Adding a suspender to a C belt...

[Glaukos the Athenian]

How would you go about doing that?

I have a pair of legs coming that are heavier than I am used to and I know they will cause some issues in the suspension department.
I own C belts from Torvaldr and Pitbull so I am familiar with the system. But I want to add a bit of shoulder support to the leg rig.
I have an older purpoint that may work, but I am weighing all options.

How would you go about doing this?

Thanks!

Glaukos

[Konstantin the Red]

Copper rivets and burrs, since after all a C-belt is modern "SCA-Engineered." Sew 'em on if there's a favorite movie playing on cable.

[GvR]

I did this with my Pitbull c-belt.......
I punched holes where needed in my belt, then installed brass grommets.
I use a mil-surplus "Y"harness suspenders and only buckle my c-belt loosely.
The "Y" harness comes with snap-hooks and take a little effort to get into
the grommets but nothing strenuous.

I chose the "Y" harness over the "H" harness because I feel that the "Y"
is less likely to try to shift around on my body, i.e. try to swap back for front.

[CT03]

Why not just punch some holes in the leather belt and purpoint and lace it to the purpoint... That way it rides with the purpoint and the purpoint takes the weight...

[Paladin74]

Just don't forget to reinforce those laceholes on the pourpoint with leather tabs. Otherwise they'll just eventually tear.

[Konstantin the Red]

Chris, why would someone wear a pourpoint and a C-belt? The former is a replacement for the latter.

[Broadway]

I use a alice harness for my legs. I can't stand regular suspenders... they cut into my shoulders. But the padded ones are nice.

The belt keeps em up 80% of the time, and the suspeders are loose... but eventually the belt slips down a bit, and all I have to do to get it back in the right place is shrug my shoulders. Its a sweet setup.

So... if you're fighting me, and I shrug my shoulders, I'm adjusting my legs.

[Glaukos the Athenian]

Pics of your setup anyone?

I am hoping to pick up a set of military harness suspenders this afternoon to work on them this weekend... Pics for the intellectually slow (me) would be most welcome...

[Broadway]

Pics of mine would jut look like an alice harness. Belt and suspenders. I've got a leather tab with two holes in it, on each leg. I run some parachute cord from the tab up into the holes on the belt. Thats it.

[Glaukos the Athenian]

Thanks guys. Got a set of ALICE type black padded suspenders, and I'll play with the legs and let you know how it went.,,,,

[Pitbull Armory]

Hi Glaukos, If you need to put suspenders on one of my C belts then you may need to just make the C belt smaller so it cinches up tighter. The cone shape of them will not let them be pulled over your hips if cinched. Ive hung 14g legs off em and they do fine as long as the belt is not too big.

Take care

Pb

[GvR]

Pitbull, let me start by saying that I use one of your belts and love it BUT...... some of us have ill defined hips and,
sinch the belt tight enough not to slip and you will chafe something fierce in an all day melee event. This way, I get to
use your belt and keep it loose. It's sortof like a pourpoint FRAME without all the fabric.

[Glaukos the Athenian]

I know where Pitbull is coming from, and he is right, and yet also wrong.

Right because cinching the belt closely gets a snugger feel and a more effective control. Wring because the whole purpose of the suspender is to remove the tension from the belt, and bring it to the shoulders. the advantage is not that the shoulders are stronger, but more horizontal, and therefore more efficient to carry downward loads.

I would compromise here (I never had the time to fix this) by making the belt snug without making it tight, to ensure clean straight lines of tension from the eyelets of the legs to the pads on the shoulders.

When I have the time to do this, I'll try to post pics...

[Pitbull Armory]

Hiya GvR, If you wear a padded gambeson below the C belt there shouldnt be much chafing but everybody likes stuff a little different. Glaukos If I was going to put suspenders on a C belt I would have it connect in 3 spots, possibly 4, 2 up front and one in the back center. Didnt I make you a thinner 9 oz C belt? If so you may want to use it for a pattern and make one out of 14 oz leather if your going to wear it loose, so it kinda holds its shape better maybe?

Have a good week

Pb

[Glaukos the Athenian]

Hiya GvR, If you wear a padded gambeson below the C belt there shouldnt be much chafing but everybody likes stuff a little different. Glaukos If I was going to put suspenders on a C belt I would have it connect in 3 spots, possibly 4, 2 up front and one in the back center. Didnt I make you a thinner 9 oz C belt? If so you may want to use it for a pattern and make one out of 14 oz leather if your going to wear it loose, so it kinda holds its shape better maybe?

Have a good week

Pb

Thanks! I am using the light belt for my "Greek" leather legs. I will be using your full strength one for these legs. My plan is (because of the design of the suspenders, to make 4 spots in front, using a strand of 550 cord each to connect to each of the two metal clips on the ALICE suspender, and the same on the back for the 2 clips of the single strand of the Y. That way the weight is distributed in several spots which should imitate a purpoint and also be comfortable...

Thanks!

Glaukos

[Coenred]

Glaukos, I would recommend removing the metal clips and threading the 550 cord through the loop where the clips used to be. When I was wearing those in the Army, putting a ruck on over the clips made them dig in pretty bad. I would hate to think about getting hit on them. The first thing I did was cut off the hooks on the back and thread 550 cord through and that solved that issue.

[Kilkenny]

Glaukos, I would recommend removing the metal clips and threading the 550 cord through the loop where the clips used to be. When I was wearing those in the Army, putting a ruck on over the clips made them dig in pretty bad. I would hate to think about getting hit on them. The first thing I did was cut off the hooks on the back and thread 550 cord through and that solved that issue.

In this vein, I wore military suspenders to hold up my SCA leg harness for years. I liked the system just fine - except for the part where the brass snap hooks would leave indentations in my body that would be visible for hours after I took off the gear....

[Glaukos the Athenian]

Thank you both gentles. That sort of settles the matter of the hooks/clips , or rather their removal... I am glad I was running out of time and never installed these this past weekend... So just plain 550 cord and eyelets on the belt it is...