Hey all

I completed this a while ago, but hadn't thought of posting it.
I figured you all might like to take a gander, and possibly be inspired to make one your own.

This is the first targe I made which has a removable spike....I was quite excited to have figured that one out :-)
A decent spike can be made using materials from Home Depot. I made mine using a 10" carriage bolt and a tee-nut, both with a 3/8" coarse thread. Cost is about $2.00





I used a thick tooling leather and regular brass upholstery tacks for the front. I also hammered a slightly domed boss out of sheet brass and secured it in the center with rough copper nails.
The back is padded with grass and jute fiber which is covered with upholstery leather secured in place with iron carpet tacks. The arm straps are made out of the same leather as the front, and then held in place with brass nails.

Crude, yet ready for service

The idea I have about targes used by Scots warriors in battle is that they probably did not have all the lovely tooling and adornment that we admire now.

The surviving examples we see today likely survived because they were made for wealthy men who could afford the finest weapons and equipment, but probably weren't actually used in battle.
I have read several times the mention of hundreds of targes being produced in workshops to be issued to highland soldiers during the '45 rebellions.

I find it difficult to believe that a craftsman back then would have taken all the extra time to create a beautiful work of art, only to send it out in the field to be hacked and bashed up.

I make my targes keeping in mind what the average clansman would have carried.....simple, functional and produced quickly.