I definitely see what you're saying - we are on the same page there. And, I'm really not trying to butt heads on this either. I totally see where you're at on this. I just want to clarify what my own research and work has produced, and
more importantly, give the reasons for why I refuse to tweak my own numbers in order to "fit into" some predetermined parameters, which I feel is a form of confirmation bias.
Being consistently overly-generous on gear dimensions rather than conservative, being consistently conservative on height estimates of the subject, sure... one might be able to
almost squeeze SP into within LE's
upper end estimates. However, I can't/won't do that because that's not the point of my work. Additionally it's what my research and numbers reflect. I can find no helmet anywhere that would add 5" to a person's height. Sorry, but that's simply not reasonable or plausible. I could budge a bit on the shoes, but not much (I won't go into detail here unless you request it, but it has to do with the measurement of SP's foot from instep to heel - something I spent a lot of time on when the subjects of "too big shoes" and "shoe lifts" were brought up).
If I keep rounding down, shaving off, squeezing, accounting for the absolute smallest or largest measurements
in order to fit some predetermined parameter
(or theory, or suspect), what's the point of doing my own work at all? And even if I
do that (as I have
per request on multiple occasions), I still can barely squeeze into their upper end number. If I genuinely believed LE was being liberal with their range of heights "just in case", then their range should
start closer to 5'7" on the low end and go up to 6'. As it is now, they have fully eliminated men from suspect list, as the average height for American males is 5'10".
More than 80% of men are over 5'8". Why, if they're being "generous" with a wider range, virtually eliminate half the population altogether? From that, you might automatically assume "well then, probably a woman". Which is what my initial reaction was. Is it a woman? That's what I wanted to find out. That's why I spent so much time on it. But my work did not produce numbers anywhere near their range within reason. So I'm left wondering why and how they arrived at their numbers. If my work resulted in a wider range, starting from somewhere in the vicinity of LE's estimates on up to mine, I might be more inclined to agree with you or agree with LE.
My work has completely changed my mind on who SP could be. As much as I dislike what my results have produced,
they are what they are. They are the result of many, many hours of meticulous work, and I'm not about to trim them down simply to match someone else's results. At least, not until they can show/teach me the method of how they arrived at such different numbers than I and other analysts have.
SP is not 5'7" or shorter. If I add 4-5" for the helmet, this is what it would look like. I'm not trying to be intentionally ridiculous with the illustration below. By my most conservative measurement, and my most most generous leeway on LE's results (based on your numbers), this illustration represents what a tac helm (actual outline overlay) would look like on a man of 5'7" if we added 4" or more padding to the height: