Medical Brace (Fallout 3)

The medical brace is a miscellaneous item in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas.

Fallout 3
It is a crafting item which can be found in various locations throughout the Capital Wasteland, most notably used as a necessary component for creating the deathclaw gauntlet. There are actually two items called "medical brace"; the first one is the one used for the deathclaw gauntlet, while the second one is a junk item found only in Raven Rock. They can be distinguished from each other by looking at their "value" number: if it is worth 10, then it is the real thing; if it is worth 1, then it cannot be used to create custom weapons.

Regardless, both kinds of "medical brace" can be loaded into the Rock-It Launcher and used as ammunition.

Fallout: New Vegas
In Fallout: New Vegas, these are used to make doctor's bags at a workbench.

Fallout 3

 * Medical braces are a semi-common item and can be found in many places within the game, especially doctor's clinics.
 * Vault 87, 3 in the clinic.
 * Anchorage Memorial facility, 3 on the shelves in the clinic area.
 * 3 in the Nurse's office in Roosevelt Academy.
 * Rivet City bow, 2-3 in Pinkerton's office. Must be stolen.
 * Roosevelt Academy Arts and Athletics Hall, 2 in an office with wall safe.
 * 2 in Lucky's (southwest of Tenpenny tower). Must be stolen.
 * 2 in Gallo's storage closet, along with a large number of other workbench items.
 * Fort Independence, 2 in the clinic.
 * Vault 112, 2 in a clinic locker.
 * 1 in Megaton, in Lucas Simms' house on a table. Must be stolen.
 * National Guard depot, 1 in the armory, in one of the boxes.
 * Arlington Library, 1 in the Children's wing, the room to the northwest.
 * Tenpenny Tower, 1 in the basement.
 * Super-Duper Mart, 1 in the pharmacy.
 * Hamilton's hideaway, 1 in the northernmost room.
 * 1 in Springvale school, on your right when you enter the school.
 * National Archives, 1 the second room in the basement.
 * Minefield, 1 near the mattress where Arkansas snipes.
 * Minefield, Gibson house, 1 in the children's room.
 * 1 in Museum station. It is in the same room that has a hatch leading to Metro Central.
 * The Our Lady of Hope Hospital contains an exceptionally large amount of medical braces.
 * At the RobCo facility, within the Offices and Cafeteria area, look in the northern closed bathroom near the door leading to the RobCo Factory Floor.

Fallout: New Vegas

 * You can buy one in the New Vegas medical clinic.
 * You can find one in Doc Mitchell's house on the shelf.
 * Randomly found in metal boxes.
 * Sometimes sold by traveling merchants.
 * Can be found inside the Vault 22 medical room.
 * Can be dropped from lobotomites in Big MT

Related quests
In Fallout: New Vegas, one is required for the side quest Restoring Hope if the player's Medicine skill is less than 50.

Behind the scenes
The leg brace model used in the game is strikingly similar to the leg brace worn by Mad Max in The Road Warrior