Hi there,

Does anyone know how a buckler would have been carried? I've seen many pictures of men wearing bucklers on the hip, but I've no idea how it was attached. Was there some sort of harness?

It´s just a guess, but I could imagine a string, looped around the handle and suspended rom the belt.

Hello!

Elling Polden posted a relevant explanation a while ago:
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?p=109424#109424

Hope this helps,

I would think that a belt hook of some kind, riveted to the buckler itself, would do the trick. I have not seen iconographic evidence of this, as we never see the backside of the buckler, but a hook is less of a hindrance . No need to untie any knots.

Here's Elling's post in the thread linked above. I think he makes a good case for suspending it from the scabbard itself, rather than the hilt ... and the need to be able to 'quick draw' both at once:

Elling Polden wrote:

The best way to carry the buckler is by means of a leather strap that is paralel to the handle. This is passed over the top of the scabbard, before the sword is inserted. Thus, the sword and buckler can be drawn at the same time. The same can be done with a simple loop around the handle, but this means there is a risk of the buckler bouncing around and twining itself up. The preserved norwegian bucklers have this kind of suspension.

Later in that thread, Nils Anderssen posts a photo of what this strap looks like.

Cheers,
Mark T

I always thought (perhaps stupidly) that, assuming there was space, one could/would simply hang the buckler from the sword by slipping the bucklers handle over the swords handle. This is of course assuming earlier models methinks. :confused:

Well one of the pics in the link shows the buckler below that handle of the sword and although one can't be sure how it's suspended it is obviously not suspended on the handle of the sword but attached to the scabbard or sword belt near the scabbard with the rim of the buckler just a hair below the guard.

www.thearma.org/essays/SwordandBuckler.htm

Here are a couple of contenders from that piece, but the details are a bit hard to make out:

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I was recently fortunate enough to view good photos of an English buckler of ca. 1600. There are some working life changes, but one of the most intriguing aspects of the buckler is what appears to be its original grip, which stretches almost the entire diamter of the buckler. It's wooden, carved and shaped somewhat like a suspension bridge, sloping at each end. Inset into one of those sloping ends is what appears to be the remains of a suspension strap. If you were holding the buckler with that side at the 6 o'clock position I think the strap would have been shaped like a long drop of a viscous liquid, with the narrow pointed end set flush into the wood, secured with a domed tack at its narrowest end and a flathead screw (later?) in the middle and dividing into two straps below that screw. The divided straps are now torn off, so I don't know if this was a single piece of leather cut to make a continuous loop to fit over a sword hilt or scabbard mouth, or if the divided straps became laces to be be tied or buckled over a belt. Either way, this clearly does seem to be some form of suspension.

A sketch of the Royal Armouries buckler I saw (can't post photos--sorry!):

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There is a type of medieval belt hook that works very well for hanging a buckler. This one is from my collection, and would fit a 3/4" belt.

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