangler. Some units actually encourage that before or as part of new membership.

It seems to me that the sample in the first photo could probably come up an inch or so as well. Where it is, the knee armor would be covering part of it, no? (Edit: I thought there should be a gap between the top of the knee and the patch, but the costume book pic up there has it covering....nevermind!)

Eh, doubt it was done my way, but it looks the part and doesn't pull my bund down when I move! Not at all! The buckle is in the middle of my back, behind the bund. It sits kind of in the small of my back, I guess. Never feel it! Below are front/back shots I just took. I just finished making a repair or three, so please excuse the stray threads! FRONT Hopefully you can see my cheesy "extension" panel. If I were to make another cod (sure hope I don't have to!), I'd make it long enough to directly attach to the vest. I used velcro in case I want to separate it for washing. BACK You can see where the buckle hangs out. I can easily reach it to clip/un-clip. My vest fits well enough that I can leave the back velcroed and just slip it on like a (half) T-shirt.

I have mine attached with velcro to the vest. I cheated a little by just "unattaching" it from the bund and sewing a (probably) 8 inch wide panel together, which I then sewed to the cod top and then attach that with velcro to the vest. The "thong" strap has a buckle clip on the elastic and the other part of the clip is attached to a short strap sewn to the back of the vest. The buckle is then hidden behind the bund.

My version 1 had the same issue...it looked pretty good until I put it up against a "real" white fabric. Tossed it and started version 2. Version 3, and final iteration, has a foam padding instead of the batting. I gave #2 a wash after noticing some fingerprint/stains. All the batting migrated to the velcro ends, leaving messy, unrepairable lumps. Might have been my technique and not typical, but the foam worked much better.

I haven't tried Imgur yet, but Photobucket is pretty simple...Here's a quick tutorial: Assuming you have the image uploaded to your 'bucket', open the image in photobucket and click the "direct" link In your post, click the insert image (icon looks like a little picture). In the URL box, just hit 'ctrl-v' to paste in the link you copied from PB. All done!

You need one more post to view the merchant area. He has a couple threads there

Troperbay, if he's back from surgery, has the decal kit. DVH has the snout greeblie.

The tricky part is that some parts require other parts to get measurements right. For example, the boots have to come up to a couple inches below the knee armor. You can't make the boots without the knees (yeah, you can estimate pretty close, but still). You need the shoulders to figure out the length of the vest sleeves. Etc. Personally, the first thing I ordered was the gloves. Flightsuit came next. While waiting for armor to arrive I modified the flight suit. Next, I bought my base boots and did the toes. The shafts waited until I received my armor. The cummerbund came after the chest and back (ideally the height of the 'bund comes up to hide behind the chest/back strap). My helmet was last, for a variety of reasons: I have a big noggin, so I was careful which one I went with. Ordered an Altman's from Australia, which took a while to arrive. Read build threads and get a feel of what you have ahead of you. Like our XO says, better to ask dumb questions than make expensive mistakes!

Use elevator bolts and have the best of both worlds (they are metal). I imagine it will take some careful measuring/fitting to use the plastic disk and gluing it to a bolt. I ran into the same problem with opening and closing, but eventually I just figured I look like a dork walking around with the faceplate up and so now if I do wanna open it, I just hold it with my hand.

I see what you did there I was thinking the same thing with the Dune Sea Garrison, calling it the 50th 48th Pathfinder Recon. Alas, my idea didn't make the cut. Edit: No, I'm an idiot - Arizona was the 48th US State, not the 50th. I knew that. Not sure why I brain-farted it yesterday.

I agree; old pouches, new cod.

They are available on both Ebay and Amazon. The Ebay one took about 2 weeks to arrive. The Amazon one arrived within a few days with Prime. I ended up getting a couple more. The original one I bought for $80 broke. I forgot to bring the little whip 3.5mm jack extension and plugged the receiver directly into my Amp. The amp, in my pouch, stuck up just high enough that when I closed the pouch the plug broke off. The ones I ordered from Ebay/Amazon do not come with the little whip, but you can find them on Amazon for like $4 for a 2-pack. Amazon Ebay

Dune Sea Garrison's ART will have a name this afternoon about 1730 MST. So far, the two leading candidates on our naming poll are "Rathtar Riders" and "Desert Recon". We will probably have our online presence within our garrison forums, as that's where the other unofficial groups are based.