OMGERD, I got to try on a fursuit for the first time at Biggest Little Fur Con and it was amazing! I've had a great deal of time to think about what I'd do if I ever got a suit but this is the first time that I actually got to try one for reals for a few hours. Here are some observations I made as a bird that had never done this before.

Sight
Note: This is based on the fursuit I had the privilege of testing. Different fursuit heads may have better/worse visibility and this is a personal recollection for a bird that's trying it for the first time.

My brain went nuts at the blind spot that's created while wearing the head. Imagine if you temporarily gained a 2 inch blind spot directly in front of you but, your brain is still correctly compensating to create weird visuals that are logically inconsistent. Someone sitting on a couch suddenly disappears if you tilt your head one way, and reappears if you tilt it in another direction. My brain actually filled in the blank spot on the couch (blind spot) with the correct couch texture. Logically, I KNOW someone is sitting there but my eyes says otherwise.

The suit used mesh eyes. The effect is reduced visual fidelity, compounded with bird not wearing his glasses. A rough ballpark is I don't see shapes resolve into adults until ~300 yards, kids at ~200-150 yards. A friend with normal vision and had a similar mesh eye commented they can resolve people as shapes at least 25% further than me.

My conclusion was, having a fursuit head on effectively made me legally blind. Was fascinating to see my brain organically compensate for the greatly degraded visual performance. While the effect sounds terrifying, I did not mind it at all and was focused more on coming up with ways to work around it.

Watch me flail my arms around...cutely

Visual freakiness aside, I tested endurance, pacing, and general gesturing. For some reason I naturally found myself gesturing much much more, which should help.

* Found himself using hands to gesture a lot, and it did double duty as 'whiskers' to feel around the space in front of where I can't see to make sure there is clearance for my footpaws.

* Danced at about 60% and can feel myself heating up, easing up, and pacing to not overexert myself. I was able to go all out for short bursts but it drained me quickly. Would have been interesting to get feedback if it the performance looks any different.

* Learned that I was able to comfortably go ~45 minute stretches at a time before needing a break.

* Time flew by relatively quickly while suiting.

Conclusion

I need to get a suit. The character sheet for Tierce is ready once the makers that are a good fit for the style I have in mind are open for commissions.

What are your thoughts and comments?