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Version 1.0
For those of you who have seen it, I built a mod for my magstrikes to use in humans vs zombies. The central idea was to use a pre-fabricated air tank instead of pvc for an external air source for a magstrike.
Links:
Reddit Post with Detailed Explanation of Build
Picture Album of Original Mod
Video of Original Mod in Action
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Version 2.0
Album of Revised Mod (with before and after picture at the end)
After playing thru one game of humans vs zombies, I went to work on revising my design. The revisions were as follows:
1. Weight: While extremely sturdy, it was just too much weight to be able to run around for a long period of time in. My original reasoning was that I could trade off having to run by having supreme firepower. While I did have the necessary firepower, running was still a high necessity so I needed to cut down on the weight. I accomplished this by doing away with the huge casing and reducing it to just the platform it was mounting on.
2. Collision: This was something I did not ever anticipate. People are crazy and people can be stupid. During the final mission while running and maneuvering out of the way of an attacking horde, a guy ran into my back case and he wasn't a happy camper. No damage to him (save a nice bruise on the neck) or the tank luckily. However, observing the situation, to some people the situation is similar to hitting a kid with a car. No matter how much it was the kid's fault, you're the one that looks like the douche. What I did this time around was reduce the footprint so there is less to collide with, but also I used thick, firm foam to make a custom casing over the tank just in case someone collides with me again.
3. Safety: Aside from collision that I just covered, I also used some of my paracord and tying skills to secure the line running from the tank to the regulator. This line runs at 100 PSI or whatever the tank is pumped to so it is more likely to rupture than the gun lines, esp in the case of collisions. In case that it does, the paracord holds the lin in place so it will no whip around and hit me or anything else in the fact.
4. Firepower Options: I only really ended up finding better use of one magstrike at a time because of reloading. It worked fabulously but just to give myself some options I decided to look into modifying a hornet to have an air compression powered gun that was front loading. To removed the cocking mechanism and pulled it forward to have all 6 cylinders on constant ready. I also pulled out the pump and regular trigger pieces just to reduce the gun down. I used a cut off bottom of a nerf titan for an air input and used epoxy to replace the air hose on it with better hosing that I used for my magstrikes.
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Update: Revision 2.5
I changed a few things around after lots of fiddling with the layout. I decided to be super picky and try to make the build as tactical as I possibly could and it paid off! Here are some of the updates.
1. Weight Distribution - As much as I trimmed the mod down I still felt really encumbered by the way everything was hanging off of me. I researched some info on proper weight distribution for backpacks and things of that nature to figure out the optimal way to carry the weight. The tank itself is about 85% of the weight of the mod now. I decided to try using the belt around the center of my chest and pulling the straps way up so that the tank weight rested in the very center of my back. Using some more paracord skills I tied it all together and sealed the ties with epoxy. It's the same weight but it feels a ton better than both previous iterations.
2. Freedom of Movement - By moving the tank straps entirely to my chest, I feel 200% better in my freedom of movement. My waist, legs and midsection aren't strapped to the tank and I have more range of motion in my torso and nothing is hitting my legs if I squat, crouch or bend over in any way. (Biggest improvement overall!) I've also secure ever loose strap, hose and everything else attached. As much as I run, jump, crouch or whatever, nothing is falling off and doesn't hinder me from engaging or retreating from zombies in whatever manner is necessary.
3. Scrapped the Hornet - Did some tests with the hornet and turns out it wastes more air than its worth. I'd rather trade off the intended ability to quickly load up a few darts and use nice air pressure for carrying less and more mobility. To compensate I am carrying a Maverick and two spare cylinders (cylinder swap out mod) in out of the way positions. I made a custom holster out of various belts and paracord I had on hand. I moved the ammo bags and the maverick all to a seperate old waist belt that is entirely separate from the tank harness, freeing up my movement.
4. Looks - I decided to pretty up the foam case for the tank with some buckles and acrylic protection screen for the guage (thanks to roboman for the suggestion on protecting it better!). I did also look at some plywood as suggested by a few people but the boards were too thin for me to drill things into the side. I prefer the thickness and feel of the board for this project so I'm going to stick with that. I painted it black to go with the rest of the mod better.
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Version 2.5.1
Tested my ability to run with my ammo pouches readjusted. Decided to lose the maverick too. I will just use sockbombs for HvZ as a backup.
