Functional Back Brace For a Costume

[Jesuit24]

Hi, hopefully this is in the right place. I have big plans for making a Velociraptor costume and I've got a handle on how I'm putting most of it together, but there is one issue and it's a big one; comfort. I know that I'm going to be uncomfortable in the costume regardless of what I do and I'm at peace with that, but I need a method to take the stress off my back and possibly lengthen the time I can wear the costume from a few minutes to a few hours at a time.

Essentially, the costume will require me to be doubled over forward, Here's a picture to show you what I mean:


This position will put a lot of stress on my back so I'm looking for a way to ease it. I don't know whether a back brace would work? I know digitigrade stilts use bungee cord to alleviate pressure and act as a tendon when wearing them, so I was wondering if I could do something similar for my back?


I also want to direct the weight of the costume to my hips since any weight on my shoulders is not going to go well for me in that position. Perhaps a backpack frame with kidney padding like so:


As you can probably tell, I don't know much about engineering but as a cosplayer, I love to dabble in new things, from painting, special effects and construction, so any help is greatly appreciated. Tell me how to make something and I'll make it. A diagram would probably go a longer way but any input whatsoever would be great.

Thanks.

[mdbanks2]

I hope I didnt get your hopes up with this response because I'm no engineer, but you sir- are doing gods work. This looks so ------ cool! Hoping to see this costume storming down Santa Monica on Halloween!

That being said you might be able to find a precedent construction online as a similar suit was used on Tosh.O (it was a rental and he was walking up and down our sidewalk in it lol). Or I believe "Walking with Dinosaurs" might have a construction explanation floating around online somewhere as well. Bonne Chance!

[JAlberts]

Depending upon the weight of the body, it might be better to shift the center of gravity (balancing point) backward to directly over your hips by adding weight to the tail and/or lightening the weight of the body head area.

As for cushioning, if this is a short term requirement, I have found that a few layered sheets standard small bubble packing bubble wrap works very well and will easily support up to 150 lbs when used as a temporary seat cushion.