Kit Maintenance & Quality

A word of advice 

You will find out quickly that Conventions and other events are not a movie set. When we go prowling and growling, nobody yells "CUT“ every few minutes and there is no staff of assistants to take your helmet and cool you down, no costume department to repair and repaint your kit and no stunt performer in a rubber outfit to take the bump for you. 

Your armor is your property and you will want it to last for several years. You are your own costume designer, armorer, seamstress, actor and stuntman. Therefore, durability is key, especially if you wear it for two or three days in a row at a Convention with only the nights to dry it out. 

It is always worth it to go the extra mile to make sure that your outfit is built to last. If a seam seems cheap and unreliable, it most likely is. Double and triple-stitch it. Don’t be tight on good-quality thread, glue and Velcro. You will regret it. 

While an original movie outfit might get away with just looking good on screen for a couple of days, you should demand more of your armor. It is always worth the effort to pack and bring some essentials to repair your kit: Hot glue gun and glue sticks, cyano glue, needles, thread, duct tape etc. 

Still, you don’t want to spend hours of Convention time repairing your armor, so before you attend an event, make sure that your outfit is ready to wear.

• Wash your textile garments when you get home from an event or have them dry-cleaned. 

• Let them air and dry before packing them away. 

  • Don't leave them sealed up in a tote after a troop... they will get musty and moldy. Clean it immediately. 

• Many costumers store their outfits in sturdy plastic bins or Stanley boxes so that everything is kept safely together in one place and complete and safe from damage. No searching for that gunbelt or helmet or whatever piece of gear you’ve left at home. 

A couple of days before departing for the event, you pull your gear box out, check if the content is complete and in good repair. 

That way, if adjustments need to be made, it’s not a last minute job, because you still have some time left to do them. Don't wait until the last minute to check your kit.