Slinging.org Forum - Sling and Shield

Kick

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Sling and Shield
Aug 9^th, 2017 at 6:27pm

I've tried searching and didn't find exactly what I was hoping to so...

I've seen quite a few references to shields being used alongside slings, some illustrations of different styles:

http://www.romeacrosseurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Roman-Slingers-wore-n...

http://slinging.org/forum/yabbfiles/Attachments/Thraker.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d9/94/cf/d994cf60a1dff16b0430cce20a281
4ca--ancient-greek-militaria.jpg

And then also some reanactors.

http://slinging.org/forum/yabbfiles/Attachments/Balearic_slinger_Sarmiz.jpg

My question is how accurate are these and which styles do you think would be the most effective/comfortable/useful?

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You are a great guy Kick but also slightly scary at times. - Morphy
"Nothing matters, but it’s perhaps more comfortable to keep calm and not interfere with other people." - H.P. Lovecraft, in a letter to Frank Belknap Long, 7 October, 1923

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Mersa Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Druid Posts: 2036 Australia Gender:	Re: Sling and Shield Reply #1 - Aug 9^th, 2017 at 6:32pm A buckler would be not too cumbersome. Thinking of my baldurs gate days. Just enough to block. Much bigger and it would surely play on your movement/throw
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Morphy Slinging.org Moderator Offline Checkmate Posts: 7155	Re: Sling and Shield Reply #2 - Aug 9^th, 2017 at 9:25pm I thought Jaegoor had done some practice with shields. I looked but could not find any of his videos on it. I think the typical Balearic side arm would be my first choice for slinging with a shield.
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Kick Slinging.org Moderator Offline Posts: 3978 Finland	Re: Sling and Shield Reply #3 - Aug 10^th, 2017 at 6:13am I was thinking baeleric too as you can still pretty much hold the shield in front. I originally meant which style of shield do you think would be affective (I wrote it late last night and it came out mangled ) but considering the slinging style is also interesting.
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slingbadger Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Don't Badger a Badger Posts: 3179 Akron NY Gender:	Re: Sling and Shield Reply #4 - Aug 10^th, 2017 at 6:31am Victor Hanson's book Wars of the Ancient Greeks mentions slingers going into battle with lightweight shields made of woven wicker.
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Morphy

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Re: Sling and Shield
Reply #5 - Aug 10^th, 2017 at 10:30am

Ah. See, too many years focused on target slinging. I see accuracy and "which style" and everything else gets pushed to the side.

Im also going with the Baldurs Gate school of history. Bucklers seem to make the most sense to me. Something small that doesnt mess up your throw too much while also affording you some protection. Throw in a short sword and that is pretty much how I envision ancient slinger troops.

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johan Funditor Offline no longer active:keep the flame of slinging alive Posts: 531	Re: Sling and Shield Reply #6 - Aug 10^th, 2017 at 11:41am i think that the mass of the shield could possibly be used for more powerful throws
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Jaegoor Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 2392 Gender:	Re: Sling and Shield Reply #7 - Aug 10^th, 2017 at 2:23pm https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tG7JORFOXqU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eLHXZcv_pf8
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Kick Slinging.org Moderator Offline Posts: 3978 Finland	Re: Sling and Shield Reply #8 - Aug 10^th, 2017 at 3:22pm Great videos Jaegoor! I would love to get or make a shield. A woven wicker shield would be interesting.
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Jaegoor Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 2392 Gender:	Re: Sling and Shield Reply #9 - Aug 10^th, 2017 at 3:32pm Sie werden es nicht glauben. Der Schild im Film war einmal eine Schale für Obst . Von IKEA. https://www.google.de/search?q=flache+obstschale+bambus+ikea&client=tablet-andro...
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Kick Slinging.org Moderator Offline Posts: 3978 Finland	Re: Sling and Shield Reply #10 - Aug 11^th, 2017 at 2:24am Genius!
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Thearos

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Re: Sling and Shield
Reply #11 - Aug 11^th, 2017 at 5:20am

There are some discussions on this on the forum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPtDT-LWeaw
http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1419790203

All of the illustrations Mr Otter posts are modern reconstructions (some of them rather horrible in my opinion, though I wish I could draw like that); there no evidence for e.g. Greek slingers with shields, but, in the thread above, I post a picture of a man with an animal hide as a shield, to trap and deflect incoming projectiles. (Here it is again) The evidence I can think of is, of course, Trajan's column with slingers carrying a shield and stones in their cloak (which is difficult). But many people have tried it and made it work.

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Lecuyer_004.jpg (24 KB | 69 )

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Jaegoor

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Re: Sling and Shield
Reply #12 - Aug 11^th, 2017 at 6:39am

Thearos. Die abbildungen der Trajan säule funktionieren in der Praxis sehr schlecht. Speziel das Tragen der Steine im Mantel. Auf diese Weise tragen sie das Gewicht der Steine und das Gewicht vom Schild. Das schaffen sie nicht lange. ihr arm ermüdet sehr schnell. Die trajan säule zeigt aber eine Tasche . so funktioniert es sehr gut.

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Bono Mellius

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Kick

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Re: Sling and Shield
Reply #13 - Aug 11^th, 2017 at 9:37am

How did I not find that thread? Using a thick blanket or hide sounds interesting (and easier to test out than a shield) so I might have a go at that some point. Would that really be effective enough to stop or redirect an arrow or glandes though?

That's what I was thinking with the pictures. They all had an air of "artistic interpretation" about them.

Does anyone know anything about the crescent shaped shield? It looks like it would be far more useful paired with a spear or short sword than a sling but then I guess slingers would just use any light shield that was available. Or were there dedicated shields for slingers when they did actually use shields?

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You are a great guy Kick but also slightly scary at times. - Morphy
"Nothing matters, but it’s perhaps more comfortable to keep calm and not interfere with other people." - H.P. Lovecraft, in a letter to Frank Belknap Long, 7 October, 1923

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Morphy Slinging.org Moderator Offline Checkmate Posts: 7155	Re: Sling and Shield Reply #14 - Aug 11^th, 2017 at 10:15am The idea of using shield mass to increase the power of a throw is intriguing. I wonder if this was done? Imagine getting the best of both worlds, larger shield and heavy stone. Makes sense to me.
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