Buckler buying guide or don't break your knuckles!

[Guest]

A few months back I wanted a matched pair of bucklers so being an armourer I made some. They were raised from 16ga mild steel and they were quite sturdy. Each buckler had just enough room to clench a fist in with a little padding and they felt good to hold, Untill we tried them out! One or two good whacks directly from a padded sword made me nearly double over in pain and the bucklers had simple rod handles so they tended to twist around when hit. My hand took months to heal properly. After thinking alot about this here are some things to look for when purchasing a buckler.

First when purchasing make sure that the buckler is raised deeply enough to allow your hand to 'float" away from the surface of the metal, you should be able to slide another gloved hand in between the hand clenching the handle and the back surface of the metal. This will give you 'shock space' to prevent your hand from slamming into the back of the buckler and breaking your knuckles like I did <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

Second make sure you either wear a glove that has long cuff or install a padded rim. During a hard parry or block the rim can flip around and strike you in the forearm and leave nasty bruises.

Third 'and I don't know if this is available' Try to get a handle that is like a sword grip. Idealy you want an ovaular grip like a sword so you can kinesthetically feel at what angle the buckler is at. Also this 'sword grip handle' reduces the amount of flipping around in your hand during a hard parry.

Fourth a 18 or 20ga metal buckler that is hardened is sufficent or a 16ga unhardended one is also quite ok for padded weapons.
Logically a lighter gauge buckler is appropriate against lighter weapons and a heavier against heavier.
Remember the mass of any armour or shield helps reduce the shock of a blow so if your an I 33 guy use a heavy buckler and if your a rapier or cut and thrust guy you gan get away with a much lighter buckler.

Id be happy to hear other peoples experiences with bucklers or if I'm off base here let me know.

Sincerly
Brad Girod

[Guest]

Thanks for the info Brad, I've been looking for some bucklers myself and appreciate the advice. I've been considering making some from plywood with a metal boss for waster and padded weapon play. I was thinking of edging them with hardened leather or rawhide. Think that will work? It seems like steel ones would damage wasters or padded weapons.

[Derek Wassom]

I was thinking about doing the same thing, Matt. I was going to use close cell foam around the rim to help protect the wasters/foam sparring swords.
I didn't know if I should do that, or just get some steel ones and pad those. Any thought on this?

[Guest]

Now that I think abour it, It's probably best to make soft padded versions for padded weapon sparring. I've broken quite a few padded weapon cores on shields with too hard edges. The plywood and leather type would probably be suitable for wasters and steel blunts.

[TimSheetz]

My sparring buckler is made with a ply wood core (taken from the ends of wiring spools) and covered on the front and back with high density foam and carefully coevered on the edge quite heavily with foam, for the preservation of sparring weapons. Worse than just breaking your padded weapon, a hard edge can cut into the foam and then you could hit someone who catches it right where the padding is broken - not pretty.

I built the handle and bolted it onto the buckler (before covering it with foam) and ensured the bolt ends were short and also covered well. IN hind sight, the handle would be rectangular in corss section.

The key to preserving it is to cover it with cloth . That firms up the padding so it doesn't give too much and extends the life of your sparring weapons.

Draw back on my buckler - it is flat. Not convex or concave, but I'll live with it.
Even with all that padding, your arms will still be jarred - especially if you use the buckler like a shield... and just 'put it out there' to be hit by an incoming weapon. I think you get best results when the buckler is in motion and distinctly 'punching' aside an incoming weapon with the intent to deflect it.

Just my two cents.

Regards,

Tim

[scott adair]

Hi Guys,

I recently cold formed a buckler from the top of a steel drum. I quickly noticed that it was not deep enough and I also banged my hand when it rotated on it's round handle. To solve the problem I made a handle a rectangular cross section and small risers to increase the space between my hand and the buckler.
Recently my problem has been that I seem to smash my pommel into the hand holding my buckler when I try to "keep my pommel inside my buckler". Anyone else having this problem? I seem to have the biggest problem when I transition from a guard like the right window to a rt to left diagonal cut. Should the pommel be touching the buckler or 'floating' just behind it? I've been experimenting a bit but don't really have anyone around to evaluate how well I am covering my sword hand.

, Scott

[Guest]

I really haven't had much problem with steel bucklers and padded weapons. It certanly would not be unreasonable to pad the edge to keep the metal from cutting your foam swords. But for some reason the metal edge dosent seem to be a problem. I almost always intercept a weapon with the flat of the buckler and it probably has to do the the biomechanics of blocking or striking. I use the buckler like an extension of my fist and punch or stiffle oncoming blows. I really wanted to warn people about the dangers of too shalow of a boss or buckler and recommend they check for knucklespace before purchasing.

[Guest]

Hi Folks,

It is clever to have some clearance between the shield boss and the hand because of the possibility of the weapon compressing or coming through the boss.

I think a lot of problems occour with people using shields and bucklers because they are held too tightly. You should be holding it like your other weapon and use the natural strengths of the wrist. Fairly inflexible in the verticle plane and fairly flexible in the horizontal plane. Manipulating shields is a difficult skill and can take years to get it right.

You should be able to manouvre the buckler easily and in I.33 style buckler, move it around the sword hand very quickly.

If used right, a buckler can take a pounding, though watch out for those war hammers. <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

All the best

Col
ARMA Norway