myArmoury.com - Sword suspensions

Posts: 552 Location: San Jose, CA

Fri 11 Dec, 2009 9:55 am

Sean Flynt wrote:

Can anybody shed light on this type? It appears to be a "quick release" system that could serve your purposes, Al. I assume a buckled strap goes through the ring, but it would have to be a very narrow strap. Maybe the ring mates with a hook. It would be pretty easy to make this part--leather strap, brass ring (check Lowes,) a couple of strips of sheet brass and two rivets. I wish the artist had shown the belt. :confused:

I think it is probably a hook. If you were going to use ties it wouldn't be worth it to use valuable metal fittings, and if you were going to use a strap then it probably would of used a buckle.

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Sean Flynt

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Posts: 5,981 Location: Birmingham, Alabama

Fri 11 Dec, 2009 10:26 am

Bryce Felperin wrote:

Sean Flynt wrote:

Can anybody shed light on this type? It appears to be a "quick release" system that could serve your purposes, Al. I assume a buckled strap goes through the ring, but it would have to be a very narrow strap. Maybe the ring mates with a hook. It would be pretty easy to make this part--leather strap, brass ring (check Lowes,) a couple of strips of sheet brass and two rivets. I wish the artist had shown the belt. :confused:

I think it is probably a hook. If you were going to use ties it wouldn't be worth it to use valuable metal fittings, and if you were going to use a strap then it probably would of used a buckle.

Good points. I think the hook idea is the most compelling.

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Sean Flynt

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Posts: 5,981 Location: Birmingham, Alabama

Fri 11 Dec, 2009 10:54 am

Now that I look more closely, I think this suspension might be similar. I wonder if the frog shown above has a twin farther down the scabbard. That makes more sense than a single point. Here's a quick sketch, too. This might work....

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Bryce Felperin

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Posts: 552 Location: San Jose, CA

Fri 11 Dec, 2009 2:02 pm

I tried hooks on scabbards, when walking around faires and such. My experience is that they are only good if you're careful...they tend to come undone if you move wrong. I go with buckles now for detachable scabbards and they work much better. But I think they are hook attachements in the picture.

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Felix R.

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Posts: 555 Location: Germany

Sat 12 Dec, 2009 1:58 am

It depends on the style of the hook, I think. I have a hook for attachment to the belt on the back strap. Due to the shape it won´t come undone. See the picture.

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Bryce Felperin

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Posts: 552 Location: San Jose, CA

Mon 14 Dec, 2009 9:53 am

Felix R. wrote:

It depends on the style of the hook, I think. I have a hook for attachment to the belt on the back strap. Due to the shape it won´t come undone.

That looks to be a good rig, thanks for the pictures.

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Mikko Kuusirati

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Posts: 1,084 Location: Finland

Mon 20 Sep, 2010 6:45 pm

That is not dead which can eternal lie... :D

I came across this thread looking for things to do with my new Windlass German Bastard Sword (a lovely thing for its price, BTW) and then this ca. 1500 altar piece from Salzburg struck my eye while browsing IMAREAL:

[ Linked Image ]

[ Linked Image ]

It seems the black wise man (was it Balthazar? I can never remember) is wearing a long sword on some sort of narrow baldric. Were these at all common in the period? Can you point out any more examples of such? Or has he just looped a perfectly normal belt over his shoulder instead of around his waist, for some reason?

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Bryce Felperin

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Posts: 552 Location: San Jose, CA

Tue 28 Sep, 2010 11:21 am

Sean Flynt wrote:

I don't see any hanger hardware sets at Historic Enterprises anymore, but they do have terrific 15th c. buckle and strap end sets for $25.

http://historicenterprises.biz/reenactment-go...2_184.html

You're not missing much...I had a friend make me a rapier hanger suspension with one of their kits...they were made with copper not mild steel and cast, not forged. Needless to say I didn't like the hooks bending when they did. My advice for anyone who uses detachable hooks for their suspension is use only mild or hardened steel and not brass, copper or lesser metals. The weight of the sword pulling on the hooks has tended to bend any soft metal hooks I have ever used in these setups.

Also check with Craig at Arms and Armor, he once made me a good longsword suspension setup with steel hooks that was pretty robust and it held up quite well.

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Mark T

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Posts: 1,058

Mon 19 Dec, 2011 1:07 am

Re hooks:

Here are some pics of the suspension Russ Ellis did for me a while ago as a 'test' piece on an ATrim, using a single hook:

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Mark T

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Posts: 1,058

Mon 19 Dec, 2011 1:10 am

The above used the following images for inspiration - from Revival Clothing and Albion's sites, respectively:

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Mark T

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Posts: 1,058

Mon 19 Dec, 2011 1:22 am

And two hooks ...

And here's a two-hook suspension Russ completed more recently. Interestingly, I recently came across a period image that shows a suspension with what looks like a moveable mount / in-line buckle on the belt ... will try to upload here if I remember. These allow for good weight distribution and carry.

(Apologies about image quality, and some covering-up of hooks/buckles ... these images are either quick work-in-progress pics or designed to focus on the 'raingard' / chappe, rather than the suspension.)

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Mark T

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Posts: 1,058

Sat 24 Dec, 2011 1:54 am

Here's an image from period art of what could be a moveable buckle, similar to the one in the suspension system above. I don't have full details of this image; it appears in Turnbull's The book of the medieval knight (London: Arms and Armour Press, 1995).

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Mark T

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Posts: 1,058

Mon 23 Jan, 2012 2:54 am

A quick cross-reference: there are some great images in the Wearing longswords in the 16th century thread started by Bill Carew ...

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