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[reabuss]

does anyone have any experience with attaching magnets to a flak vest/other soft parts? I'm considering sewing magnets in through a sort of patch/hand sewn deal, but I'm not sure. I'm planning on either attaching my armor to the magnets or using Velcro.

[Medieval Mandalorian]

does anyone have any experience with attaching magnets to a flak vest/other soft parts? I'm considering sewing magnets in through a sort of patch/hand sewn deal, but I'm not sure. I'm planning on either attaching my armor to the magnets or using Velcro.

Alrifght, I don't have any experience but I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night so I will take a shot at this.

I was at Harbor Freight Tools a few days ago and bought a set of ten rare earth magnets that are reasonably sized. They cost less than $5 for the tube. They hold together real nice. I was thinking the same thing, especially for pauldrons, knees and such.

Here is what I know from experience about magnets, in case you don't know. Magnets hold well against pulling forces. They don't do well at sliding forces. If you take my meaning. Think like putting magnets on a refrigerator. You may not find it easy to pull them strait off but they will slide around easliy. So you need to incorporate a male-female post and hole device with the magnets. Have the magnet on the fabric stand out, affix to leather or something stiff like that and have the second magnet inside a few layers of leather so the two magnets touch but cant slide sideways. You will have to place these very exactly, you won't have a lot of wiggle room. Also you will need multiple points, the larger the peice the more sets of magnets.

I plan to try this once I get back working on my suit. I've thought a lot about it.

[jethroskull]

Another option is a combo of magnets and velcro.

And there are plenty of kits that use magnets alone (from the WIPs I've seen).

[reabuss]

Another option is a combo of magnets and velcro.

And there are plenty of kits that use magnets alone (from the WIPs I've seen).

most likely I'm going to use both. thank you!!

[beardad1980]

Another thought. Consider getting bumped into at a Con and your plates rip off. Velcro can help merge that gap or use snaps to be a sure thing.

[Vercopaanir]

I love using magnets for some specific parts but I am also going to second adding a second attachment for certain pieces.  Magnets and velcro work great in concert.  The magnets will pull the plate into the correct position every time (No constant fiddling).  For attaching my magnets to my vest I usually sew a small pocket on the inside out of felt.   Before I put the magnet in the vest I glue the magnet to the armor with JB Weld.  Put some paint on the glued magnet then hold it in place on the vest.  This will show you the exact spot to sew the magnets on the vest.  I do sew the magnets on the inside of the vest so I usualy just stick a pin through the middle of the paint so that I know where to center the magnet and pocket.  You can see some of this process in my build thread here .