Fencing with scabbards

Fencing while wearing a scabbard is a vital tool to simulate a street fight or battlefield as historically the sword spent most of its time being worn. Here are a few observations of combat with different belt suspensions for scabbards.

Medieval belts

Integrated belt- the sword is worn high and does not need much thought except the weight.

Three-point hook- the sword will dangle, for one-handed sword, the off-hand should brace the scabbard throat, visually represented by resting on the hip.

Vertical loop- this is seen in two varieties, first is the plaque belt suspension which can be held at the hip or rotated to the back and held, second is seen for messers, same as before, but no rotation.

Early modern belts

Rapier hanger- for Destreza, hold the scabbard up a bit, for linear, only hold back when retreating.

Baldric- this is easy to discard or hold at the hip.

Two-sling hanger- these often come with a hook to raise in combat, but will still need to be held at the hip, this is also seen low enough to use as a parrying device.

This post was inspired by Matt Easton's newest video.