Small Unpainted Shield

The shield arrived faster than expected, and it's quite hefty. The straps feel strong, though they can be a bit small for wearing with gauntlets or sparring gloves. It's a great piece for reenactment.

This shield is well built, some might say overbuilt.  I think it will take anything thrown at it including pole arms.  My arm will give out from the incoming energy before the shield will.  At the time MRL no longer had them in stock so I got mine from a third party vendor and it was the last that he had.  It’s made of 1” thick plywood and weighs 8¾ lb.  Personally I rather they used ½” plywood cutting the weight almost in half.  The fault that I found is that the rear covering shrank over time.  I painted only the front and edges and that area doesn't seem to have moved, possibly paint on the rear would have prevented this.  The shrinkage caused the glue to let go.  I recommend on receiving the shield to tack around the edges.  I did so later on the back side tacking 1” apart.  The shield is tough and resisted the tacks but I got around this by drilling pilot holes.  Mark the bit or put a stop on it so as not to drill completely through.