I was recently visiting my parents who have a vast amount of bamboo on their property. While out with dad cutting some bamboo shoots for dinner I saw a few that were on the order of 6-20 feet high. Immediately I thought about how they might be a good possibility for cutting.
Later I went out and cut a few with my Albion Talhoffer. They seemed to be a good indicator of cutting technique because they held together just well enough to show clean cuts, but fibrous enough to break up if I didn't generate sufficient speed or align my edge correctly. Being much softer than fully formed stalks, there is no fear of damage to the sword.
While mature bamboo requires more skill to cut well, I feel the shoots provide a good medium for the novice or those looking for something new to cut. Cutting them with a sword is also a much more fun form of controlling the stuff.
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