Hey Riv, i'll tackle this step by step and hopefully it will clear up any issues others may have but are afraid to ask.
1. the grandfather clause has been in place since the beginning of the club. while it was always hoped that members would upgrade their kits on their own it was never required. sadly we had members that were so far out of compliance with current standards and i an effort to keep our club legitimate, relivant and current, we felt the grandfather clause must go and require that all club members upgrade their kits as required with each crl update. our most recent crl upgrade was in january. members out of compliance with the current crl's have until september 1st of this year to bring their kits into compliance or they will lose their “official member” title until the upgrades are completed and reapproved. When future crl upgrades are made, the process will be repeated allotting existing members that may be out of compliance to upgrade.
2. on the issue of external strapping… it’s not banned, it’s just discouraged. The rasoning for this was we were getting a large number of applicants that were using cheap, obviously identified, sew in elastic bands all over the costume to hold plates down. On many kits that would be considered great kits, it caused a major eyesore to the overall presentation. This is easily remedied by doing any of the following…
a. hiding the elastic band inside the flightsuit by making small incisions hidden under the plates. We don’t see Jango Fett with 6 sets of elastic bands around his legs.
b. Using an in universe or in universe appearing material for your strapping. Examples would be leather straps or tactical strapping such as nylon belting.
c. There are area’s on the body where the use of elastic strapping is necessary and expected. These being the knee’s and the elbows. Cheap sew in elastic band, while still discouraged in these area’s, is acceptable (on these area’s ONLY) as long as it is purchased in a color that matches the flightsuit or is dyed to match. A better alternative though would be to use a higher quality elastic that appears to be a belting type material. These will actually accept your kit and add to the overall appearance even if they are a color other than the flighsuit. A great way to get this type of e;astic is pant suspenders. They come in a variety of colors, are a much higher grade material, have a more professional appearance and while slightly more costly than sew in elastic, are still low cost. Plus, you still have good flexation and a means to keep the plates secure to the joint.
3. on the issue of knee’s that are stunt friendly… we will soon be adding an addendum to the crl’s in reference to SOME real world armors that will require little to no modification for use with the club. These addendum’s have become necessary due to canon source material. These will be VERY piece specific. One of the items address are a VERY specific type of real world knee pads. Keep your eyes peeled! Another option that has recently gain a lot of popularity among members is the use of hardhats for knee’s. they come in a variety of different designs, can be cut into a variety of shapes and with the proper combination of hat shape selection and shape cut, can be made into a very Swarzy looking piece of knee armor. An advantage to these is with the addition of a couple piece of foam between the interior and your actual knee and you have a piece of knee armor that can and will sustain almost any abuse you ca throw at it and not break. Plus, they are cheap. Many people have a random, not in use, hardhat or two laying around, they can be purchased at second hand store or yard sales for a buck or two or, they can be purchased at almost any hardware department or hardware store for about $5.00 give or take a buck or two. One hat can make as many pieces of armor as you mind can imagine onto it. I’ve seen 2 hats outfit knee’s, shoulders, back of hand, 8 fingers and 2 thumbs and elbows. That’s a lot of bang for the buck!
I hope this helped clarify some issues and gives you some info you can work with!
