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I just got in my new boots from Keep Trooping. My old ones were a size (maybe a size and a half) too small and the tops got mangled at some point. They were authentic Doc Marten's though. In any case, having properly sized shoes has been amazing on my feet. I already moved over the gel insoles, my velcro straps for closure instead of the strings, and the metal pieces I was using to maintain the shape of the toe. I think they look pretty good! I also ordered an embroidered helmet bag as I had nothing to transport my helmet in. Nabbed some patches too and sewed them on myself. I'm considering putting one of the large back patches on the other side of the bag, either from my local squad or a larger Spec Ops patch. Next up is my application for specialist. I am trying to get everything together now, but my big miss is another suit up. Maybe at my next armor party or something!

@Chaos Is there a document/PDF that highlights the submission requirements for going for Level 2? I thought I remember seeing one somewhere but it was restricted to active Spec Ops people only and I was not approved at that time.

Thank you sir! I just saw that I missed out on the 20th anniversary patch/coin run 😩. Hoping I can find someone who ordered multiple so I can nab some. Would love to get the patch on my helmet bag.

APPROVED! TX-17241! Now to do all of the fun access stuff on all of the forums.

Tomorrow is the big day for me! I am heading to an armor party for a suit up and to get help taking my pictures for approval. Got a checklist of everything I need and inventoried all of my stuff. I should be good to go! My next post should be the pictures I submitted for approval, and hopefully I hear back soon/quickly!

Got around to painting the grooves on the backpack today. @Chaos, how did I do on the weathered silver? I also noted as I was checking the color scheme chart that my pill on the chest was still gloss black so I repainted that with some flat black.

For your audio, are you looking for a pre-built solution, or are you willing to go homemade? If you're willing to go homemade, Adafruit has a sound FX board that can be pre-loaded with phrases and then triggered via 10 different pins. Each pin can support up to 10 different audio files that will play sequentially (first press first sound, second press second sound, etc.). They have a model that has a standard stereo jack output and another that has a small 2W amplifier built in.

I got my bubbled lens in today. The "bubbling" isn't as much as I thought, but its there and pretty obvious when looking at it. I don't know that I got a good picture of my flat lens in my helmet so I can't do a side by side comparison, but hey, one more item for level 2 checked off. The first picture is a comparison of the bubbled lens and a flat lens I picked up from OPLE for comparison. The nose needed some trimming on the bubbled lens and I found out the hard way that this plastic doesn't like to be cut. Fortunately the crack wasn't big and I was able to dremel out the nose cutout I needed and get it mounted. Here is the helmet with the lens installed. Is it obvious its a bubbled lens when it's installed? I have it pushed up next to the opening as far as I can.

My pauldron came in! I just need to get together with some others to do a final suit up and take pictures. I am ready to go! One thing I did notice on my pauldron is that is should be good for basic, but I don't know that it's good enough for Level 2. There seems to be some extra stitch lines on the 4th stitch starting from the leather on both sides, the leather doesn't have the black banding (not sure what to call it) on the outside of the collar (only the inside), and the leather parts are on top of instead of on the bottom. Someone else feel free to correct me though. I may provide comments back to the seller to help them improve their product if people agree with my assessment.

Awesome! Good luck with your build!

Can you clarify what you mean by the upper edge? Do you mean the upper edge of the horizontal groove? That picture shows (on the left shin) that the groove starts at the "point" of that triangular detail coming from the back, and on mine they were trimmed along that details lower edge giving me no good starting point to replicate it.

Also, is the Denuo Novo DT Specialist helmet L2 approvable as it comes? Or does it require much work? If you know and/or can say that is. Thank you!

I am not sure if it is high on your priority list at the moment, but I just had to buy a whole sheet of the rubber used to create the belt so I have a lot extra. I could probably cut you a length for cheap if you'd like.

As someone who just had to mess with my shoes, I would recommend adding a small flap of some sort to the top of the ribbed section that goes under your shin armor and then a small piece of velcro to hold it in place. Those ribbed sections come loose VERY easily even during basic suit ups and walking around.

@Chaos, I have a question on something for Level 2. One of the items I see people miss a good bit is the horizontal groove in the shins. Mine doesn't have it either so I have to cut it myself, but I want to make sure I am putting it in the right spot. I put pictures below of my left and right shin armor and where I think the groove should be. The left should be pretty straight forward as there is a lot of room and its clearly below the detail above it. My problem is the right shin. Whoever trimmed this armor seemed to get it a bit too close to that detail so they armor is not perfectly symmetrical. Is where I put the red line a good place for the groove? I'd like to triple check before I put the Dremel to the fiberglass. Any input is appreciated.