I'm into metal for over 30 years now, but never wore something that was truly worth to be called a battle vest. So I decided to start my personal covid project during the first lockdown in april 2020. Since "Fighting the world" was the album that brought heavy metal into my live, it is not surprising that I chose Epic & Heavy Metal to be the theme for my vest.
What started as a task that made me visit eBay once a week, slowly went to being active in forums, TSS, bandcamp and FB. I bought, traded and sold and got to know a lot of fine people from all over the world. Some of them I already met and some I hope to meet at a concert or a festival to have a beer with them.
When I couldn't find a patch, I contacted the bands. Every single band answered, everyone was amazingly helpful and supportive. Some even checked their private collections for long sold out patches and sent them to me, many asked for fotos of the final vest. What a great experience!
Yesterday I sewed the last patch onto my vest, just in time for the Up the Hammers festival in Athens. A worthy event to wear it for the first time! When you recognize me there or at another festival or concert and like to chat and have a beer, just come over and say hello!
And if you like to check out the bands on this vest, then this is the place for you: https://tshirtslayer.com/forum/topic/defender-steel-soundtrack
From the tomb on
With He Man and Skeletor, epic!!
Dante on
By the power of Greyskull, yes!
bad_american1992 on
Wooooah momma this is too much epic heavy metal for me to handle! Stunner of a vest dude. I love he crammed aesthetics, the matching border colors and the symmetry!
Dante on
Thanks for the kind words! ⚔️
StarTaiger on
Nice story, the journey was worth it, the result is awesome, its epicness is beyond charts !!
Like the swords & armors of legends, it now needs a name... Defender of Steel !!
Hails & cheers !!
Dante on
Hail brother, raise the horns! 🍻
Deathtattooguy
Very awesome
Dante on
Thanks mate!
fauzan big on
Awesome vest!!!! Really nice layout and bands selection
Dante on
Much obliged! 💪🏼
Thane on
Holy hell this is beautiful. Amazing killer layout.
Dante on
Thanks, really appreciated!
FOAD on
Da hat jemand auf die Symmetrie geachtet, finde ich gut!
Ein paar nette Bands dazu sind auch mit drauf. ;-)
Dante on
Mein innerer Autist konnte nicht anders. ;)
FOAD on
Ich kenne das. Bei mir ist es evtl. nicht ganz so extrem, aber ein totales Chaos will ich auf der Kutte auch nicht haben.
metalCRUSTbarbarian on
FIVE FLAMES!!
Dante on
Tausend Dank! 🔥
MC Sauerkraut on
Und zur Einweihung nen Kurzen für jede darauf abgebildete Hieb- und Stichwaffe ;)
Dante on
Hahaha, schöne Idee, aber das würde böse enden. 😅 Prost! 🍻
Into Glory Ride on
Nahezu perfekte Kutte!
Ich muss immer lachen, wenn ich quasi nahezu meinen gesamten Musikgeschmack auf einer Weste wiederfinde.
Aber auch sonst in Komposition, Farben, und vor allem Symmetrie: Absolut stark.
Mir gefällt, was du mit dem Kodex gemacht hast, sehr geil.
Dante on
Herzlichen Dank! :) Wahrscheinlich haben wir uns schon bei unzähligen Konzerten gesehen! Cheers!
Faber on
Sweet piece mate! Damn what a nice tribune! No way I'll gonna miss ya at KIT Rising
Dante on
Really looking forward to it! The first beer will be on me, mate! 🍻
Whispers of Death on
Amazing vest!! Cool to see some of mine on there too!
Dante on
Thanks for contributing to my vest, always a pleasure to order from you!
Halo of Flies on
Looks great. Glad to see some old school stuff from my day like Number OT Beast, Riot and my all time favorite album Mob Rules
Dante on
Thanks, there can't be a heavy metal themed vest without these!
Heavy Metal Chemist on
Wow Dante, this is an absolute stunner! There is so much 'epicness' here 💪😫🤘 This vest should be in the dictionaries to show what the word Epic means 😅 I hope to once see this vest in real life. I will definitely make a chat with you!
Dante on
Awesome, looking forward to meeting you! 🤘
TKALVIS on
Beautiful layout! I'm off to check out some of the bands you have on here I've not heard of.
Dante on
That's one thing I really loved during the process of creating my vest - looking at other designs and discovering some awesome bands! Have fun! 😊🤘
Cardboardcity on
Tonnes of great pieces on here and a really thorough and thought out layout - great work! One of the best modern back patches for one of the best modern bands too!
Dante on
The moment I saw the back patch I instantly knew that it would be the centre piece for my vest!
Boss the Ross on
Masterpiece!
Dante on
Thanks mate!
Black Frost on
Perfection!
Dante on
Really appreciated, thanks!
Metalmate on
And what a beauty it has become!!! Stunning vest mate. Nice touch with He-man and Skeletor. Big fan of the symmetry
Dante on
Thank you, mate!
