toddo

Great work. I'm confused about the purpose of the white straps though. What is their function?

You actually don't look bad at all IMHO, but I can see some of the issues you refer to Clint. I don't like that the chest/back rests on return edges, so I was thinking of padding it with foam beneath the shoulders. That would help to re-distribute the load across the entire shoulder so that the return edges don't dig as much and might also stabilize the sliding movement you speak of. Did you end-up strapping the shoulders bells to the chest/back? When I tried my chest/back on with a bell resting on my shoulder, the bell was quite a bit lower than the chest due to that large return edge. Screen images suggest that the shoulder bell rests at about the same height as the chest/back. Check out this beautiful image: So it stands to reason that the shoulder bell might need to be padded a little as well.

Looking really good Kevin. I love that you are using wood bucks. I've been watching my 12 year old son building Chopper out of wood, and my appreciation for the beauty of it has grown immensely. Thanks for sharing your progress photos.

Clint, are you attaching the shoulder bells to the chest/back assembly, or are you strapping them to one another? With the large return edge, it seems less practical to me to attach to the chest/back, but I'm curious what you are liking.

Get ready to be a CRL model Clint

Well-done.

Looking good Jim!

All these years and all of these builds, and I've never encountered that solution before. Well-done!

Looking good Clint. I can't wait to see your zero-gap Velcro method.

Great detail work Rob. Tanks for sharing your measurements.

My modified MLC prototype:

Looking terrific Clint as always. I'm a few steps behind you and am eager to see how you work out the harness for the pack.

Outstanding Jim.

Ouch. You just gave me nightmares for this evening.

I just cringed reading that. I battle crackling all of the time here in the Pacific NW. My sympathies.

Count me in when you're ready!

Thanks for taking photos Clint. I think you are likely the furthest along of all of us, and your work on the FOTK has been exemplary.

That's exciting DDay, and it looks amazing.

Post those immediately Jsin! I simply can't wait to see what you guys come up with.

Some great research going-on here, and some of the best detailed photos of the RODT I've seen. Keep it coming.

I recommend uploading them to Photobucket. Once there you just have to copy and paste the IMG code for each photo directly into your thread and Robert is your mother's brother.

Welcome.

I always love seeing guys rough stuff out into something tangible. Please keep it coming!

Looking terrific Clint. I also put elastic in the bicep gaps as that's what it looks like is used on the LFL suits. As for your chest/back, are you planning on keeping that one large piece?

I'm thinking the shins will prevent this setup from riding-up on the boots. Do you see that as a potential problem?