RYO/DIY: How many of you make your own gear?

[mitunnelrat]

How many of you have made alterations to, or custom, gear? I was looking at my Safariland 6004 drop leg holster last night because I wanted to make it belt mounted. I just moved, and my discretionary funds for upgrading gear is pretty low, so I decided to see if I could mock up a substitute. Long story short, I was able to cut the front and sides off an SDS Industries double mag AR pouch and use the existing mounting hardware on the holster to mount on the rear as a MOLLE panel. Sorry, no pics yet. I didn't get any on my phone and the holster isn't on hand at the moment.

Anyway, has anyone got examples of their own work, or plans in mind for something they want to do?

[Gunfixr]

I've both modded gear and made some. I get some help from my wife, as she is way better at sewing than I, but have done some entirely on my own.
I have a 1911 hicap with a 7" barrel and slide, and wanted a GI style flap holster for it. Of course, no such is available. So, me and my wife made one from Cordura nylon. I also have a nylon webbing watch band for my watch, which is a dive watch. I can't stand those rubber watch bands.
I'll have to take pics and post them.

[LUNCHBOX]

First, the background....In some of the highspeed military uniforms there is a pocket sewn directly into the knee area of the operators pants. It is placed there so you don't have to wear adjustable kneepads (wear them awhile and you will understand)--I didn't do the work but here is what I had done (anyone with a machine could sew this up) to my bug out pants. I had the pocket sewn in and I use a cut-out made from a foam sleep mat. Three sides of the pocket is sewn and the forth is velcro to remove the pad before washing. (just for the record for a couple of you guys, I can get the combat pants and the inserts but the color is ACU so I made my own)

[AquaHull]

I'm in the process of setting up shop to make kydex and leather holsters and sheaths . First off I have to clean the pole barn , which involves moving and cataloging the preps . Then I have to put a ceiling on my room and insulate it . Then see if my secondhand heater works and fire it up this week because we already had a frost . Then there's the archery deer season that opened on Saturday . I forgot about the salmon entering the river

[izzyscout21]

I'm in the process of setting up shop to make kydex and leather holsters and sheaths .

Let us know when you get that up and running. I may be interested in a couple holsters

[Gunfixr]

I have some of the pants with the pad pockets in them.
What we did was to put on the regular strap-type knee pads, and get them where I wanted them. Then, my wife marked where the top strap was, and where the edges of the pad were. She then sewed some "belt loops" made from another pair of worn out pants where the marks are. They are hardly noticeable, since the color is almost the same. The pads are put on as normal, but don't need to be real tight. The loops keep the pads from going up or down or side to side.
While the pouches on the pants are ok, my knees are bad enough that a hard shell pad is much better. This allows me to do that, without cutting off circulation to the lower leg, and the pads shifting around all the time anyway.

[dragon5126]

This is another "where to begin" thread... I even went out and bought myself a small portable sewing machine, that was promptly absconded with by my oldest daughter to make things for herself and friends in their chapter of the SCA (google it, it pertains to what we do in many ways, they just use it to study and experience midevil history). I have made tools, knives, axes, hammers, clothing, tables, chairs, you name it. Some times its out of need others out of fun. I've designed equipment to fit needs when there was none to fit the bill, modified equipment to improve it or make it capable of doing something it wasnt capable of. An example of this is a rake harrow at the ranch. We have an indoor riding arena that gets groomed weekly but a big tractor will do more harm than good so how do we groom it? a garden tractor but that wont handle a three point hitch the answer was an A frame draw bar set up, hinged at the harrow. how do we move it about now that the size tripled? a pair of wheels mounted on the harrow sticking up in the air, flip it upside down on the A frame and the weight of the harrow pushes the wheels to the ground levering the A frame up off the ground supporting the hole mess on the wheels and the hitch. very simple and elegant. The Kiss principle. I've made holsters slings, power distribution setups, locking equipment cabinets, the list is massive. Basic metal working skills, carpentry, mechanics and textile skills can take you everywhere, and above all will be tradeable in the after.

