This was my first trooping event, and I’m glad it was:
1) There was no marching. This was good because it turns out I had strapping issues that needed to be resolved and there was quick access to a ‘backstage’ area.
2) It was a pretty laid back atmosphere, so there was no real pressure to not suck.
One of the things I always hear about trooping is how cool it is when you see the look on kids faces when they realize there are stormtroopers present. I always thought, eh, big deal. Well, I got there at 9AM sharp on Saturday and it turns out I was the first to arrive. So I got suited up and stood near the entrance, guarding the door if you will. A couple of kids spotted my and went nuts. I made their year. One of them had his Clone Trooper jammies on and got super excited that there was a ‘real’ stormtrooper. Another kept chatting away at how much he liked stormtroopers and hated the rebels and how he wanted armor but his dad wouldn’t get him any and on and on. I could barly hear him over the noise of the fans in my helmet.
And you know what? It was really cool. If I had met a ‘real’ stormtrooper when I was their age it would have blown my tiny little mind. I mean think about it: Santa is a dude in a fake beard. But a stormtrooper? That’s the real deal! I’m glad I was able to bring things to life for them.
Things I learned:
1) Always have black duct tape with you.
2) 9-Volt batteries only last 2-2.5 hours in my helmet before they die. I need to change to using AA batteries, rigged in series. One of the Vader’s (dadvader) told me that set up lasts for days.
3) I MUST run the fans in my helmet or the lenses fog up and it gets horribly hot.
4) Caboots aren’t very comfy and my feet will hurt.
5) The forearm peices leave horrible bruises that look remarkably like track marks. I am hoping to trim the forearm peices to help get rid of this problem.
6) Drink lots of water or gatorade. I sweat a lot! The under armor does great job of wicking away sweat, so you don’t feel super sweaty, but you will be.
One of the guys did a write up of the event with pictures here:
http://www.sandtroopers.com/events/codcon2007/
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