attaching armor?

I read the tuttorial , but I was wondering if anyone has come up with a way without drilling ? I did something simular with my TK and the bolts dig in like a SOB!! has anyone used snaps?

I used industrial strength Velcro for mine.
Fabric glue for the pieces attached to the vest, and "Goop" glue for the pieces on the back of the armor plates.
It's been on there for over a year, and hasn't budged a millimeter.

Velcro sewn on vest and with polyurethane glue on armor, snaps mounted to small ABS tabs attached with Devcon plastic weld on the four points of each armor piece.

ok i think i got the idea, thanks.. considering using my old military flak vest for the vest not sure yet , would really give it the "armor" look

Personally I like the use of snaps. What I hate most about velcro is the sound it makes when it moves. Snaps just sound more secure, and they don't wear down after time.

Originally Posted by GCNgamer128

Personally I like the use of snaps. What I hate most about velcro is the sound it makes when it moves. Snaps just sound more secure, and they don't wear down after time.

yeah, I like to use both because when I'm trooping people are always brushing against me during photo ops and I hate having my armor come off. Brokenboba, email returned.

I used Bobamakers method of using small 5mm bolts. The bolts are glued onto the armour, passed through the vest and washers and nuts are added. I thought they would dig in but they don't. I think because the armour is recessed slightly the depth of the bolts is taken up by the armour. I have used snaps and velcro, and i think the bolt method is the best by a long long way.

I will try to find the thread

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f25/attaching-armour-tutorial-20322/ here it is

Snaps are good, i've seen some armor secured with snaps and its very sturdy, doesnt budge a bit. The downside, imo, is the potential difficulty of installing the snaps themselves. Miscaculate things by even a little and the snaps dont line up right and you've got off-kilter armor.

Originally Posted by Rokeim

Snaps are good, i've seen some armor secured with snaps and its very sturdy, doesnt budge a bit. The downside, imo, is the potential difficulty of installing the snaps themselves. Miscaculate things by even a little and the snaps dont line up right and you've got off-kilter armor.

Put the snaps on the armor first, then put ink or paint on the snaps and press on your armor to the vest where you want it and "voila", perfect match for positioning the snaps to the vest. This should be done over a pillow or something the follow the curvature of the armor.

How well does "fabric glue" work? I bought my old vest with the velcro already sewn on.

I'm not a big fan of fabric glue myself. I use velco for almost all of my armor, and I sewed the velcro directly on. I have bad experience in the past with fabric glue and if I broke my armor cause it fell off I would be *very* sad.

Charlie

Originally Posted by pennywise

Put the snaps on the armor first, then put ink or paint on the snaps and press on your armor to the vest where you want it and "voilà", perfect match for positioning the snaps to the vest. This should be done over a pillow or something the follow the curvature of the armor.

Doh! this is an awesome tip!
Hadn't thought of that, as I was worried about the misalignment of the Armour....

Maybe try shorter bolts? They shouldn't need to be that long

Originally Posted by Mojo-Fett

Doh! this is an awesome tip!
Hadn't thought of that, as I was worried about the misalignment of the Armour....

I started out with just velcro and that wasn't good enough(for me), so I added snaps too. It's so humiliating when your armor falls off ,the illusion is really totally ruined to the public when that happens IMO

Cheers for the info... really gonna give this a try when my FP Armour turns up?

i used snaps on my FP armor. and like pennywise stated you need to attach them on the armor first. i then used shoe polish on the ones that i had mounted to the armor and pressed the plates against the vest, leving nice reference marks where to attach the counterparts to the vest.

Originally Posted by pennywise

Put the snaps on the armor first, then put ink or paint on the snaps and press on your armor to the vest where you want it and "voila", perfect match for positioning the snaps to the vest. This should be done over a pillow or something the follow the curvature of the armor.

I've always used snaps and used this method to mark them on the vest. But better than doing it over a pillow, wear the vest and get someone to help you place the armor plates into position. This way the armor will fit your vest and you exactly!

I love fabric glue. Shoe Goo! (made by Goop!), actually. E6000, or whatever, doesn't seem nearly as good. I used shoe Goo from Walmart in 2003 on my biker scout flight suit to attach the velcro and it is still holding strong, despite numerous washings, trooping in the Florida sun, heat, and humidity, and bull-riding.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find it for about a year or so

Anyone ever thought of turning the vest inside out and then placing the armour on it in the desired position, you still get the mark in the same place but any residual marks will eventually be on the INSIDE of your vest as opposed to the outside, I'm thinking of this for the BobaMaker method with regards to the holes for the eyelets

snaps are god. after the use of snaps i hate velcro in all its lint-sticky-ness. ill only use it if i have no other choice or no time.