One of my priorities as soon as I came back to the sport was to rebuild my equipment selection. To that end, after my first practice back, I ran out to the sporting goods store (more like 4 of them, actually) to find some blue camp foam to recreate my trusty old shield.
Her name was Badbh (Irish, pronounced Bayv), and she was the happiest accident. She was a coreless spiral shield, and the first I ever made. Thanks to some weird tension issues during the gluing process (so many strips, so much DAP), she came out conical, and it was one of the greatest things that ever happened to a shield. Thanks to her convex shape and her weird X handle that I had to cobble together to keep her from imploding, she was stable as a rock. You know when people poke at the edge of your shield to open up your defense? She would have none of it. Shots bounced off at funny angles, throwing off peoples’ rhythms, and she was just sexy.
Yep, I was in love with her, and then I threw her in the trash, because I’m a fool. But, I don’t like to dwell on past mistakes, and so I set out to recreate that once proud beauty.
Having only been back in the sport for a week, I wasn’t sure where I might find the required supplies here in Missoula. As some might tell you, I am occasional too excited and impatient to stop and ask for assistance, so I trekked around town in search of blue foam and kitespar core. I had minimal success finding either. The kitespar rods I found at one of the big box stores was pretty thin, and the foam I found was…well, see for yourself.
Yeah, so…I bought it, and I promise it’s worse than it looks. It’s glorified bubble wrap. If you apply pressure to it, it pops like bubble wrap. I’m sorry for the poor sod unfortunate enough to try to sleep on it. Be that as it may, I went through with construction.
With spiraling strips of foam and a small can of DAP, I made a good go of that beautiful cone shape, but I couldn’t recreate the happy accident. The result was closer to a flat buckler with a hand cup in the middle. (I’m sure that has a proper name, and I’m sure one of you might educate me as to what it is. A cursory Google search isn’t doing the trick.) The handle, on the other hand (Ha!), was much easier to finagle with this shape. It’s finished off with a couple of flat layers of foam glued on the face of the spiral to hold it together and make it nice and foamy. I wouldn’t call it satisfactory, but it will suffice for the time being.
It did last for four months before I had to start re-gluing it in a couple of spots, which isn’t bad for what amounts to a $30 shield. The REAL joy lies in the cover I made, which is one of my favorite things I’ve made to date. BEHOLD RAINBOW!
I had this fabric in my scrap pile and decided it was exactly what I needed in my life. Throw on a wicked Celtic knot raven I traced off of DeviantArt, and you have one BAMF shield! Even when the corpse of this monstrosity is long gone, this shield cover will live on, because I’m in love with it and you will have to pry it from my cold, dead hands to make me part with it.
Anyways…The result of my first build back since my return was decidedly meh. It was far more work than is justified for the quality of what I wound up with, which is mostly due to my own lack of skills. For about $30, I got what I paid for in terms of supplies. Overall, I give this shield 2/5 stars, and that’s mostly because the cover is amazing.
If you want to know more about the specifics of the build or you have something you would like me to review, drop a comment down below, or send me a messenger raven.
Dread Gate Fae 