[dragon5126]

Let us know when you get that up and running. I may be interested in a couple holsters

Kydex is extremely easy to work with once you have your forms made these can be cast out of plaster. If you have a vaccum food sealer available, or know how to heat shrink plastic, seal up the fire arm you are going to make the cast of, amd make a mold of it in plaster (pour half the container cover the plaster with saran wrap, make sure there is a generous overlap and no airbubbles, press the firearm in so that it is ALMOST half way into the plasterover the saranwrap then pour the rest of the plaster over the gun. let it harden all the way. Carefully remove the hardened plaster from what ever container it is in and gently seperate it at the overlapping saran wrap. the gun should come out of the mold fairly easy now and you will have two halfs of a negative mold. carefully carve an opening to the edge on at least one side of the molds { to pour plaster through} at the pistol grip. carefully align the two halfs and duct tape them all around and across to seal and hold them together AFTER putting some type of finish on the interior of the mold, I use paraffin wax dissolved in naptha, a pain in the butt to do but works nice on resin molding. you can use hair spray, any type of vegitable spray or similar. then just slowly pour the plaster into the mold IF you have something that vibrates that you can tape securely to the mold so much the better to eliminate air bubbles. [no jokes please] An electric engraver or a dremel with a bent nail in the chuck [think off balanced] will work fine. In commercial set ups they have a vibrating table top to do this. kill the vibration after you are sure the bubbles are gone [before the plaster sets up, so that it doesnt weaken], let it set for a good 24 hours. carefully open the mold so as not to ruin it or the positive model. If you were making ceramic items you wouldnt seal the plaster mold, as you would want the plaster to absorb water from the clay and it would leave the clay deposited on the sides of the mold). A simple press is used to shape heated kydex over the dummy of the gun, with a foam pad that forms the hot themoplastic around the form, and into the nooks and crannies that make it hold the firearm in place. The trick is shaping the outside of the holster into an ergonomic design to fit where you want it. The two partsof the holster (front and back) can be easily riveted together with simple hand tools just like two pieces of leather. Get a Small electric die grinder and some extremely fine polishing compound, 555 or finer and hard and stitched muslim buffing wheels for the die grinder ( these are bigger than dremel size, and the die grinder is easier to handle than a hand drill and easily clamped in a vise for mounted use) to finish off the edges and standard cutters can be used in it to cut belt loops. you can also lightly heat the kydex and cut the thermoplastic with punches. And before you ask. Yes I have made them before as well as knive sheaths. I have also made resin dummy pistold for leather holster work but found that resin dummies isnt that freat with kydex as they tend to stick together if the thermoplastic is too hot for the resin you are using, but plaster while not as durable is more forgiving of heat and wont stick to the kydex.

I hope both of you find this info of use.... takes me back to a time when I had more free time... ahhh the good old days.... Oh one more thing, if you want to put texture in the kydex just put a sheet of what ever type of textured material you want over it befor you press it, JUST make sure you try it with a scrap first to be sure that the texture material wont stick. it's cheaper than paying for the texture sheets that are sold commercially, I used Denim quite a bit, but you have to be careful when finishing the edged of textured sheaths so you wont remove the texture.

[Gunfixr]

Well, finally got to taking the pics of the holster.
The holster was made using two layers of 500 denier Cordura, with two layers of poly fabric stiffener backing, which is to give it rigidity. A third layer was used in the flap area, to make it easier to open. In fact, it almost opens itself. The edge was covered with a piece of 1" webbing, to finish it off and eliminate fraying. An opening was left at the bottom for water drainage. A doubled piece of 3" webbing was used for the belt loop. I actually found a supplier of small quantity military gear hardware, and acquired the "lift the dot" post style snaps. A small loop was added at the bottom should the need to tie the bottom of the holster down arise. A regular leather GI holster was used as the pattern, but the width altered so that the gun will fir with a light mounted.




I prefer the old style web belts to the newer ones. Here is the most basic belt setup, with pistol, knife, and pistol ammo. I use para cord to lock the holster and knife sheath in place. This keeps them from walking around the waist, and keeps them together. With this setup, reaching for either the knife or pistol is very similar, and since usually a space is open under the vest to get the pistol out, it also lets you get the knife out.

[Stormfeather]

I'm in the process of setting up shop to make kydex and leather holsters and sheaths . First off I have to clean the pole barn , which involves moving and cataloging the preps . Then I have to put a ceiling on my room and insulate it . Then see if my secondhand heater works and fire it up this week because we already had a frost . Then there's the archery deer season that opened on Saturday . I forgot about the salmon entering the river

Let me double tap that, I need a kydex holster for a HK Mk23 with a LAM built for me, designed to be bolted onto a leg platform style carrier!