12-13-2006, 07:28 AM
Well just consider- the thin strap caligae worked for the ROMAN ARMY. They marched all over Europe with these. So they simply can't be super-weak or wear out quickly. Annoyingly I can't recall just where I read it, but it was some original source that suggested going through as few as two pairs of caligae a year was possible for a legionary. If thin strapped caligae lasted even six months of regular wear, the tiny amount of time an average reenactor would wear theirs means you could reenact for decades before needing new ones.
You're only assuming they wouldn't be so great Matt- but I'd put it to you that your logic is flawed; sure thicker straps will be less likely to break, but there's no reason to believe the proper width straps would be weak. Divided among so many straps, any force is significantly reduced per strap and the stress is minor along the foot except perhaps right at the point where the foot meets the leg- the pair of straps there are those that are thickest at the top where the force would be. They seem clearly designed to take the stress apporpriately. Of course it'll be useful to really know how these fare in use- but again since the Romans did make them this way (and thus far all the artifact caligae I've seen have thin straps), they must have been just fine or the design would have been changed to make the straps thicker, yes?
And no, not yet Martin- I put it off until I could get better leather and then once I had that there was the issue of the hobnails, which hopefully will be taken care of soon... but I'll be making them in January I expect. Yours are really great- that's what I hope mine will look like :wink:
You're only assuming they wouldn't be so great Matt- but I'd put it to you that your logic is flawed; sure thicker straps will be less likely to break, but there's no reason to believe the proper width straps would be weak. Divided among so many straps, any force is significantly reduced per strap and the stress is minor along the foot except perhaps right at the point where the foot meets the leg- the pair of straps there are those that are thickest at the top where the force would be. They seem clearly designed to take the stress apporpriately. Of course it'll be useful to really know how these fare in use- but again since the Romans did make them this way (and thus far all the artifact caligae I've seen have thin straps), they must have been just fine or the design would have been changed to make the straps thicker, yes?
And no, not yet Martin- I put it off until I could get better leather and then once I had that there was the issue of the hobnails, which hopefully will be taken care of soon... but I'll be making them in January I expect. Yours are really great- that's what I hope mine will look like :wink:
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