[Hector A.]

Hello Forum,

I'm new to this forum, its a pleasure to be here and i greet you.

I have come to you seeking advice concerning shields, i cannot seem to find reasonable information on the internet concerning what shields to buy and where for 1 on 1 training.
To elaborate, me and my wife have decided to become more active ( we have a job that makes us sit for 10h a day... ), and sword sparring was something we both had interest in, so we purchased two Albion i:33 swords and quickly noticed something was missing: a shield!

Did some research on the internet got comfortable with the whole history of shields, and it would seem a Heater shields ( that if i am not mistaken evolved from the kite shield) would be appropriate for training with 1 hand swords. Would they?

I can't seem to find many websites who sell them and ship in Europe ( i live currently in Portugal ).

The only one i found was this one: http://www.getdressedforbattle.co.uk/acatalog...64200.html

My questions are: is this shield suited for 1 on 1 full force sparring with 1 handed swords? Are there better ones? better models? If so where can i buy them and do they ship to Europe?

I thank you for your patience and any time spent helping me, if you have any other information not sensitive to what i asked, i also appreciate what ever knowledge you can give me.

Kind Regards,

Hector.

[Christopher B Lellis]

Hi, welcome!

That shield looks functional, but if you plan on smiting each others shields, it will get all dinged up, dented and even cracked, I would go for something less elaborate and purely functional.

Here are some from Arms and Armour.
http://armor.com/armor.html

They have no designs but they are solid, I own the targe and am very happy with it.

Here are some more shields, including heater shields,
http://www.kultofathena.com/shields.asp

I think most if not all of those are functional, but I could be mistaken. If you like one in particular, I would google it specifically and see what others have said about it if that's the case.

[Foong Chen Hong]

[Ralph Grinly]

If what you want is one *purely* for sparring, and "non-traditional" but reasonably sturdy and long lasting, may I suggest this option.
Get yourself one of those heavy, blue plastic 200 litre drums that they ship various liguids in. Make yourself an appropriate sized, shield-shaped template and cut the shape out of the side of the drum with a jigsaw. You should have enough material to make two shields from one drum, plus stuff left over for re-enforcing, if you feel it's needed. As far as fitting out, the instructions given in other parts of this thread will apply equally to this plastic material. If you want it to look more authentic, you can still cover it with linen or heavy canvas, glued on with contact cement and then painted.

[Hector A.]

Foong Chen Hong congratulations on your shield its beautiful!
Ralph Grinly: that is a fantastic idea, unfortunately i don't have time for DIY, like i said my job has us sitting on our butts all day long .

So i guess i will have to go the purchase route for a shield, however i saved the link you gave me Foong and will try it out someday for sure.


Christopher B Lellis: I really like the Arms and Armor Heater shield, but the price is very high, not only the base price but with shipping to Europe and especially 24% VAT ( Portugal has highest VAT in Europe... ).

On the same website i linked last time i sow this http://www.getdressedforbattle.co.uk/acatalog...tml#SID=31

Not sure if its a kite or heater shield ( i seem to be struggling with identifying the two) but its made of steel, they say its good for stage combat and the price is very low, its probably not as good as the arms and armor steel shield but for the price could be interesting to test it out. What do you guys think? Also is it historically correct, and are the straps and handle supose to be in that configuration?

Again thank you all for your help and for the time you have given me.

[T. Kew]

That is a heater shield. The grip is very odd, and I think is completely ahistorical. The 'conventional' way to have the grip set up on a heater is with a handle near the top right corner (viewed from the back) and a strap for the forearm placed lower down towards the left side. This means it rests relatively well on the arm, defending the left side of the body.

However, for one-on-one combat drawing on historical sources, you might be better off purchasing a pair of bucklers,. There are a number of surviving manuals covering combat with the sword and buckler, and it was likely quite common as a more casual/civilian weapon, while the heater shield was associated rather more with armoured combat.

[Hector A.]

[Peter Messent]

If I may, I would tend to avoid shields with a lot of metal fittings, myself - a decent shield can take a lot of abuse with blunt swords, but they are, ultimately, disposable. I'd also be a little concerned about a metal rim getting chewed up from repeated blows and causing injury itself - the shield is a weapon also

It might be an idea to try and find some reenactors in your area and see if you could pay someone to make you a shield; quite frequently, reenactors go for relatively simple, functional shields that are also conservative on weight and often made of modern plywood which would likely be more durable for the weight than butted planks.

With regards to hand strength, if your wife has the opportunity it might be an idea to try something like these hand-grips:
http://www.promo-wholesale.com/china/Exercise...-73875.htm
(No connection to webpage, just came up on a google search)

A set of hand grips can be pretty effective; I used to just use them whenever I had a spare minute. The improvement in hand and forearm strength can be pretty dramatic. They come in varying levels of resistance, depending on what you need - any sports place should have them.

Hope that helps some,
Pete

[T. Kew]

If you're set on having arm-strapped shields, your options become really rather limited.

I'd personally take a look at this guy: http://www.shieldsplus.co.uk/page2.htm , who I'm fairly sure I've met at re-enactment markets here in the UK, and seems to do fairly solid and relatively historical basic shields. They're plywood, not planked, but at a pretty decent price point, and should stand up to a fair bit of use. No idea what kind of prices you'll be looking at for shipping to Portugal, though. The basic finish is either faced with white canvas or painted with one colour, so you'd have something that looked reasonable as a starting item, and could be painted later with a more elaborate design if you felt the need.

Neither of the two shields you last linked have historical grounding to the best of my knowledge. The only forms of arm-strapped shield I'm aware of in western europe are the kite, heater, rotella, and targe, basically. The latter two are round shields of different sizes, but neither are particularly close to the round piece you linked, which appears to be basically a small viking shield with a strapped grip. They're also typically later, falling more into the renaissance, and generally used with a different set of weapons than a plain arming sword.

One possible option if you're concerned about wrist strain is wooden buckler wasters. They're reasonably cheap and will probably be lighter than your swords, and have a relatively nice style. I do sword and buckler with a small (9" or so) steel buckler made by someone in my HEMA group, which is definitely lighter than a Rawlings nylon waster, and much less of a strain on the hands, if you want something of a practical comparison.

The main reason I'd advocate looking at the buckler over the kite or heater is that the latter two are mostly military shields, and don't give so much protection for unarmoured bodyparts. A shield suitable for a Norman knight wearing mail from head to knee or toe doesn't have to be so usable to protect the sword-arm while you attack, for examples. The buckler doesn't give more protection, but it is very maneuverable, and easy to keep close to the sword hand for defense. The manuals for the use of sword and buckler mostly cover unarmoured fighting, so they have techniques designed to protect your unarmoured legs and arms while you attack or defend.

[Baard H]

Hello, when I first started training with swords I thougth I'd probably never enjoy buckler's as I doubted my ability to block anything with such small a shield. However, when I tried it out half a year into my training I found it was much easier than I first believed.
Most of the blocking/deflecting is done by the sword with the buckler defending your swordhand and manipulating your opponents weapon. Despite its small size though, the buckler is large enough to block or deflect attacks on its own (I've even stopped spear-thrusts with it).

[Lafayette C Curtis]

[Philip Staniewski]

Hi, Look up these guys on Facebook: Sharukhan market. They are out of Ukraine. I think for about $150 plus shipping you can get a very good shield.

Cheers,
Philip