New Plastic Wasters...!

[Jay Vail]

Jon Scott and I had a chance to use these things last weekend (Jan 20). They are very cool. I'm going to buy a pair.

[Erich Wagner]

I had a chance to play with these in Las Vegas. They feel and perform as well as previously described. My only critique would be the need to straighten them out ofter a few vigouous bouts. That's not to say they were bent in half, just slightly curved away from center. When quantities permit I'll definitely be wanting a couple.

Thanks,
Erich

[Brian Hunt]

I was also in on the fun in Las Vegas. After sparring with these tools, I was very impressed with how they handled, flexed, handled in the bind, and the fact that they don't land as hard as wood. This is a really nice all around training tool. I have already ordered one for myself before the rush start.

I would reccomend them as a very good alternative to a wooden waster. I also believe they will have a much longer life than wood.

Looking forward to one of my own.

Brian Hunt
GFS

P.S. Anyone who knows me knows I generally build my own training equipment. I liked the plastic wasters well enough to buy one.

[Jaron Bernstein]

I have never sparred with blunts, but the plastics are far slicker feeling than wooden wasters (which I am told what steel is more like) and they hurt far less than wasters.

[Rod-Thornton]

I have never sparred with blunts, but the plastics are far slicker feeling than wooden wasters (which I am told what steel is more like) and they hurt far less than wasters.

Question: Do the plastic weapons allow for mixed waster training and sparring? I.e., how have they performed against a wooden waster? Or will you need to keep it plastic-on-plastic?

[Jake_Norwood]

I've done a bit of this. Wood vs. Plastic works just fine, although the flexibility of the plastic against the inflexibility of the wood provides some issues when at the bind, generally giving wood the advantage at a middle-middle bind or similar. Outside of this, though, it hasn't been a huge issue.

Jake

[John_Clements]

I've done a bit of this. Wood vs. Plastic works just fine, although the flexibility of the plastic against the inflexibility of the wood provides some issues when at the bind, generally giving wood the advantage at a middle-middle bind or similar. Outside of this, though, it hasn't been a huge issue.

Jake

That's odd, I think the advantage is clearly with the plastic waster over the wooden. The plastic is lighter and faster, and flexes a bit so that binds and parries are trickier.

JC

[Jake_Norwood]

If you bind right, sure. The Plastic enforces better technique. But if you bind hard against a waster at mittel...you'll get pushed off due to the Plastic's flex versus the wood's rigidity.

Also, I'm not sure that these are faster/lighter than an NSA waster, but they certainly are compared to any other brand off the top of my head.

Jake

[Andy Spalding]

So any word on when we may be able to expect these new wasters to be available? I have had a few requests wondering if they will be ready before the KY NPT 1.0. A few of our members need real wasters and would like to purchase one of these, but if they wont be ready by then, ill just let them know to get a regular one.

[Jonathan Harton]

I hope these will be avaliable soon. I'm with the group that started up at UGA this year and am in need of a waster ASAP. These look very promising.

[Stew Feil]

After having the opportunity to extensively test a pair of longswords over the past 3 weeks, I am very impressed with these wasters. I don't see them as a replacement for wooden wasters, which still have a place in what we do, but they do present certain advantages to wood or padded weapons. They definitely react a lot more like steel. I have yet to put on gloves, helmet, or elbow pads while using these, but I still fight with them as hard as I do when I'm geared up using wasters. I have seen several strikes that with wood would have broken a bone, or cause some long lasting severe tissue damage, but with the plastic you can shake them off in a matter of minutes. I'm planning on custom ordering some great swords for myself, and will be looking into one handers and cut and thrusts for the future. All in all a great training tool.

Stew

[Carlos Negredo]

Hello. We are a new school of fencing from Spain, Sala Zaragozana de Esgrima Antigua (AZEA):

http://www.ferruza.com/azea

We have a pair of nylon wasters made by us and they are very good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4HdpesD7AY

Best regards.

[Steve Ames]

Those look pretty good. Nice job. The ones I handled had wooden cross-guard fastened to nylon body (one piece blade+hilt) and a bit metal in the pommel as counterweight. Looks like you went nylon for the cross-guard as well... all one piece?

[Steven Blakely]

Fantastic i would love to have a couple of them for myself especialy the 2 handers. please keep us posted

[Mars Healey]

JC has a new Mexico City picture thread that has shots of the nylon wasters. They must be in production.

Where do we order them?