Fire department radio pouch

[JNewkirkct]

On 7/24/2017 at 11:16 PM, Halitech said:

Nice work and design. 2 things I noticed though. 1, the mic strap should be up higher to the shoulder so they don't need to unclip it to talk and 2. When doing the name, you pressed too hard on the arbour press handle because you can see the square from around the letter.

It was my first.... I did notice the square marks, I get so nervous of screwing it up that I over emboss it, secondly, through experience, the radio straps we are issued have the mic clip too high, when packaging patients or donning gear we tend to hit the mic with our chin and transmit and our dispatchers hate us for that.  It lands just about "nipple" height for the user.  I need to work on centering the names on the strap, he was very happy with it, so I am happy for that!

Just now, JNewkirkct said:

It was my first.... I did notice the square marks, I get so nervous of screwing it up that I over emboss it, secondly, through experience, the radio straps we are issued have the mic clip too high, when packaging patients or donning gear we tend to hit the mic with our chin and transmit and our dispatchers hate us for that.  It lands just about "nipple" height for the user.  I need to work on centering the names on the strap, he was very happy with it, so I am happy for that!

Also, when we enter a fire most guys habitually unclip the mic and draw it out through our collar and let it hang free, as long as the radio is protected under our gear.

[JNewkirkct]

On 7/23/2017 at 6:54 PM, JerseyFirefighter said:

Looks great! Judging by the stamp it is likely awlivers. If memory serves he/she is an ebay dealer for Studio-N here on the forum.   My opinion is that the radio holster pattern development is the greatest hurdle a fire leather business must overcome. Everything else is just learning by repetition. 

Thanks, it was indeed awlivers I have to order some more from him as a matter of fact thanks for reminding me of his name!

[matthewb137]

Looks good! I just made a few glove keepers for myself and friends on the fire department. Currently working on a shield for a guy on another department, which has a few other guys interested. Radio straps are up next. Two questions for you, though. First, how exactly did you hand paint the letters? What kind of brushes and any tricks to keep the paint from getting in the grooves? I tried with 1/2" letters, came out horrible. Tried 3/4", came out much better but still not perfect. I'm using Angelus Paints. Second, is that one whole single strap?

[JNewkirkct]

I use Tandy paint, I just took my time with it,crime the excess and it will take two or more coats, allow it to dry thoroughly before adding another coat.  That is a 72" strap cut to length with a brass buckle for length adjustment and trigger snaps on the ends to attach into grommets

[matthewb137]

2 hours ago, JNewkirkct said:

I use Tandy paint, I just took my time with it,crime the excess and it will take two or more coats, allow it to dry thoroughly before adding another coat.  That is a 72" strap cut to length with a brass buckle for length adjustment and trigger snaps on the ends to attach into grommets

Looks good. I've yet to see one where the buckle isn't around the chest area. It's definitely a different thing to see. 

[JNewkirkct]

59 minutes ago, matthewb137 said:

Looks good. I've yet to see one where the buckle isn't around the chest area. It's definitely a different thing to see. 

With 60 lbs of gear and scba a buckle digging in your chest is the last thing you need, thanks for the compliment, I posted pics on Facebook and now I have four more orders for them, I bought a side of 9 oz veg tan today to start filling them.

[Engine1]

On 7/26/2017 at 11:24 PM, matthewb137 said:

Looks good! I just made a few glove keepers for myself and friends on the fire department. Currently working on a shield for a guy on another department, which has a few other guys interested. Radio straps are up next. Two questions for you, though. First, how exactly did you hand paint the letters? What kind of brushes and any tricks to keep the paint from getting in the grooves? I tried with 1/2" letters, came out horrible. Tried 3/4", came out much better but still not perfect. I'm using Angelus Paints. Second, is that one whole single strap?

I found that if you do get paint in the grove on a black leather you can dab a bit of black paint on it and it is not noticeable... that radio case looks nicer than mine and I've made a crowd of them

[JNewkirkct]

17 hours ago, Engine1 said:

I found that if you do get paint in the grove on a black leather you can dab a bit of black paint on it and it is not noticeable... that radio case looks nicer than mine and I've made a crowd of them

Thanks man it means a lot to me.  I've recently retired from the fd and I'm on the fence about turning this from hobby to business but I'm weary about it.

[matthewb137]

14 minutes ago, JNewkirkct said:

Thanks man it means a lot to me.  I've recently retired from the fd and I'm on the fence about turning this from hobby to business but I'm weary about it.

Do you sell your straps (shields, helmet bands, glove keepers if you do them?) online or to people you actually know?

[JNewkirkct]

1 hour ago, matthewb137 said:

Do you sell your straps (shields, helmet bands, glove keepers if you do them?) online or to people you actually know?

I made my first radio pouch for someone recently, I've also done suspenders on request, and some hippie bags,  I do charge for the time and materials.  Anyway, I've gotten four orders in a day for the pouches, and possibly 30 more for an EMS service.  There is a fire dept muster coming up in September near me, I'm looking to get rid of some gear, boots, helmets, and memorabilia at their flea market, I'm toying with the idea of making some more pouches, keepers, even key fobs to see how they sell.