Tartsche Shield DIY-Kit — Armor with Your Energy

The kit includes all the necessary components for creating a battle-ready shield.

The core principle of our craft is the ecological friendliness and naturalness of our products. Therefore, all materials included in the kit are processed by hand in such a way as to preserve the natural strength and beauty of each detail.

We create the blanks ourselves. Rest assured: every element of the kit has passed through our hands.

We are also pleased to offer other shield-building kits:

Contents of the Tartsche Shield Building Kit

Glued blank

A three-layer construction of plywood and linen — the heart of your future shield.

Dimensions:
Height: 75 cm
Width: 55 cm
(Since the blanks are made by hand, dimensions may differ by a couple of millimeters.)

Rawhide strip

With extra length to securely attach the edges and form the handle.

Rawhide (bull split)

Ideal for edging the rim — so the shield withstands impacts and does not delaminate.

Leather straps

For a comfortable and secure grip.

Linen fabric

For covering the front and back sides — an excellent base for further finishing and painting.

Features of Our Blanks

The base of the shield is not just a single layer of plywood, but a well-thought-out construction: three layers of 3 mm plywood glued together with interlayers of linen fabric. This solution makes the Tartsche Shield not only very strong but also noticeably lighter than blanks made of ordinary multiplex plywood offered by other shield or kit manufacturers.

One of the shield’s distinctive features is its shape. It is quite nontrivial to produce! Considerable skill and experience are required to give the shield such a characteristic form.

Our Tartsches fully comply with ethnographic originals and the standards approved by the Bavarian Museum.

By the way, one specimen of the shield is currently on display as an exhibit at the Bavarian Museum. Based on historical examples and archival records, Heiko Pulcher, the founder of “Geschichtshandwerk,” managed to recreate the Tartsche shield to the millimeter.

Incidentally, this type of shield was especially favored by crossbowmen — it provided excellent protection without restricting movement.