Weight and grip of sarissa and shield in macedonian phalanx

[Nearco]

Then, the grip sistem in the macedoniand shield (phalangite) was the same that the aspis? with porpax?

I tried in a phalanx formation with one of these shields, the shield had the shoulder strap that was mentioned before. The movement of your arm is limited for the lenght of the strap and you can only move it up and down. In the other hand with that strap the shield stands always in a correct position protecting you. The real problem is to hold the sarisa with the left hand, the arm of the shield. The shield had a leather porpax in the center, so if you want you can use it or not. When I used the porpax it was almost impossible for me to hold the sarissa with my left hand (and the shield was not so concave as some that have bee found) I had no space to do it and the border of the shield really damages your hand. Maybe it is a mistake in the design of the shield.

When I used no porpax (just the antilabe as porpax for my wrist) I could hold the sarisa better and with this and the shoulder strap the shield still gets the correct position.