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+--- Thread: Scutum Arm Protector (/showthread.php?tid=20871)
Scutum Arm Protector - wolle1301 - 06-06-2012
Hello,
I am perfoming as a Secutor and all my fellow Scutari know how bad your wrist hurts after a day of beating in practice and/or the arena.
Therefore I made up a little something and now I am looking forward to hear (read actually) what you think of it.
Please give me true feedback, I am not too idle to hear some negative criticsm.
And if you have questions, feel free to ask
Re: Scutum Arm Protector - Olaf - 06-06-2012
I normaly just wrap some wool or linen fabric around my wrist, some of my colleagues have glued sheep fur to the back side of the Scutum.
I think I saw some hints in Iconography that the back ages of the umbo hole might also have been padded.
Scutum Arm Protector - PhilusEstilius - 09-26-2012
It may sound like cheating a bit however if you get hold of one of those abraisive foam pads 3 X 4 X 3/4 thick and wrap it in cloth then glue it to the back of the scutum just above the umbo hole it gives tremendous help in holding it so much better.
Scutum Arm Protector - M. Demetrius - 09-26-2012
Well, to flog the dead, battered horse again, you could just make the umbo fit your hand. Most of the commercial ones are for people with much smaller hands, such as the Romans had compared to ours. My scuta have a 6" (15cm) hole, and a 6" dish for an umbo. I don't have that problem at all. I could probably get by with a 5.5" (14cm) size, but the tool is made already, and I'm good with it, as are all the others who use this size.
The way I see it, I wear a size 10 1/2 or 11 shoe, not a size 8 or 9 like the Romans mostly did. I get shoes that fit my feet; why not get shields that fit my hand? (And helmets that fit my head) But that's an old argument that people have well-entrenched for themselves.
Scutum Arm Protector - wolle1301 - 09-27-2012
The Umbo fits my hand pretty well. But since we do fight with our shields and dont just carry them around, my wrist always was bruised. Thats why I made it
Scutum Arm Protector - M. Demetrius - 09-27-2012
If it makes the shield work for you, and helps protect you, then it's perfect. That's the important thing: that it works, you like it, and you go home without bruises.
The workmanship is excellent, and the stitching as good as anyone's I've seen. I'm guessing a velcro tab under the rectangular area?
Scutum Arm Protector - P Sertorius Scaevola - 09-28-2012
The modern use of leather wrist protectors may simply be due to us all being 'weekend warriors'; we're simply not used to wielding the scutum as the romans were. Hence we neither develop callisses, nummness or deformation of the bones like the Legionaries might have. We know form skeletal finds that the hardships of soldiering left their marks upon the bodies of the men. Today, with our maybe 40 days gross in the field, what can you expect...
Reverting to historical evidence, the use of wristguards can be ruled out. There is none. So what we do is cheat in order to preserve ourselves, save us from injuries. asensible thought, not backed by historical evidense. The use of a larger umbo appeals more to me than resorting to leather guards. But that's all upto the individual.
Scutum Arm Protector - wolle1301 - 10-01-2012
Quote:The workmanship is excellent, and the stitching as good as anyone's I've seen. I'm guessing a velcro tab under the rectangular area?
No, I tried to keep it as close to history as possible. It is filled with tomentum
Scutum Arm Protector - wolle1301 - 10-01-2012
Quote:The modern use of leather wrist protectors may simply be due to us all being 'weekend warriors'; we're simply not used to wielding the scutum as the romans were. Hence we neither develop callisses, nummness or deformation of the bones like the Legionaries might have. We know form skeletal finds that the hardships of soldiering left their marks upon the bodies of the men. Today, with our maybe 40 days gross in the field, what can you expect...
Reverting to historical evidence, the use of wristguards can be ruled out. There is none. So what we do is cheat in order to preserve ourselves, save us from injuries. asensible thought, not backed by historical evidense. The use of a larger umbo appeals more to me than resorting to leather guards. But that's all upto the individual.
Sorry man, but there is no evidence for larfer umbos.
By the way, my umbo ist sufficently big enough. The shield just hits my wrist, when I lift it, and than hit my opponent with the bottom edge of it.
Scutum Arm Protector - M. Demetrius - 10-02-2012
http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/tomentum
You fill the area under the stitching with tomentum. OK, it's your gear, do what you want, of course.
If the umbo had a larger base/hole, and you lifted your shield to strike with the lower edge, the upper edge of your shield aperture would not hit your wrist, and you would not need a wrist protector, as the diameter of the area in question would not be in the same place.
Quote: You wrote: Sorry man, but there is no evidence for larfer umbos.I presume you meant larGer. True, sir, there is not. Nor is there evidence for caligae in the sizes that most of us wear, nor doubled leather wrist protectors, nor "Romans" on the North American continent, nor helmets above around 6 5/8", etc., etc., as already stated.
Look, make your shield any size you like, make your umbo 3" in diameter or whatever size you want. Make it from 22ga copper alloy, solid gold, or 16ga stainless steel. It doesn't matter to me, personally, in any way.