Quote:
Originally Posted by mlangsdorf
The big problem with a shield is that useful ones are heavy - at least 8 lbs for a DB 1 small shield. If you're optimizing for low encumbrance to increase your Move and Dodge, and you don't want intend to engage in melee very often, it can make sense to fight with a single one-handed weapon when you have to fight in melee.
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Before I get too persnickety, I recognize that the use case I'm about to describe was pretty limited.
that being said: I had cause recently to make an historically accurate (ish) buckler-grip shield. It was 34" in diameter (half my height), made of aspen, with an oak handle, steel boss, and deer-hide edging, plus linen thread stitching the edging to the wood.
It weighed 5.4 lbs.
It would definitely not fare well against a great-axe (this is what was also observed historically) or a great-ogre. But the way it's used was not like I thought.
Certainly shields could be, and were, heavier. But a DB +2 shield is absolutely possible and plausible in the 4.5-6lb range. DR will be fairly low; the HT of the shield will be higher than you think: it's usually made of rived (the axe version of rift sawing) wood that has very good grain coherency and robustness.
Anyway, I recall that using Low-Tech one can apply Light and other mods to stuff, but it should be possible to have a lightweight DB +2 shield that weighs less than 6 lbs.