DIY leg extensions - 4oz (total) - 4 bucks!

Pogo · Sep 30, 2015

So I finally came up with a very simple and I think aesthetic solution for leg extensions. I wanted a solution that was both simple, light and fairly inexpensive. Also, I do not have to remove them to load my bird into the GPC backpack. Basically I bought a package of heavy duty heat shrink tubing, cut 4 X 2" sections and shrunk wrapped them on the legs. There is enough flex in the tubing to dampen the landings. Here are the steps involved:

You will need one package of Heavy Wall Shrink tubing ($3.96 from Home depot), a tape measure, a heat gun (or hair dryer) and a pair of scissors.

Cut four pieces of the tubing 2" long. This will give an addition 1" of clearance. (adjust length as desired)
Remove one of the legs from your Solo. (a leg that has no antenna)
Now place a piece of the tubing over the bottom of the leg right up to the top of the rubber foot. . Make sure the white printing on the tube is facing inward (towards body of Solo) to hide from view.
Now heat shrink this part of the tubing while rotating the leg to get an even shrinkage. DO NOT OVERHEAT the tubing or the leg. Just enough to get a nice even shrink around the leg.
While still warm, gently remove the tubing from the leg so that they do not fuse together and allow to cool. This will allow you to remove the extensions easily if you need to.
repeat with last three sections.

This is a very light solution and adds only about 4 oz of weight in total. I am able to put my bird with the extensions into the backpack by just tilting the Solo slightly to the side and putting the two legs one one side in first.

Let me know how this works out if you try it.

Del · Sep 30, 2015

Pogo said:
So I finally came up with a very simple and I think aesthetic solution for leg extensions. I wanted a solution that was both simple, light and fairly inexpensive. Also, I do not have to remove them to load my bird into the GPC backpack. Basically I bought a package of heavy duty heat shrink tubing, cut 4 X 2" sections and shrunk wrapped them on the legs. There is enough flex in the tubing to dampen the landings. Here are the steps involved:

You will need one package of Heavy Wall Shrink tubing ($3.96 from Home depot), a tape measure, a heat gun (or hair dryer) and a pair of scissors.

Cut four pieces of the tubing 2" long. This will give an addition 1" of clearance. (adjust length as desired)

Remove one of the legs from your Solo. (a leg that has no antenna)

Now place a piece of the tubing over the bottom of the leg right up to the top of the rubber foot. . Make sure the white printing on the tube is facing inward (towards body of Solo) to hide from view.

Now heat shrink this part of the tubing while rotating the leg to get an even shrinkage. DO NOT OVERHEAT the tubing or the leg. Just enough to get a nice even shrink around the leg.

While still warm, gently remove the tubing from the leg so that they do not fuse together and allow to cool. This will allow you to remove the extensions easily if you need to.

repeat with last three sections.

This is a very light solution and adds only about 4 oz of weight in total. I am able to put my bird with the extensions into the backpack by just tilting the Solo slightly to the side and putting the two legs one one side in first.

Let me know how this works out if you try it.

I think that's a pretty good ideal....thanks