How heavy were shields

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Aryndil said:
One shield I lifted was about 4 kg. The boss itself weighed 1,5 kg, and the wood was REALLY thick.

Was it an original?  I know that the established weight for a Roman scutum is about twenty pounds, and that's as heavy as they get.  The weights for kite shields range from twelve to fifteen pounds, I think, but Viking and Saecson shields tended to be rather light, between five and eight pounds.  My replica Viking shield by Albion weighs about ten pounds, but then it's a lot thicker than Viking shields seem to have been.

Arabarcher, the forty pound shields were their training shields.  Romans used for training arms and armour that were twice as heavy as the real thing, so that when they went into battle with their twenty pound shields, they'd consider them light.
 
ArabArcher35 said:
Roman Scutii were about 45 lbs., and this is NOT an exaggeration.
Yes, it is.  The heaviest shield I know of, a 52"x 25" scuta, weighed 22 lbs. Another of similar size weighs 20. There are others as light as 12.  Given the manner in which these shields were carried (almost like a briefcase) their weight was less of a problem.  45lbs, double the weight of the heaviest, is rediculous.  That would be a shield made from wood 1" thick. 

10 lbs for a shield is not unreasonable, it gives you something solid that will take hits.  After the advent of the lance, or in most cultures one thinks of as roughly "medieval" and using wooden shields, this -give or take about 3 lbs either way) was about what you could expect a shield to weigh.  Strapped on the arm with the greater part of the weight at the elbow, not the hand, the weight is quite acceptable.
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The Anglo-Saxons, for some reason, used amazingly thin shields, like 1/4" thick at the center, tapering out.  0_0  Apparently they used their shields to actively "parry" and turn aside blades -almost like counter-cutting, but with a shield- rather than "blocking" or soaking up hits.  I can't concieve of shields so thin surviving even the length of a battle, otherwise. 
 
Destichado said:
ArabArcher35 said:
Roman Scutii were about 45 lbs., and this is NOT an exaggeration.
Yes, it is.  The heaviest shield I know of, a 52"x 25" scuta, weighed 22 lbs. Another of similar size weighs 20. There are others as light as 12.  Given the manner in which these shields were carried (almost like a briefcase) their weight was less of a problem.  45lbs, double the weight of the heaviest, is rediculous.  That would be a shield made from wood 1" thick. 

10 lbs for a shield is not unreasonable, it gives you something solid that will take hits.  After the advent of the lance, or in most cultures one thinks of as roughly "medieval" and using wooden shields, this -give or take about 3 lbs either way) was about what you could expect a shield to weigh.  Strapped on the arm with the greater part of the weight at the elbow, not the hand, the weight is quite acceptable.
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The Anglo-Saxons, for some reason, used amazingly thin shields, like 1/4" thick at the center, tapering out.  0_0  Apparently they used their shields to actively "parry" and turn aside blades -almost like counter-cutting, but with a shield- rather than "blocking" or soaking up hits.  I can't concieve of shields so thin surviving even the length of a battle, otherwise. 

****. Then, it's good I left that Roma Victor legion. Thanks, Destichado.
 
Well since they called it 'Roma Victor' I would be pretty suspicious. The proper term would be 'Roma Victrix'.
 
It was for a game. Most of them were part of the SCA, but the leader said he disliked fighting shield and sword, which made me suspicious.
 
I'm not nearly as well versed in the weight or use of swords and shields as basically all of you seem to be, but I do remember that a few times i picked up my friend's fake sword (but was made to about the right weaight and size) and sield and felt really awkward using them. Of course that could just be because I'm a scrawny little weakling  :???:

The shield didn't seem excessively heavy, i would guess like 6, 7 pounds. The main problem I had with that was the movement of the shield when it was hit by my friends 'sword'. Makes me wonder what techniques the men back then had for controlling the shield so that theyd always retain full control rather than having it constantly move around on their arm.

Sorry that I msut add to all discussions with only a knowledge of history and not actualy usage and pure study of these things  :cry:
 
Ezias, it may be that the shield wasn't properly hung, so your arm was sliding around in the straps.  I assume it was a strapped shield because a centerboss shield is pretty easy to keek relatively in line, even when it gets the **** beaten out of it.  Its one reason I'm a huge fan of the centerboss grips.
 
Yeah, it was a strapped shield. Shields with the center boss still have at least one strap closer to the elbow though, don't they? Otherwise I don't see how one would be able to wield it... though once again im going with teh purely intellectual since i have no effective experience with such things.
 
im no expert on shelds but the ones the BSU use are not perticulary hevy but thay are acuriout weights i use a kitesheeld. im glad thay are not hevy how ever the first one i ever used was one of blackthorns and the straps wher metal pore pore tear may she rest in peace. she was a perticual hevy sheiled but a good sheeld :razz:
 
I'd have to see a picture of that, because it seems really really awkward to me.  All I'm picturing is like a 4, 5 inch long rod. seems to me that it'd be nearly impossible to control. I'd think that any hit away from the center would throw it out of control.
 
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