The Armour Archive

I have finally come to the realization that, if I don't purchase an aluminum shield, I'm just not going to get any sword and shield practice. I've tried to make a go with wooden ones, but they are, as intended, frangible, and the lag time between replacement is such that I can go up to 6 months without a shield. I may use an aluminum shield during practice and then save a wooden one for tourneys. Any suggestions or words of encouragement?

------------------
The defining characteristic of fanaticism is the inability to understand why everyone else is not a fanatic.

Can you do several wooden shields in a single run? That way you get all the bad stuff out of the way right now and when a shield dies you grab a new one.

Why are your shields dying? could you better reinforce them?

------------------
Captain Jamie-a marvellous valorous gentleman, that is certain
Failure is the price of knowledge
Changing the face of warfare one weapon at a time

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Captain Jamie:
<B>...Why are your shields dying? ....
</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Probably because he practices weekly year round, and fighter practices are almost always nonstop fighting (minimum bullsh*tting) until everyone is about to puke. At least they used to be that way. And I sure letting newbies borrow them at practice contribute to their early demise.

Noe; I'll make you a deal. You cover shipping and I'll send you a brand new large curved heater gratis. I can't use it here in Meridies because it's..... *cue dread music here* ....."Plastic". Actually it's that industructable 1/2" thick playground material that I managed to scarf for free. It should last you until about the time Noe Jr. completes high school. Of course it is bright orange but a little fabric and spray adhesive would fix that.

Hey, my sheild just bust too. Yay shields. But it was sooo cool when all those wooden splinters suddenly flew!

Ahem. Encouraging words! I've been tempted to the alumninum side... my friends are all doing it, the popular kids are all doing it... siiigh.

In our group we have a loaner shield I affectionately dub 'the beast'. It's plywood with the corners reinforced with bolted-on steel. It's been around forever. But it is, well, A Beast (TM) Heavy.

Of course, it was lighter than Syr Laurelen's steel sheild. I got to borrow that for a while. +10 Elven Sheild of Building Arm Strength! (16 guage blackened steel with rolled edge covered with hose and then leather, oh and a piece of bar stock welded to the top for even MORE strength.)

Anyway, besides giving me a chance to wax nostalgic about shields past, I would say: if you want to go aluminum, and keep the wood for tourney, go for it. No one is going to complain about your appearance at a practice! If they do, they're pooty heads.

If you are not able to keep up with the shield destruction, go with the aluminum. Don't leave it shiny, though. Please paint it. Fought a guy once with a bright shiny aluminum shield. It was just wrong.

Oh, another thing, if you are buying an aluminum shield, make sure you get exactly what you want. If you have not been using the same pattern for your wooden jobs for a few iterations now, you might not be happy with the permanent shield after a year or two.

I don't know about the thickness and weight you are considering, but my aluminum round weighs about the same as my former wooden round. (I had reinforced only the leading edge for punch-blocking and a newbie sort of insisted on borrowing it. It was trashed before I got it back. I made one that would take that sort of punishment, put black cloth over the surface and have had no complaints about it.) Mine is about 1/8" thick from a highway roadsign I got at a scrapyard.

When I was using a heater, I bought a full sheet of 1/2" underlayment plywood and cut it in half the long way. Each long rectangle was then cut in three. The result was a half dozen 32"x24" shield blanks. Flat, sure, but for a total investment of $22 plus my time, not too bad. That's like $4 per shield. I bolted 1" wide by 1/8" thick steel strapping along the top and the leading edge down to where the curve began. These are the parts I got hit on the most. The parts with the steel never got damaged. Eventually, the edging got beat apart and the curve right below where the steel ended got chewed up a little. The steel is totally scavengeable.

Just thoughts.

-Patrick

Thanks for the kind words, folks. Ron, thank you for your offer. I'm just trying to figure out how to get cash to you for shipping. You are right about one thing, though; the newbies are the ones who go through the shields.

I'm still not decided about what to do in the long term. Have no fear; should i go to the aluminum shield, I will cover it with painted canvas at the very least. Does anyone know a source for the details fo authentic shield construction?

Thank folks

------------------
The defining characteristic of fanaticism is the inability to understand why everyone else is not a fanatic.

If you go for the aluminium shield for practice, you might want to weight it to be the same weight as your wooden tourney shield. Otherwise, you're going to get all slow in the tourney.

Adam
/aethstan /sca drachenwald