Newstead Armour girth loop fastening methods

[ambrosius]

Ave Crispus & Liberalis,

I believe the Roman split pins have been found are all made of copper alloy, but that doesn't mean much since iron pins would be more unlikely to survive. So there may have been iron ones as well.

That's surely right. :wink:

Attaching the pins to a ring, and running a leather lace through that to keep them together, might work. We'll have to give it a try.

I tried looking at the pictures of yours & Jared's split-pins, but my
computer at work said the site was forbidden. :oops: Leastwise, I
thought I'd send some illustrations of what I meant. Trouble is, my
illustrations don't work when I try drawing them out on here. :wink:
So I'll have to settle for a description for now.

A.) Long-nosed split-pins, which would hang vertically, to prevent
them rotating and then dropping-out (unlike penanular ones).


B.)This is a variation on the 'Z-hooks/S-hooks' which Crispus's
group already use to stop their belts slipping-off the lower girth-hoops
of their Newsteads. There'd be a hook at the top, for fastening the
girth-hoops, plus another at the bottom, for threading a leather thong.
You can thus thread a thong through all the fasteners in series,
without the thong interfering with the girth-hoop fastening. This would
also mean that if one came loose from the girth-hoop (for any reason)
then it would be prevented from dropping and getting lost by all the
others, still attached. I've seen plenty of example of Roman 'S-hooks'
(usually at the ends of chains). Just not sure if they occur on military
sites as commonly as the penanular split-pins. But then, if this 'S-hook'
type of girth-fastener was as efficient at not getting lost as I'm guessing,
then it's no surprise we don't find any of them. 8) Don't know if this
helps the two of you; I've only got the antediluvian model Newstead,
with the 'Corbridge' style girth-hoops.

Cheers,

Ambrosius/Mike