11-21-2010, 10:07 AM
Giannis, you have made me smile.
Recreating weapons is a sobering business. It takes time to get a weapon to work properly, it should not just be set dressing. Cavalry weapons will especially suffer great stress when used. But all our gear should be fit for purpose, and we need to consider how our weapons were used to reconstruct the correct size, weight and heft.
I do not honestly know what spear and javelin heads were made of in this period. But I suspect javelin heads would be iron rather than steel. You can make iron as sharp as steel, although it will not hold it's edge as well. But while a steel edge is delicate and prone to damage, iron is easily filed down and re-sharpened. A file and sharpening stone would be standard kit.
I suspect we primarily spend our time getting good quality helmets and armour, then look at our clothing, and don't give our weapons the time they warrant.
Recreating weapons is a sobering business. It takes time to get a weapon to work properly, it should not just be set dressing. Cavalry weapons will especially suffer great stress when used. But all our gear should be fit for purpose, and we need to consider how our weapons were used to reconstruct the correct size, weight and heft.
I do not honestly know what spear and javelin heads were made of in this period. But I suspect javelin heads would be iron rather than steel. You can make iron as sharp as steel, although it will not hold it's edge as well. But while a steel edge is delicate and prone to damage, iron is easily filed down and re-sharpened. A file and sharpening stone would be standard kit.
I suspect we primarily spend our time getting good quality helmets and armour, then look at our clothing, and don't give our weapons the time they warrant.
John Conyard
York
A member of Comitatus Late Roman
Reconstruction Group
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.comitatus.net">http://www.comitatus.net
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.historicalinterpretations.net">http://www.historicalinterpretations.net
<a class="postlink" href="http://lateantiquearchaeology.wordpress.com">http://lateantiquearchaeology.wordpress.com
York
A member of Comitatus Late Roman
Reconstruction Group
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.comitatus.net">http://www.comitatus.net
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.historicalinterpretations.net">http://www.historicalinterpretations.net
<a class="postlink" href="http://lateantiquearchaeology.wordpress.com">http://lateantiquearchaeology.wordpress.com