Sickdog on
Yeah, richtig gut geworden! Was n Schmuckstück!
Dante on
Nicht zuletzt dank deiner Patches! Merci!
Ymir on
Holy moly, that's the definition of epic and the stuff I came here for! Insane vest!
Dante on
Making it look epic was the main goal, thanks! ⚔️
zilin on
Sick!!! One of the best in 2022~!!
Dante on
Thanks a lot! 😊🤘
Rise_above on
The best, period!
Dante on
Thanks mate, hope to see you again soon! 🍻
Rise_above on
That would be awesome of course!
HermanTheGerman on
Hammergeil! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Dante on
Up the Hammers! 🔨 Thanks!
stepand on
Has to be top 3 vests I've seen on ts
Dante on
That's a huge compliment, thanks!
HolyDriver on
If Conan had listened to metal, he would have worn this vest.
Dante on
Haha, thanks! 🤣 Would have been hard for him to squeeze himself into a size-M vest!
KayLuca on
Great Work! Love it 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Dante on
Thank you! 💪
ManOfSteel on
This is perfection! Theme, patch choice, layout, symmetry - I would sell my soul for a vest like this!
Dante on
Thank you! I didn't sell my soul, but spent quite some money on it. ;)
Hárbarðr on
Absolutely stunning!!
Dante on
Thanks, mate!
Kenny Powers on
Superb design and symmetry, great band selection. 100% my taste... perfectly done.
Dante on
Much appreciated, thank you! Taste in bands is indeed very similar!
Heiliger Veit on
Great design and awesome selection of bands! Love the Vendel and Herzel patches
Dante on
Thanks for the flames! Herzel's "Le Dernier Rempart" was one of the best releases of 2021 imho. 🤘
PowerPlautze on
One of the best vest i've ever seen. The layout is just great and i love the screamer patch on the back. Still searching this one for my vest.
Dante on
Thanks a lot! Bought the Screamer patch from Komplott here on TSS, great guy!
frederic-schulz... on
sure the best way to spend the Lockdown, i started my Vest in 2018 with the thought in mind to add only patches of Bands i would see live, so that thought went overboard pretty quick
Dante on
Yeah, I know some people who follow the same approach. But for me a battle vest is more about paying tribute to the bands I love, not about my personal concert history. Trying to see as many as possible live nevertheless. ;)
The Clairvoyant on
Outstanding vest with a great back story too! Extra kudos for Seven Sisters. 🤘
Dante on
Thank you, I had the pleasure of seeing them twice in the last months, not only a fantastic live band but also very nice guys! 🤘
Komplott on
Musste gerade zu meinem Entsetzen feststellen, dass ich dieses Prachtstück noch nicht mit Lobeshymnen bedacht habe. Es freut mich außerordentlich, dass ich meinen kleinen Beitrag zu diesem Glanzwerk deiner scharfen Nadel und deines stabilen Geschmackes leisten konnte. Möge Dir diese Kutte viele Freibiere auf den kommenden Gigs und Festivals bescheren! \m/
Dante on
Danke dir vielmals, zählt man den halbierten Kodex doppelt, dann haben es fünf deiner Patches auf die Kutte geschafft! 😉🤘 Und das erste Bier geht definitiv auf mich, wenn wir uns mal live sehen! 🍻
Komplott on
Es wird ein Fest, wenns mal soweit ist! :)
meaningless
what a wounderfull BP!!!!
Dante on
That's also what I thought the moment I first saw it, instantly fell in love with it! 😍
EspadaNegra on
Probably the best vest I've seen here since now, so many beautiful patches. And now I understand why the Griffin patch is not for sale. ;)
Dante on
Thanks, yeah, the patch is in a quite prominent place, wouldn't be easy to replace it appropriately.
Zlatko on
Perfect vest! Awesome!
Dante on
Thank you, really appreciated!🤘
SmilingJack on
Hell yeah, what an incredible vest, hats off for this
flawless composition!
Dante on
Thanks for the compliment!
Deathtattooguy
I think this one is my favorite of them all. I come back and look at it from time to time. This rocks!!
Dante on
That coming from you means a lot, thank you very much mate! I admired your collection from day one here on TSS. Cheers! 🍻
deathwitch on
That Roky Erickson patch!!!! So much to take in. Looks great.
Dante on
Thanks mate, Roky's been a true pioneer, I discovered his music quite late through Entombed's "Night of the Vampire" in the late 90s.
deathwitch on
I only discovered him in the 00s because I was born in the 90s! I would have just been too young. 🤣
Great German masterpiece here! 👏🤘👹 Well done
deathwitch on
Yeah... Poor old Rocky. RIP.
Wagerl on
hübsch wie sau!
Dante on
Danke dir!
_ashes.against.... on
Excellent layout
Dante on
Thank you very much!
CHAD_THUNDERCOCK on
ETERNAL CHAMPION!!! SABIRE!!!
HEAVY METAL WILL NEVER DIE
Dante on
Truer words were never spoken! 💪🤘