The Padded Weapon Dilemma;

[TimSheetz]

Hi Ray, Matt, and Brian,

He is very motivated and has come to watch our training at 0530 twice now, and will be there on Thursday.

He is recovering from a broken collar bone (car accident) and cant spar due to anti-coagulent medication but we did do some 10% speed flow drills.

Even at 10% flow speed he "saw a glimpse of the elephant". He knew he was WAAY out of position every time my blade arced downward towards his foot or ankle (I like to hit the connective tissue between the shin and foot). So I hit him in the foot at 10% speed.

I laud his ability to immediately assess his vulnerablility due to sport habits and his begining to correct for the same. He is a good guy and I do not anticipate any ego issues. His main draw for this sort of activity is to fight with substantial force. I can appreciate that.

After a bit of this, I don't know if he'll want to go back.

Peace,

Tim

[JeanryChandler]

Tim,

PM me your address, (is it an APO?) and I'll mail you some of the orthopedic foam, enough for two or three swords. I think you will find that this not only makes your weapons stronger but much flatter and better performing all around.

I think part of the problem is that the cores are too light. I plan on using older thinner PVC that has a covering of tape that acts as a stiffener. I think they will feel better (to the wielder, anyway) and perform more in line with a real weapon.

I dont understand this part, are you using Sch 80 PVC? Sch 80 is heavier than ordinary PVC, and it's easy to bring it up to a realistic weight, it's kind of hard to keep it from getting to heavy in fact as you add duct tape. What Schedule of PVC are you using and what core diameter, if you dont mind my asking?

I am finding that we bend the crap out of the aluminum L bracket a lot, and plan on upgrading those to a heavier more stiff bracket - like one designed for a shelf. We'll just have to pad it good and assume some risk in our closes.

Yeah this can certainly be done, to your taste. The brackets I've been using are fairly strong, I think they are for shelves, they are about 1/4" thick. I wouldnt use them for murder strikes or anything but they are fairly well padded, enough for normal contact.

Jeanry