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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2007 21:52:03 GMT
I picked up two new shield blanks at Pennsic for $55 each. Both made of aluminum and cut to order.  The left one is a standard heater. The right one is a medium size Byzantine kite. I should have had that one cut longer and thinner. The two are too similar to each other. I will probably look to sell the kite at an event. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2007 21:23:50 GMT
Cool, I didn't know aluminum was suitable for making shields.
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Post by rammstein on Aug 19, 2007 21:27:07 GMT
It isn't. However the SCA caters to itself and it's own way of fighting, not historical accuracy/historical functionality. What I'm getting at specifically is that shields were made from wood not solid sheet metal so that a sword swung could be caught on the edge and buried deep into the wood, leaving the swinger's blade trapped for a second or two while he tries to draw the blade out. This would give the shield user a huge advantage. Since the SCA uses rattan instead of steel - live or otherwise - one doesn't need to worry about this minute eventuality. Both of these are obscenely huge, though. At this size, why not just go use a pavise   |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2007 15:32:54 GMT
Ancient Greek Hopplon shields often had a significant amount of bronze and covered area from the neck to the knee as well as as a good portion of the man to their left. Roman Scutum shields were covered the area from the ankles to the neck. They would often drop them down, squat a bit and fight from behind them. Byzantine Kite shields came down well below their knee in may instances.
Fighting against a large shield does take a lot of skill because there are so few openings. The shots must be quick and accurate. You must become skilled at attacking around the shield and from the blindspot under the shield. Attacking from behind a large shield also requires skill. First rule is, don't blind yourself.
Throughout history, shields came in all sorts of sizes and shapes and made of all materials available at the time. Wood, bronze, wicker, leather. Each shield type has its own fighting style. The size and shape of a shield will effect your defense style, your attack range and your visibility. Throughout the SCA you will find people fighting with all sorts of shield sizes and shapes. Generally it is advisable to use whatever style the people you train with use. It is not a hard and fast rule, but many people have observed that East cost people use larger shields while West cost people use smaller shields.
A lot of people use wooden shields too, but they have a very short life span. I have used wooden shields too, I got about 12 practice uses out of them before the wood started breaking up. A lot of people, like myself, decided that they don't want to be making a new shield every 2 months, so we use more durable materials. I found a great deal of success in plastic. I have seen people have a good deal of success with aluminum too, so I decided to try it out.
The material itself does not effect the fighting style as much as the shape and size... and as I pointed out, historically, that was all over the board.
Now as far as "suitable" in the sense of durrable.... I got into a whole discussion by the person who I bought this shield from at "By My Hand". He has a degree in Metallurgy. This aluminum is not the same as a soda can. He has been experimenting for years to find the right mixture of alloys. His main concern is that the aluminum does not crack over time where the drill-holes are for the handle. I have seen this fault in shields made out of aluminum street-signs. So these shield are very suitable for fighting because that is what they were designed for. The Metallurgist said they will stop a .22 cal bullet.
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Post by rammstein on Aug 20, 2007 19:33:27 GMT
Well you're forgetting something: Hoplons were wood with a bronze shell. Roman scutums were all wood with a metal boss. Both were meant for fighting in rigid formation.
When going one on one as you SCA chaps do, I think a bigger shields, while probably effective, destroys the skill level of the game. I'd much rather see bucklers than scutums in these types of fights.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2007 20:00:08 GMT
There is a lot of people in the SCA who feel exactly as you do Rammstein. Fighting with a small shield requires great skill in defense. It also opens up new avenues of attack and gives the attacker greater visibility. A skilled fighter will also make use of his opponents larger shield to defend himself too. The shield can be used as a barrier by the user or his opponent. Many people who I have talked to who fight with small shields or no shields feel that an opponent with a larger shield is less threatening. Their point of view is, that they have given up more important offensive capabilities for defensive ones. Their logic is that offense is more threatening then defense. Logically speaking, they are right.
I am comfortable in saying that in the deep pool of sharks that I fight in, I am not good enough yet to give up some defense in favor of more offense. Most of the shots I take are either to my head or leg, which are the most heavily armed parts of my body. The body is safer behind the shield. Most of the shots hurt enough through the armor that I treat the fight as if my life is on the line. I am more concerned with not getting hit then hitting the other person.
I have been to other practices where the hits are generally lighter and as a result people tend to be more concerned with hitting the other person then not getting hit themselves. One issue with training with a small pool of people is that you start to expect certain things. It can be particularly bad if one of the things you expect is to get hit lightly. Then what happen is you go to a Crown Tournament with 1,000 fighters from a whole section of the country and you don't know what to expect. It is an awefull surprise for a lot of people the first time they meet an SCA Duke in a tournament and they get the rivets knocked out of their armor.
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