Shield edging? (SCA) - And now size, I guess

[Elling Hrolleifson]

Hey all.

What is everyone edging their shields with these days? Haven't been to an event in a bit, and even when I do, I never really paid much attention to what people were putting on the edges of their shields (since I don't own one).

Now I am about to own a couple, and I need to know what to edge it with.

I see a lot of the Trim-Lok edging for sale on the sites selling the blanks, and was thinking it was a simple solution, but I was wondering other people's opinions on it. Or if there were better options/suggestions?

[Kerry Pratt]

Trim-Lok is low profile and does a very good job for awhile. Once it starts degrading it becomes as much of a problem as a raw shield edge. It's what I use but I try to keep an eye on it and rotate it around the shield when the corners start degrading or replace it when it is no longer functional.

[Alex Baird]

What is the shield material? I had a 1/8" aluminum centergrip that I edged with two layers of split automotive heater hose; 3/8" inside of 3/4". That edging lasted over 15 years, with casual maintenance of the leather binding strips. I took care to break the sharp edges on the rim of the aluminum shield before edging it, and I think that kept it from cutting thru from the inside under impacts.

[Elling Hrolleifson]

Sorry, I should have mentioned. Looking to trim aluminum shields, .100" thick. I have a nice poplar shield I am edging with rawhide, but it's mostly just for show or occasional use.

A casual Amazon search shows the Trim-Lok at about $1.00 per foot, and the heater hose at the same cost. So, as far as those options, it looks like the hose would be twice as expensive (since you have one inside the other), but likely last much longer. Probably weigh a bit more also. Kind of a coin flip it seems like. Both seems like good options though.
Any other thoughts?

Curious about shield sizes also, if anyone has an opinion there.

When I fight, it's largely in Artemesia and An Tir. As these are my first shields (been samurai for a very long time, and never really worried about shields), I looked up some rules and asked around a bit. 30" round seems to be the norm, and the convention in An Tir is exactly that, or a shoulder-to-shoulder chin-to-crotch heater, or nothing over 700 square inches for any other shape. Since I fight occasionally in another group that allows hitting below the knee, and a round shield kind of sucks at defending your ankles, I'm also making a round-top kite for use in both groups.
I have a 24" x 48" piece of aluminum to make it out of, and I know you can just order a kite in those dimensions from a few sources. It's "only" 650 square inches, well below the standard I mentioned (and even smaller than a 30" round, which is 707 sq in), but it seems HUGE when I make a cardboard mock-up. I'm not short. I'm 6' tall and about 190. Are people going to give me the evil eye if I walk out there with a 24x48 round-top kite strapped to an arm?
22x44 seems like it MIGHT be a better size? That comes in at about 550 sq in.

I calculated those, btw, by taking a half-circle either 22" or 24" in diameter (so pi x radius squared, divided by 2), then adding a triangle that was the same base as the diameter, with the height the total length minus the radius (so, a triangle 22" or 24" base, with a height of 33" or 36"...half the base times the height gives the area hanging off the bottom of the half circle).

What size kite shields are you typically seeing around you?

[Alex Baird]

My center grip is 25" in dia. round, which is probably about the norm size for the type in Caid. I based it on the scientific fact that the offcut drop of T6 I bought from the scrapbin was 25" wide.

There are advantages and disadvantages attached to every shield size, playoffs between mobility, coverage and weight. I don't look at people who come out with a barn door with an evil eye; I look at how I can use their own shield's disadvantages against them. See if you can borrow some different sized kites to see what works for you, before you cut it out. Barring that, make the larger size and play with it a bit; you can always cut it smaller later, but you can't upsize it.

[Galileo]

I size everything by the length of my forearm for shields. Grip a chunk of whatever (pipe, rattan, etc) - measure from your grip to your elbow (assuming a center-grip shield). That length is the radius of your round (like your kite). It provides a nice base to work with. For a round, that puts me at 24.5" diameter.

I suspect if I went much bigger, it would get difficult for me to control.

G--

[Elling Hrolleifson]

Thanks for the advice, gentles! I'll do some measuring, see how it looks.