Is there anyone out there that can explain how to make ARMA's padded weapons to a layman? I have little to no experience in building things, but I would really like to know how to make one of these. I'd also like an estimate on the cost of supplies, if possible.
My fencing class(mostly historical fencing oriented, although we do a little sport fencing) discovered boffer weapons as a good alternative to wooden weapons for bouting. At first, we used shinais, but seeing as we lacked the money to buy all the protection needed for shinais, we could only do so much. Anyway, my instructor, a former carpenter, started with boffer-style padded weapons, then progressively made them more and more like the real thing. I've held one of his cut & thrust swords and one of his padded swords at the same time, and it's impressive how similar the weighting is. It's progressed to a much, much better point than boffers(and we can tell where the edges are just fine, because of the crossguard), and infinitely more aesthetically pleasing.
However, there's a limit to what you can do with PVC. I considered rattan, but I think I'd rather just learn how to make the ARMA weapons. So, can anyone help me out here? Do I need special tools, or hard to find supplies? I don't have much money, either. Also, I remember seeing some instructional page on it, but I can't seem to find it now. I couldn't understand all of it, layman that I am, but I could at least print that out and show it to someone who speaks construction-lingo.
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). You'll note that there are price estimates for the weapons.
