Belt keeper reference / connecting wide straps
Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 12:21 pm
So I know generally with our waist belts we use the old "through the buckle, then knot" solution, which I love.
The problem I'm running into is with really broad straps - like say, you might have on a pack or bedroll - that gets overly cumbersome.
So assuming you do want to use a wide strap, and you do want to buckle it (say.... because wriggling into a pack with a quiver on your back is a pain) - what do?
In later periods, we see wide straps handled with a double-frame buckle and a leather keeper, like so: ... which of course works quite well, but at least to my eye looks quite late period.
And of course there's the (real? apocraphal?) "Mountain Man" style buckles: same idea, but huge and iron: ... and also big iron hooks like these, though with some argument as to their historicity.
All however seem to require belt keepers of some kind to keep the tail from flopping about.,,, which for whatever reason looks rather modern to me.
So I have two questions:
Has anyone seen documentation of belt keepers / strap keepers in a Roman through Migration era context?
Failing that, has anyone seen a good solution from that early period for connecting wide straps that'll be carrying some weight?
This historical answer might well be "they didn't use such wide straps in the first place" - and while that's great for swords and quivers and such, once you get to packs a bit of extra width is a godsend.
if there's a reference anyone's come across, I'd love to see it!
The problem I'm running into is with really broad straps - like say, you might have on a pack or bedroll - that gets overly cumbersome.
So assuming you do want to use a wide strap, and you do want to buckle it (say.... because wriggling into a pack with a quiver on your back is a pain) - what do?
In later periods, we see wide straps handled with a double-frame buckle and a leather keeper, like so: ... which of course works quite well, but at least to my eye looks quite late period.
And of course there's the (real? apocraphal?) "Mountain Man" style buckles: same idea, but huge and iron: ... and also big iron hooks like these, though with some argument as to their historicity.
All however seem to require belt keepers of some kind to keep the tail from flopping about.,,, which for whatever reason looks rather modern to me.
So I have two questions:
Has anyone seen documentation of belt keepers / strap keepers in a Roman through Migration era context?
Failing that, has anyone seen a good solution from that early period for connecting wide straps that'll be carrying some weight?
This historical answer might well be "they didn't use such wide straps in the first place" - and while that's great for swords and quivers and such, once you get to packs a bit of extra width is a godsend.
if there's a reference anyone's come across, I'd love to see it!