Tournament Barrier Construction

[Jess]

Not sure where this thread should go. Is this a "facet of recreating Medieval armed combat"?

Anyway, can anyone direct me towards information on the construction of a barrier for 14-15th c. barrier combat? I used the search function, but most of the result links no longer work...

Would prefer the finished barrier could be used indoors or out. Thanks!

[Sean Powell]

Hey Jess. I've seen a number of different solutions, some more period then others. The most period ones of course are driven into the ground like actual fences and you can fall against them without knocking them over. Indoor ones will always get pushed around.

How large (long) of a barrier do you want? 8', 16', 24'? What tools do you have to make it with? What is your budget? How period do you want it to look? How durable does it need to be (ok yeah, Heavy Weapons but is this a 1-event barrier or reuseable property for the next decade?)

The better designs I have seen make the uprights from 3-4 pieces of 1x6 laminated together. That means not having to fuss with mortising out the base to receive a foot that is bolted or pegged in place. Up top there are rails of 2x4 and the ends have been cut to a shallow angle. The tapered sections pass into holes in the 1x6's until they meet the taper from the other direction and are then also pegged in place. How fancy you get outside of this general plan depends on routers and table-saws to chamfer edges, nice paint jobs or even cast lion heads on all the uprights.

Sean

[Angusm0628]

I made a break down version that pretty much consists of two "T" shapes the top of the T being the base. Cut a rectangular hole in the upright and took another 1x6 and cut the last six inches of each side in a tab to fit into the hole. Cut a slot into the tab to set a peg on the outside of the upright (tension holds it together) and done. http://www.flickr.com/photos/14678962@N03/4725304977/

[Jan van Nyenrode]

Hi Jess,

Please look at:

http://www.greydragon.org/library/tourneyfence.html

Cheers,

Jan

[igelkott]

Hi Jess,

Please look at:

http://www.greydragon.org/library/tourneyfence.html

Cheers,

Jan

These are awesome for list perimeters but fall apart too easily when used for barrier fighting.

[losthelm]

It's fairly easy to do a slot and tab construction like a tressel table or saw horse.
The grey dragon design works ok if you add a wedge to lock the cross member.

[Jestyr]

We used a variation of the greydragon for our barrier.

An upgrade to help it maintain structural security is to add another cross-beam (so the fence would have 2 bars instead of 1), and you MUST have wedges on either end. You'll still need to adjust it every so often, but it maintains itself fairly well.

[losthelm]

A basic rope turn buckle may prove to need less a justing through out the day.
550 cord works well.