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I think the word you're looking for is seamster, seamstress, tailor, or jerry

I am an occupational therapist, and i enjoy looking for organizations that get people with disabilities outside. One that I found a while ago that seems like it may be helpful for you friend is Paradox Sports. If i understood their website correctly, they help find and get funding for adaptive equipment for people with amputations and spinal cord injuries. The website is www.paradoxsports.org
If you get in touch with them, they may be able to help your friend out as well as introduce him to other people with similar injuries.
Good luck with your search.

i met the boys from paradox during the rock trip - cool group of people for sure. i didn't realize that they helped with adaptave equipment. thanks for the head's up.

I know some of the local bikers and they do patches at bike functions. I think they have a large industrial sewing machine. did you thnk about making them out of some leather or somthing????


I can make the call on that if it seems like a good idea.

I am willing to kick in say a hundred bucks towards whatever Eric needs.
Don't know him but as a climber with some physical limitations myself I can't imagine the amount of will power Eric must have. I would be more than happy to help out someone this inspiring. Give me a point of contact and I will send some greenbacks. Keep going Eric. I do think team paradox will be able to point you in the right direction as to what to use.
If someone else already has the equipment figured out then go with that.
Anybody else out there willing to chip in ?? Gotta help out a hard core climber like this.

Quicksilver

Looking at the picture of the harness provided, the cheapest solution I could think of would be to utilize the Metolius harness that has the strengthened gear loops and hook a tie down to the gear loops and then get the ankle/wrist weight lifting attachments and attach them to the tie downs connected to the harness. It won't provide the added protection of the high priced harness and shells, but it would do the same thing for his legs. Once he is up on the rope, his friends could die down the tie downs to the desired length to pull his legs back at the knee. This would also allow for some adjustments to find out what angle works the best for your friend. In total, this solution would cost under $200.00.

Hope you find something that works out.

I am a cheepwad and where you can spend 1200 dollars you can almost always spend 20. Thick pants and some webbing would be my solution. This could easily be fastened to his ankles and then to his waist or harness to force the knees to bend. If the webbing goes from his ankles to either side it would even cut down on lateral swinging. If the prototype does not work, show it to me and I will make it more than functional for under 10 dollars. Remember, webbing is 30 cents a foot and completely reliable.

krampus wrote:I am a cheepwad and where you can spend 1200 dollars you can almost always spend 20. Thick pants and some webbing would be my solution. This could easily be fastened to his ankles and then to his waist or harness to force the knees to bend. If the webbing goes from his ankles to either side it would even cut down on lateral swinging. If the prototype does not work, show it to me and I will make it more than functional for under 10 dollars. Remember, webbing is 30 cents a foot and completely reliable.

I'm with krampus. nylon webbing is cheap and reliable. adjustable buckles for said webbing can be had for a couple bucks.
I'm not really local, so all i can offer is advice...

I'd start with reinforcing the knees of a loose fitting pair of pants with cordura or some other type of heavy fabric and maybe adding a little padding to the knees and hips. I buy 1000 denier cordura at a local tent & awning shop for like $14 a yard. Its pretty abrasion resistant. A standard sewing machine will sew several layers of it if you get a heavy needle.

For padding, you could probably cut up a yoga mat, or a thermarest (foam, not the inflatable ones) and stitch it inside the cordura. I'd put a strip of velcro up the back of each leg, so they'd be easy to take on and off at the crag.

If you find somebody local who'll let you use their sewing machine, it'll probably only take you about $30-40 in materials to get something up and running.

Sounds like a job for Marginal Goods! Bart is a master of the sewing machine and hella creative with solving problems.

And if you want to spend a few extra bucks, you could just buy knee pads and sew some clot tube type thing onto them so that the whole thing is like slipping on a long sock, somewhere neer the foot of the sock would be the adjustable straps that could attach to his harnes or possibly even the top of the knee pads so that his legs can be pulled away any ammount, ad a clip neer the knees and feet to keep the legs from moving independantly. I know nothing of sewing but I would love to see how this turns out and would not mind being involved, or at least around when they are made.