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I agree 100% there Hibs. I have to push my hand into the sheepskin and it really fits like a glove, and gives you a firmer grip on the scutum, and it will not wobble about. (Mind you, I also wrapped the handle with string, as in a pilum shaft)
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
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Yes, handle wrap! Multiple layers of wood glued and wrapped.. we use sinew, rawhide strips, hemp twine, etc.. .. some use a layer of thin leather glued to the grip and wrapped in cordage.. others use a metal reinforcing strip that partly wraps about the handgrip, it covered with leather and cordage...
.. and the heavy padding makes it even easier to turn the scutum 90 degrees to punch with the bottom edge.. reduces the shock from that enourmous impact!
btw, this is one of the things we'll be measuring if we get to do that scutum testing project ..
Hibernicus
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Good points Gents...
I have wound my shields with hemp twine and can attest that it is awesome for re-enactment as well as SCA.
However, it was exactly that kinesthetic disconnect I was experiencing while the handle was too far out from the scutum. Strangely enough, I instinctively crave the connection between myself and my tools of the trade.
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Quote:On some surviving shields (such as those from Dura Europas), the center hole is actually in 2 parts, leaving a strip between which serves as the grip. It can be reinforced with a horizontal bar. That's how I usually do them these days:
Those are, however, the flat plank shields not semicircular scuta, yes? The only semicircular known is not made that way- the handle is a thickening of the back horizontal midline bracing only.
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Thats what I was thinking too!
The cylindrical dura scutum seems to follow the principle of a reinforcing bar as handle too.
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
[b]Legio XIIII GMV. (Q. Magivs)RMRS Remember Atuatuca! Vengence will be ours!
Titus Flavius Germanus
Batavian Coh I
Byron Angel
