Great Lakes Garrison & Base

Hey everyone,
I am looking for some help on a few questions I have:
-What size rivets do I use?
-Where can I get industrial strength black and white Velcro?
-Where is the best place to get black elastic? How much should I get?
-Where can I get 15mm Heavy Duty Snaps?
-Where can I get webbing (black strap polopropolene)?

I am planning on using TK-300's tutorial on the snap system. Any links on products would be VERY helpful. Thanks for the help!

Not sure what size rivets to use... when I bought my rivet set they only came in one width, but in an assortment of lengths. I used diffenent lengths for different applications. The industrial velcro and rivets can be purchased at Home Depot and/or Lowes. You will need a pop rivet gun too. E6000 glue, velcro, elastic, snaps and webbing can be purchased at JoAnn Fabrics and/or Michaels. I had better luck at JoAnn's though. Don't forget you will need at least two different sizes of elastic. I used 2" and 3/4". You can get it pre-packaged or by the length at JoAnn's.

Start with the prepack elastic. There's no way to accurately say "xx amount" for each individual. If you need more, go buy more -- just remember where you got it and what kind it was (and whether it worked for you or not).

Sometimes, you'll also find that what works for one person doesn't work for another. And this applies to both material and method. All of these assembly guides are just guides, not gospel.

The cost of building armor isn't just the armor itself, but all the accessory bits and assembly parts. THAT'S where the real cost (and labor) come in.

Crimson wrote: The cost of building armor isn't just the armor itself, but all the accessory bits and assembly parts. THAT'S where the real cost (and labor) come in.

I think my first trip to Michael's was well over $100...

I've been getting my industrial strength velcro from walmart and I've found that kmart has e-6000 glue and it's cheaper than joannes.

Roughly how long of straps and roughly how many snaps, etc. would be very helpful if was listed somewhere.

I'll check whitearmor.net and check it out. If somebody can beat me to it, please post!

That would depend on how you want to build your kit. Some people use all snaps, some use all vercro and others mix and match.

Indeed. I can explain how I did it, but that may or may not work for everyone else. For example, I have my upper torso armor set up like a shirt, with the shoulders and upper arm pieces attached at the plastic shoulder straps. That doesn't work for some people because it may add extra stress and strain to the attachment point on the ribbed plastic bits (I don't use any fabric reinforcement for those pieces like many others do; for them, those ribbed pieces are decorative while for me, they're functional).

From the shoulder strap to the shoulder bells to the upper arm pieces, I have one piece of elastic that has three snaps crimped on. I have another strap that goes along the bottom edge of the shoulder bell from front to back to hold it in place over the arm when I'm wearing it.

I have two more pieces that attach my thigh pieces to a belt I wear under the armor, like a garter. And I have two smaller lengths of elastic that hold the chest and back pieces closed while I'm wearing them. I should also add that my stomach and low-back pieces are glued shut on one side and the other side closes with velcro because I'm small enough to where those pieces overlap on me and I don't end up with the side gaps. But again, that won't work for everyone else.

The thigh pieces and upper-arm pieces on my TD are glued shut. The shins and forearms are closed by velcro, and despite that, I have to readjust my forearm pieces because my forearms are too damn skinny. I also have the chest piece attach to the ribbed shoulder straps by velcro.

Length of straps depend entirely on your body size. Nobody in this Garrison will fit into my armor, because if they're the same girth or proportionately as me, they're taller which makes the limb armor look too short on them. And if they're the same height as me, they're not the same proportion given where and how I have my pieces put together, the straps are going to be too short to accommodate.

Which reminds me that I have to redo the garter system for the thigh pieces....

See? It's been a couple of years since I've had my TD and I'm still tinkering with it. And that's after I perfected my own system because of the years that I owned a TK before that!