Irongladiator thank you for being so helpful, when I first joined the JACK SPARROW cosplay community the veterans who had "done all the work" were so tight lipped about where the "secrets were" and they wouldn't help you at all.
One wonders, then why join? Why the clandestine attitude? To me, those are the ones you wanna stay away from. I enjoy helping out where I can and then when I see others post their stuff with the ideas I came up with or based off of my idea(s) and get that
shout out, a sense of pride washes over me.
Can you give me some advice about the harness?
Something like this is totally my budget
<body><p>Jetpack Harness aluminum. </p><p>New straps, closer to the original ( safety belt material)</p><p>Straps in off white, comes assembled and ready to wear.</p><br /></body>
www.ebay.com
thoughts?
That harness (
your eBay link)....Looks super close to what I just purchased. Which came from the Cargo hold not too long ago, but here is what I have....
The user who sold it to me in the Cargo Hold said it was a Big Dane Jetpack Harness. I thought it might have been a more earlier version as there were some inconsistencies. So I asked Big Dane directly and showed him the above photograph. He got back to me right away and said, that yes indeed it was his. So who is Big Dane? He is a member on TDH that sells Jetpack Harnesses and has an incredible reputation for making quality items and has great customer service! Both wins in my book.
The things that I can see that were a little incorrect from the version he offers now are:
1) Missing rivets on the two straps that connect to the U-Frame
2) The Metal Bar that attached to the Jetpacks
Clips, is not rounded at the ends - and is squared off.
3) A lot of unnecessary adjusters along the shoulder straps - something that is
NOT included in his kits he sells now.
Here is his kit as he sells them today....
Since getting my kit I have since cut off the nylon straps and will be using what the 501st calls out as
seatbelt style webbing. I found some vintage 1980's era seatbelt style webbing and will be using that. In addition, I also felt as though the rings in the included kit I received were a bit too large and ordered FullMetalFett's version, which I have now and absolutely love! I also just placed an order for FullMetalFett's X-Shaped Triglide Adjuster, which will go on the waist portion of the webbing. Again, I removed not only the webbing, but also the abundance of adjusters found on the shoulder straps, and ordered this in it's place....
So while it seems I have an
Original BigDane Harness, I'm finding that I have to put in some work to get it to look accurate.
Best of luck in what you decide to do!

-Iron