Strap & Snap System
Most troopers find that the velcro system that is provided with a standard issue armor kit is inadequate. The very first time I put my armor on, the shoulder bells and chest piece fell off as soon as I lifted my arms. So I converted much of my armor to a strap and snap connection system.
For the chest, shoulder bells, and biceps, I created an elastic strap which runs from underneath the plastic shoulder strap down through the shoulder bell and bicep piece. (I had previously ABS glued the chest and back pieces together via the plastic shoulder straps, so they would not move around.)
The elastic strap is hot glued underneath the plastic shoulder strap, and two snap halves are places appropriately along the strap. The other half of each snap is attached to a 2" x 2" piece of ABS, and then hot glued inside each shoulder bell and bicep. I then attached these to the strap after I have put on the chest/back piece. (Some troopers attach them first and put the whole thing on like a t-shirt.)
I also didn't care for the standard elastic straps used to connect the ab and lower back piece over the shoulders, so I made a custom set of suspenders. I hot glued them onto each piece, and crossed them in the back so they can't creep down off my shoulders.
The other main place I used snaps was on the thigh straps. I found that I put a lot of pressure on the thigh pieces when walking, and the velcro straps just weren't strong enough. So I hot glued new elastic straps inside the bottom of the ab piece, and placed snap halves on each end. Then I attached the other half of each snap to a 2" x 2" piece of ABS, and hot glued it inside the top of each thigh piece.
Then the whole thing connects together via the straps.
