Soft weapons

[Dylan Reaves]

Ok, so the padded weapons on here worked pretty well, but maybe it was our poor craftsmanship or heavy abuse, so we ended up damaging them quickly. We're going to need replacements fairly soon, and were thinking about getting something maybe expensive but durable, for example, the Guardup type weapons, or Actionflex, or the like. Can anyone give a good critique on any brand of padded weapons that work fairly accurately?

[Sam Nankivell]

I don't know about Guardup, but Actionflex seems to only carry Eastern weaponry. If you want really high quality padded weapons, I would recommend Lancelot Chan's weaponry at Realistic Sparring Weapons:
http://www.rsw.com.hk

Most of the Actionflex and Guard Up things seem rather cheesy and might not be properly balanced or weighted. Realistic Sparring Weapons weigh the same and have the same balance as the weapons they are simulating.

[Matthew_Anderson]

Ok, so the padded weapons on here worked pretty well, but maybe it was our poor craftsmanship or heavy abuse, so we ended up damaging them quickly. We're going to need replacements fairly soon, and were thinking about getting something maybe expensive but durable, for example, the Guardup type weapons, or Actionflex, or the like. Can anyone give a good critique on any brand of padded weapons that work fairly accurately?

Both of those products are completely unsuitable for serious study of western swordsmanship. They too soft, too flexible, and way too light. We prefer weapons that are similar in weight and handling to the real thing, even if they are padded sparring weapons. I'm not sure the perfect sparring sword has been developed yet but many of our members are making some really good ones and if you search through the posts here, there's lots of info, suggestions, and directions. I really haven't seen a commercially produced padded sword that is even close to right.

[Brian Hunt]

I have played with these, and they are not bad. Pretty good price too. Jake Norwood also put his seal of approval on them. http://www.edhellen.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=EA&Product_Code=padded_waster&Category_Code=Wasters

hope this helps.

Brian Hunt
GFS

[Matthew_Anderson]

I have played with these, and they are not bad. Pretty good price too. Jake Norwood also put his seal of approval on them. http://www.edhellen.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=EA&Product_Code=padded_waster&Category_Code=Wasters

hope this helps.

Brian Hunt
GFS

Those don't look too bad. Anyone know how durable they are? I'd hate to shell out $65 each and break them quickly.

[Aaron Kavli]

[quote="Matthew_Anderson
Those don't look too bad. Anyone know how durable they are? I'd hate to shell out $65 each and break them quickly.[/quote]

I have sparred with Jake using these. I use a somewhat heavy 2.2 ARMA padded sword and the padded wasters have held up well for a while now. They've been through at least one 1.0, Jake's Meyer seminar, and they are pretty much what our group (the MSU guys) use when we meet.
They've also been used against bucklers, thrown around, wrestled over, etc. The edge has a good leather edging under the cloth and the cross is pretty stiff. The core is a fiberglass material IIRC.

As far as I know, none of the three padded wasters we use has failed (I'm sure Jake will chime in if one did fail--I don't actually know that far).

[Seth Halsell]

After talking with Jack Norwood a bit I decided to get one of the padded edhellen wasters that Brain Hunt has posted about here for me and the guy's at Orange County Arma to try out. Thus far we have been very pleased with its durability and also its weight as well as its balance. The padded sword is sort of stiff but it gives in enough when you hit someone with the long or short edge to be used. The only complaint me and other members of the group have about it is the very tip of the sword. They did not put extra padding at the very tip of the sword which causes it at times to be a bit painful if you take a thrust to the gut with it when both opponents took a step toward one another such as a passing step toward one another. Other then that I am extremly pleased with it. I have had it for about 2 months or so now so I can't really speak for its durability in the long term of things but so far it has held up well.

[Nathan Dexter]

Yeah, gaurdup is more concentrated with getting lazy kids of the couch. and there boffers are not worth one look.

[James Sterrett]

We've been very happy with our longswords from Lance Chan (RSK, http://www.rsw.com.hk ). (Not knocking the Edhellen products at all - I've never touched them.) They've stood up to quite a bit of abuse, but are still going strong with a bit of duct tape to repair the odd tear in the cover.

[Brian Pardue]

I would highly caution against the Guardup sparring "batons", I have broken two of them simply from swinging them solo and they have more flex than an Olympic gymnast and no discernable edge (real important for me there).

I was told by the person giving the instruction not to "hit so hard" and that they "were designed for combat", and the rest of the class simply told him I hadn't even hit anyone yet...

I stripped down the one I was given just to reuse some of the foam hehe

However, They are GREAT for kids just playing around and having fun, but by no means for any kind of serious student, IMHO.

[Jeff Ross]

I have played with these, and they are not bad. Pretty good price too. Jake Norwood also put his seal of approval on them. http://www.edhellen.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=EA&Product_Code=padded_waster&Category_Code=Wasters

hope this helps.

Brian Hunt
GFS

Those don't look too bad. Anyone know how durable they are? I'd hate to shell out $65 each and break them quickly.

I have to say that although the basics of the Edhellen padded wasters are quite good, we've experienced some superficial damage after brief usage. Within 2 hours of sparring time we had significant ripping of the cover of one at the corner of the edge. To their credit, Edhellen sent out a replacement cover at no charge, excellent customer service. Now, after a couple of months use, the pommels are falling off and the hilts need retaping. The good news is that the cores and foam are holding up just fine, so the damage is mostly superficial, and will be easily repaired.
The bottom line is that no waster is going to hold up under use with intent the way steel will. In my opinion, if your waster is not showing damage, you're likely not putting enough energy into your sparring. Given that, I find the Edhellen wasters are good training tools, and are very reasonably priced.

Jeff Ross

[Dylan Reaves]

Thanks for all the responses! I had no idea Guardup was like that, I've just seen their products didn't know a thing about them, so I'm glad you told me. Yeah, I noticed Actionflex wasn't Western fighting oriented, but the stuff you guys suggested seems really good quality. I'll be sure to tell my group about them! I've been impressed with Lancelot Chan's work alot before, so hopefully those will work, and the Edhellen stuff is cool as well.

[Jake_Norwood]

My Edhellen's have held up great--not problems at all, though I think now after about 6 months of abuse some of the padding up at the "sweet spot" is starting to deteriorate (largely due to bucklers, I think...and how hard I hit?). I'm really glad to hear that other's are holding up as well. Makes a guy nervous, having his name associated with something...

Jake