Premium Members Lawrence Karman Posted April 21, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 Can someone who tried this vest out tell me if it puts the same demands on "those muscles" as Garrett refers to them, the lower back muscles, as does the traditional front mounted vest? And I don't know why some of you are so concerned about the quick release. I'm sure if it was left out some might complain and it probably would only marginally reduce the cost of the vest if left out. It's like I always said about the Superpost: nice to have but you never want to use it. I'd love to try it out including the 3 section arm but from the photos I'm not sure I'd want to back through any doorways with that on. Looks rather wide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members RonBaldwin Posted April 21, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 I have the prototype Pro helium filled post with mask (plugs into aux connector on jbox). Sometimes I will take a quick hit before a take, the hoochie mamas love when I say "SET!" like a munchkin -- it also helps keep the sled light and with the afore mentioned unfortunate drowning scenario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Matt Petrosky Posted April 21, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 Ron I am surprised by your association with noble gases. And Doc, call me crazy, but I like using the superpost. Setup is a PITA, but it's fun to fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alfeo Dixon SOC Posted April 22, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 22, 2012 Can someone who tried this vest out tell me if it puts the same demands on "those muscles" as Garrett refers to them, the lower back muscles, as does the traditional front mounted vest? Hey Doc, Lets just say that Peter Abraham was running around in bigger rigs and not just for 5minutes... I hope he will chime in on this and how it felt to him personably on "those muscles" and his injury. For me, I jumped in the EXO vest minutes before we were leaving the hall on setup day. It felt strange and I was not really comfortable in the vest. I made Chris spend some time with me on the setup and it also appeared I had picked up a nasty habit of leaning back that I started to immediately rectify. Once I got a good fit, it warmed up to me and I could certainly tell that my lower back was no longer working as hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Bryan Fowler Posted April 22, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 22, 2012 I really enjoyed not having (or needing) the chest straps. That alone was worth it. I could breathe and move easier. I also noticed stability when walking without the need to micromanage my hip movement, so it felt easier to just... move. Also satiability when switching (and the rig was away from me) was not nearly as painful. I certainly still felt it in "that" muscle, but it didn't seem to be as much as a regular vest. Maybe that was just me. The pivoting was weird at first, but I quickly forgot about it. Overall I really liked it. And want it. I know Chris and Garrett were getting feedback all the time, and have plans to make more modifications based on that feedback. I think I heard something about a bear skin covered pads, iPhone dock and heated/cooled cup holder. But I could be wrong. I, for one, am eager to drink the ExoVest liquor of love! Can't wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members chris fawcett Posted April 22, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 22, 2012 Hi Everybody, Thanks for the great interest in the Exovest, and especially to all of you at the show who tested the prototypes, and offered helpful suggestions. It was amazingly educational to fit it on so many varying body types. Thanks especially to Eric and Pedro, who really took the time to give us valuable feedback. Although we still have work to do, we're delighted that the principle behind the vest works the way we want it to. There are lots of questions in this thread, but I think the main ones have already been addressed, so I'll try to answer some that have been left hanging. We've already redesigned many of the details of the vest based on our NAB experience, but two parts of most relevance are the upper chest plate and the lower back plate. On some ops, the chest plate seemed just too high for comfort, so we've lowered it and changed its form to get its upper edge well clear of the neck. Pedro's experience of the Exomount (that's what we provisionally call the 3rd arm section), taught us that the lower back plate has to have more rigidity so that the experience of front-mount and rear-mount operating are equalised. As to the question of the rapid release, we went back and forth on this issue for months. In the end the decision came down to us not wanting anybody ever to be injured in this vest. Even if one operator in one hundred uses this feature only once in his or her career, I will consider it well worth having included. There are two hinges on the vest to let you in and out. The release works by ejecting the bails of the hinges from their keepers. It's simple and lightweight, and it you don't like it, you can remove the active parts, and disable the system in a minute. I'll be keeping mine intact! If I've missed any questions, please fire them out, and I'll try to answer everything as fully as possible. All the best, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Afton Grant Posted April 22, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 22, 2012 To Chris and others who have demo'd the vest, A lot of my control of the sled comes from my hips. Minute movements there will keep or put the sled where I want it. If there are now pivots that isolate the hip movement from the vest, I'm curious where you feel yourself making those small little adjustments to the sled's position? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members chris fawcett Posted April 23, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Hi Afton, It's very different. In the Exovest, you don't use those muscles that stabilise your hip joint at the pelvis, nor the stomach muscles that stabilise the pelvis itself. Instead you relax them so that your hip joints move up and down relative to one another as they do when we walk without a Steadicam. The idea is that not only do you exert less muscular effort now in walking with the Steadicam, but also when you lift one foot off the ground, your body is supported by a leg that is hanging on bone on tendon, rather than on tensed muscle. This makes for very precise slow walking, and allows the socket block to remain at the same level above the ground, because as one hip joint rises, the other falls. The vests we use presently stabilise the torque of holding the sled out front by—in the case of the front-mount vest—a chest strap at mid thoracic level, and—with the back-mount vest—a rear spar at about the same level. The exoskeletal nature of the Exovest allows us to double that lever arm and to insert the torque into the high trapezius muscles between the shoulder blades, while avoiding the spine. This longer lever halves the force required to resist the cantilever, and allows you to control the position of the rig from the level of your shoulders instead. It's something you need to try to see if it's for you. I'm fairly confident that people will prefer it, as overall, it requires less muscular effort. All the best, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members James Davis Posted April 23, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Hey Chris, Firstly, thanks for trying to make operating more comfortable for us all! Secondly, do you know when there will be one in the uk that we can test out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members chris fawcett Posted April 23, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Hey James, We're working on it! All the best, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Lawrence Karman Posted April 23, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Will there be one out at Tiffen in Glendale to try out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members chris fawcett Posted April 23, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Will there be one out at Tiffen in Glendale to try out? Probably yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mariano Costa Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 (edited) If this exovest is better for operator`s health and affordably priced then shouldn`t it be the standart vest for the tiffen rigs in the long run? Edited April 23, 2012 by Mariano Costa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members chris fawcett Posted April 23, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 If this exovest is better for operator`s health and affordably priced then shouldn`t it be the standart vest for the tiffen rigs in the long run? One step at a time, Mariano! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mariano Costa Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 If this exovest is better for operator`s health and affordably priced then shouldn`t it be the standart vest for the tiffen rigs in the long run? One step at a time, Mariano! :D ok, ok...it just got me excited and thinking... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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