An old external frame backpack from value village ($2) served as the mounting platform for the arms. Initially I hacked down the backpack to just about a foot and a half tall and screwed a chunk of wood into it. It left me with a lot of jagged metal edges that liked to rip through my jacket and skin so some modifications took place after these pictures were taken.

A slab of really thick foam protected me pretty well for the night. It was about two inches thick but I don't know anything else beyond that. We had it lying aound our house. I have no idea why.

Eventually I ended up just chucking the whole metal frame. Instead I just screwed the straps directly into the hunk of wood, which made the whole contraption fit better under the jacket. With the metal frame on it tended to poke up beyond my shoulders or around my side making me look like I was wearing a backpack under my jacket. It might not have been a problem for a wider/taller guy. Sans frame and we're golden.




Bolting the arms to the frame took more trial and error, two friends this time. Me standing there, one to observe and another to hold the arm in about the right place. Once observer was happy with the look holder would outline where the arm was on the board for easier bolting later.

3/4 inch bolts with lockwashers held the arms in place without a hitch. I just ran them through one side of the round to square adapter thingies and tightened them down. They did bounce and move a little bit but the plastic was plenty strong without having to do any reenforcing.

Ever stylish, you can see Zack here sporting an all vinyl brown trenchcoat purchased from good will for $3.50. This was the look I remembered from the movie even though I guess the Doc there spent most of his time running around in a "wife beater". I never gave much thought to the purple and green color scheme of the cartoon/comic outfit.

Oh yeah, since you can see the arm bonking me in the head in the one picture I ended up mounting the arms a little higher on the board later on. Couldn't go too high though or they'd get caught on doorways. A delicate balance.

Zee Goggles, Zey do nosing! Old welders goggles off of ebay. I paid a little more because I wanted goggles that were already brown and not obviously made of plastic, but if I were to do it again I think I'd get some plastic ones and just paint them. These tended to dig into my forhead when not over my eyes and the elastic didn't like to stay in place.

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