As someone who was having some difficulty controlling their weapon this last event, I was wondering if there are approved/recommended vendors for weapons, or if I should just use the winter to start making my own. I’m going to try one more event with the Calimacil staff (unless strongly recommended against doing so), and if there are still issues, I intend to have a backup weapon to switch to. My main concern is safety to NPCs when striking at the extent of my reach and while thrusting. I like the look of the Calimacil weapons, but I’d much rather not be knocking the wind out of people.
We don’t exactly have any vendors that are always recommended (even actionflex makes some weapons we wouldn’t use). Oddly, Calimacil is one of the more reliable ones.
Most commercially-made latex weapons are good (though, because of their construction, you either need to be extra careful, or not thrust, depending on the weapon).
Calimacil is actually built for thrusting, so it tends to be OK on that front. It’s just much heavier than its padding really accounts for, in a lightest-touch game — I still wish they would embrace some ultralight techniques and build weapons with hollow cores, for example — so they just tend to hit hard, and you get tired (thus less safe) more quickly. Just like with latex, you need to be careful, but for different reasons.
When I say “built for thrusting” I mean “designed to thrust without risking the core piercing through,” which is often a risk with latex weapons. Any rigid-ish weapon can knock the wind out of someone on a thrust, and the heavier it is, the more likely. Actionflex gets around this by some clever progressive flexing.
For a two-handed weapon, any brand will require some safety, because you’re putting that much more of your body behind it, and the tip is moving that much faster (because of weapon length). If you want something that you worry the least about, go with an actionflex staff (the “bo staff”). But it should be possible to fight safely with even a calimacil two-hander. Practice, practice, practice.
Sounds good! I got a couple warnings this last event when I hadn’t previously, so I was a little worried. Sounds like I just need to take some time and play around to make sure I’m fighting safely. Thanks for the quick reply!
One company that does make commercial-grade ultralight weapons is http://www.b3is.com/. Their stuff is a pretty stellar example of that type of weapon.
We’ve never had anyone try out one of their polearms, staves, or axes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they passed inspection.
(Compared to Calimacil, I would expect B3’s stuff to wear out faster from heavy use.)
B3IS is a great company if you don’t mind your boffers looking extremely boffer like. I like them more than I like actionflex actually. I have a pair of their “claws” and as someone who routinely has to remind himself that I’m not actually fighting someone for real I can say harming someone with them is difficult.
I still stick to standard duct tape boffers for the most part. I can get them customized, and for the most part the wear and tear is easily fixed. There are plenty of different local manufacturers that are excellent. And at least one of them plays Witchwood.
My staff internals are B3IS I got it uncovered and finished it myself (plastidip), I don’t have the tools (or time) to have carved the top shape the way I wanted (and have it come out smooth and proportionate) and they have a ton of table tools/jigs for that sort of thing. Folks can take a swing next event if they are curious.
Also, for all they are not particularly pretty or light weapons, Actionflex make great backup weapons. They are basically indestructible, safe, and require no maintenance. They also make great weapons for people who are learning to fight as they are designed for full force sparring.
To keep things simple, avoid anything with “HIT” or “Kuro-Obi” in the name (those are meant for more serious martial arts practice, not full-on sparring). Also avoid the nunchucks or anything that looks built to trap weapons (since that’s against our safety rules).
Or, to make this even simpler, stick with the “ActionFlex Bo Staff,” the “ActionFlex Sword,” or the “ActionFlex Escrima.” All lengths of all 3 of those are good. And, hint hint, they are really good investment for NPC weapons, especially if you stick with basic, anonymous black.
If you’re looking for something custom, I highly recommend you check out Doomforge. Doomforge also does “basic” stuff that is pretty affordable, and is super duper safety focused.
Thanks for the quick reply!