Today I'll be showing off the latest addition to my tactical gear.......... A digital camo, soft body armor carrier of my own design and construction.
I have been looking for an affordable and functional vest cover for my old service soft body armor for quite some time now. It seems that most of these covers are in the $150 price range, or are not designed specifically for soft armor. So, I decided to take the matter into my own hands and design and construct my own armor carrier, and that is exactly what I did!
I picked up two US Army ACU, digital camo shirts at our local Goodwill Store for about $12 total price (unissued with tags still attached). One of the shirts was a size "Large, Regular", which is too large for me to wear, so it was selected as the first sacrificial donor. After looking at the various panels and pieces of the shirt, I came up with a plan and a paper pattern. I carefully ripped the stitches out and took the shirt apart. I used nearly all of the fabric on the shirt for the construction of the vest cover. I initially thought that I would have to disassemble both shirts to have enough fabric, but I ended up only using the elbow patch-panels and the cuff Velcro off of the second shirt. I used one of the sleeve pockets, complete with soft Velcro for patches, on the chest of the carrier...... the collar was split to form the two shoulder straps...... the elbow patch-panels from both shirts were combined to form the two side flaps......... I even recycled the shirt labels (after trimming off the garment designator)!!!! There was a bit of a shade difference between the two shirt fabrics, but since I only used a couple of pieces off of the second shirt, it isn't noticeable on the finished carrier. You will however, notice that there are two colors of Velcro................ If you make one of these yourself, try to match your donor uniforms before starting.
The vest carrier has exceeded all of my expectations, in all areas! A total success! That old sewing machine I bought a while back has definitely paid for itself with this project. I have a number of old US Desert Tan camo shirts that may be the base for another armor carrier. When I get done with this series of projects, I should have an armor carrier in each of the camo styles that use.
Here are a couple of shots of the ballistic soft armor panels that I will be using in this carrier:
And here is the photo album of this latest project:
Yesterday Sweet pea and I made a quick trip out to Fort Worden to check out the tail end of the annual, September Military Vehicle Show........ Thanks for the reminder Dale!!!!!
The British Columbia group of vehicles had already headed home, but the trip was totally worth it......... I caught a ride up to the top of Artillery Hill in the side car of a 2012 Russian Ural Motorcycle! The cycle was set up as a Russian scout bike and the owner / driver was all decked out in her vintage Russian uniform, complete with M91/30 Mosin Nagant Rifle. She even had a little encampment set up with her shelter half, mess kit, helmet and a vintage bottle of genuine Russian vodka........
The "usual suspects" were there again this year...... vintage WW2 Harley Davidson, Jeeps, Big Trucks, ambulance...... and this year there was even a custom Humvee. This rig was built on a Deuce and a Half frame, with a 400+ cubic inch motor and a widened body. Not exactly a "vintage military vehicle", but pretty cool none-the-less!
Here are a few quick shots of the "scenery" up on Artillery Hill:
While Sweet Pea and I were out treasure hunting yesterday, here in Port Townsend, I ran across this beautiful WW2 vintage box at a local estate sale. I couldn't pass it up, and it is now a part of the growing collection!
This is a box that originally housed an SCR-625-C mine detector...... the iconic and standard mine detector used throughout WW2 by the US Army. The original interior dividers and labels have been removed from my box, but the exterior is in outstanding shape. I will be using it as a storage chest anyway, so it makes no difference that they are gone. My box is labeled as belonging to the US Army Signal Corps and has a pretty low serial number stamped on it. The stampings and lettering on the box are nearly perfect and about 95% of the original finish on the box remains.......... amazing for a box of this age! I asked the woman who sold me the box if she knew anything about the history of it. She told me that it belonged to her father and she remembered it being around the house for her entire life, and she was born in 1940. She said her father was a civilian who worked for the US Army, but did not know specifically how he came to own it.
These mine detectors were first used in 1942, during the Italian Campaign, and then later throughout Europe. Since mine is a "C" model, I would imagine it was first used in the later part of the war in France and Germany. It is interesting to note that these boxes (including mine) are labeled identically, on both sides of the box.
Here is an excellent French forum site that shows a complete SCR-625-C mine detector and case that is nearly identical to mine. The serial number is very close as well! http://mayenne-ww2.forumactif.org/t1223-le-detecteur-de-mines-us-scr-625
Here is another French collector's website that gives tons of photos and detailed information on these mine detector sets. http://www.club-des-collectionneurs.com/A-Vendre-detecteur-de-mines-SCR-525-1944-NOS.htm
And now the moment that we've been waiting for....... here is the photo album of my new SCR-625-C box:
To finish things up, here are a few photos of the mine detector in use. In the first photo, you can see the box mounted on the side of the US Army Jeep.
