Waster Critique

[David Kirksey]

I may be buying a new longsword waster, and I am looking into new companies. I hear good things about New Stirling Arms, and the four I own are Purple Heart. I like the variety they offer at Hollow Earth, but don't know anything about them. What are your thoughts?

I also am contemplating the plastic waster as well, are they better than the wood or just longer-lasting? Also, are there any plastic wasters offered out there I should avoid?

Thanks for any information!

[Stacy Clifford]

New Stirling Arms makes an excellent product, has good customer service and are responsive to customer feedback. They were just at our International Gathering this weekend. We generally recommend them without reservation.

Hollow Earth has good craftsmanship, but they are not as focused on accuracy and performance, so they have some wasters that are good for what we do and some that are terrible (though they may look pretty). Their business is focused mainly on the Renaissance festival crowd, so if you want one of their wasters, go handle them in person before you buy one. Same goes for any other dealings with them, such as repairs. They're not known for responding quickly any other way.

ARMA has a longstanding boycott on Purpleheart due to past business dealings, so we do not recommend them. We also tried and abandoned plastic wasters a few years ago because we did not like the excessive flexibility on impact and the way it altered everything. Getting whipped by a blade that should have been safely deflected because it bent around your parry is really irritating; steel and wood don't do that, so we returned to using those for practice instead. Other groups may disagree, but that's ARMA's take on them.

[Jaron Bernstein]

For wood I suggest Raven and NSA. For steel, Albions are the way to go.