Nylon wasters?

[J. Scott Steflik]

I see there are a bunch more synthetic/nylon wasters on the market these days. Does anyone have experience with any of these?

Rawlings, Purpleheart, MRL, Cold Steel, others?

Advantages/disadvanges for drilling and sparring vs. wood and aluminum?

[CalebChow]

I've handled the Cold Steel plastic and Brian Hunt longsword waster. The Cold Steel one felt rather unrealistic, but for the price it's pretty good (it's like $50, isn't it? That's half the price of anything else on the market). The Brian Hunt one I have has a tendency to warp just a little after swinging/contact but is otherwise a very reliable "backup" for practice in case something's wrong with my steel. A good number of ARMA sparring videos from a few years back show the Brian Hunt wasters being used a good bit.

Pros:
-No real risk of splinters/breaks
-Behaves more like steel than wood does
-Not as susceptible to weather
-Safer to use than wood or steel

Cons:
-Not historical (but the question is, if the Medieval/Renaissance had plastic, would they have used it as waster material?)
-Tends to warp a little
-Typically a bit too light
-Flexes just a bit too much, potentially distorting technique

[Stacy Clifford]

I agree that nylon wasters flex too much and are too light. We also found that because they were perceived to be more "safe," people were going at it harder than normal in sparring and often wound up going home with more damage than when we used wasters or steel. They can still hit hard enough to break fingers and the whipping effect leaves a nasty sting. The lighter weight also makes them a little faster and more agile than is realistic sometimes. In the end I wound up preferring wood. Everything has disadvantages, but I don't like straightening my sword after a hit.

[J. Scott Steflik]

Thanks for the feedback.

The group I'm back with now is currently using the aluminum swords from Swordcrafts, or occasionally wood, for drilling, but for safety (read that as "insurance") reasons uses modified shinai w/ lacross gloves and 3W masks for sparring. I came up with a hardwood sparring sword that responded better than the shinai two years ago, but the concern was that although it was lighter than a wooden waster it was still too heavy and could result in more injuries.

That's where my interest in the nylon wasters is coming from... trying to find something that's better than the shinai and still acceptable to the group.

[RayMcCullough]

Just about anything is better than Shinai. Horrible tool. It will not teach you anything about Real fighting with a sword.

It might teach you something about lightsaber fighting, but until the Jedi temple is built and the Dark Lord shows his face, they will have no real use for learning to fight.

[CalebChow]

Just about anything is better than Shinai. Horrible tool. It will not teach you anything about Real fighting with a sword.

It might teach you something about lightsaber fighting, but until the Jedi temple is built and the Dark Lord shows his face, they will have no real use for learning to fight.

Agreed, the balance is all wrong, the aerodynamics are wrong, there's no real flat/edge distinction, it bounces on contact ike crazy, the tip is too whippy...

The problems go on and on, it's arguably even worse than using nothing at all. A plain solid stick would fare much, much better.

[J. Scott Steflik]

Just about anything is better than Shinai. Horrible tool.

I tend to agree, but have to abide by the rules while in someone else's house. Most days are drilling anyway... only one practice a month is devoted to free sparring.

On a related topic... are there any ARMA members in CT? Back when I first registered the practice partners page included individuals, not just study groups and there were a few in CT at the time. The email addys I had for two guys are no longer valid. That was back in the HACA days; I had to register again after the switch to ARMA.

[Martin Wallgren]

There is a few european-made syntetic waisters. Many don´t use nylon any more because they have a tendensy to break. Several materials is used on a exprimental level right now. My friend Johan is making a CNC cut waister that has had gotten good reviews, it is in the sturdier part of the spectra.

Here is some pictures of it.




And his e-mail adress if you want to ask him questions about it!

larxxon(at)telia(dot)com

//Martin

[CalebChow]

Really?? I have never once heard of a Nylon waster used by ARMA breaking, except for a single prototype that was promptly redesigned.

Maybe others can fill me in on that, though.

[Jaron Bernstein]

Really?? I have never once heard of a Nylon waster used by ARMA breaking, except for a single prototype that was promptly redesigned.

Maybe others can fill me in on that, though.

We have had very good luck with the Brian Hunt nylons. I only saw one break, after a lot of abuse. IMO they are more durable than wooden ones and cause less real injury. Not pain (they sting like heck and leave wicked welts), but they don't break bones the way wood does. I can't speak for any of the other nylons out there having never used them.

[CalebChow]

I just realized, I've used the With Intent Wasters, not the Brian Hunt ones.

For anyone searching this thread that might be worth noting. My apologies.