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Author Topic: Armor recomendations for Dueling?  (Read 10333 times)

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Offline Akitoscorpio

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #15 on: October 28, 2008, 09:56:43 AM »
Well Yeah that is true Fencing masks would go a long way, and in hindsight Lacross armor us starting to look like overkill, And it's not looking as cheep as I first thought it would be. So Body protection is looking more and more like a long term goal. I might just looking into fencing masks at those gloves like you suggested.
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Offline MoonDragn

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #16 on: October 28, 2008, 11:31:17 AM »
I'm part of the SCA as well and I use stainless steel armor. But that is definately overkill for polycarbonate blades. In the SCA we use swords made out of Retan with barely any padding on it and a thrusting tip with 1 inch foam.

It really depends on how hard you are hitting each other. If you are hitting each other hard enough to be needing steel armor, you're gonna break your sabers first.

Look into some fencing gear and buy a gorget. That would be the most important thing you need as your neck is the most vulnerable spot that can be fatal if hit. That fencing mask will be sufficient to block most of the saber hits unless you clobber each other from behind.

The fencing clothes is just thick padded canvas usually. You could probably just get away with thick jackets with sweaters underneith.

The vulnerable spots are the elbows and knees. Get some elbow and knee pads from somewhere cheap like Ollies and you guys should be all set.


Offline Akitoscorpio

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #17 on: October 28, 2008, 12:08:38 PM »
Well I do have to be a tad worried about protection my roommate on occasion gets in the slightly bad habit of forgetting that he's not suppose to be trying to murder me with his Boffer, I just make it a habit of not sparing him after he gets home from work.
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Offline MoonDragn

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #18 on: October 28, 2008, 12:28:38 PM »
At one point in my life I did alot of boffer weapon fighting in a live action role playing group called Laire.

If you built your boffers correctly you can hit each other pretty hard with them without really getting hurt. provided you don't hit each other in the face etc.

Lightsabers are a different story. Most of them are built with the polycarbonate blades and its like getting hit with the pvc pipe without the foam insulation on the boffer.

Btw, talking about boffers, I got this super nasty looking boffer Axe I made when I was in that group. It still looks to be in good shape after all these years. Getting hit with this thing is like getting hit with a nerf bat.

Offline Akitoscorpio

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #19 on: October 28, 2008, 12:31:27 PM »
Well My roommate who made all the boffers tried to make them as close to the real weapons there suppose to be's weight and proportions, which makes that Two handed "Zweihander" he owns a scary scary thing to stare down... Yeah if we don't pull with those, they *hurt* Give me few minutes and I'll go take a picture of them for you guys.

Edit: And here's teh pictures, the fat bearded guy is me, the skinny reformed crack head is my roomate.






« Last Edit: October 28, 2008, 12:47:58 PM by Akitoscorpio »
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Offline Lazer Rob

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #20 on: October 28, 2008, 07:37:44 PM »
When I started out in the SCA armor was a helm, hockey gloves, elbow and knee pads, and a cup.  If you're dueling with your friends, with poly blades, you're probably not going to need more than that.  A nice padded jacket maybe.  When something gets hit enough to hurt, put new armor on it!

Just remember, a little common sense and playing nicely is your best protection.

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Offline Ebon

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #21 on: October 29, 2008, 07:13:40 AM »
We do the same thing with the padded weapons I make.  Rubberrized foam for the shape over a polypropelene pipe (those things will take a BEATING!) and a layer of soft foam down the edges.  We put 9-12 inch carriage bolts in the handles to make the weight more close to the originals...my scimitar weighs in at right between 2-3 lbs. and has a nice blade shaped cross section so none of those cinder block size blades :)

We use the fencing masks (which require retapping the weapons occasionally to repair rips) and gloves, but we go full body targets and any hit beyond a slight tip counts...the dual layer foam really cushions the hit alot but we still focus ono technique more than power since too much power can leave you open when you are trying to stop the swing from a realistically weighted weapon.

I tryed some of the LARP boffers at a con this year and they really feel waaaay too light to have any kind of realistic techniques imho.

Ebon

Offline The Rebel

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #22 on: October 29, 2008, 07:35:17 AM »
We do the same thing with the padded weapons I make.  Rubberrized foam for the shape over a polypropelene pipe (those things will take a BEATING!) and a layer of soft foam down the edges.  We put 9-12 inch carriage bolts in the handles to make the weight more close to the originals...my scimitar weighs in at right between 2-3 lbs. and has a nice blade shaped cross section so none of those cinder block size blades :)

We use the fencing masks (which require retapping the weapons occasionally to repair rips) and gloves, but we go full body targets and any hit beyond a slight tip counts...the dual layer foam really cushions the hit alot but we still focus ono technique more than power since too much power can leave you open when you are trying to stop the swing from a realistically weighted weapon.

I tryed some of the LARP boffers at a con this year and they really feel waaaay too light to have any kind of realistic techniques imho.

Ebon

I really wish I could fight regularly. I don't think there's one person at my college who's as big of a SW nerd as I am. LOL!

Offline Ebon

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #23 on: October 29, 2008, 07:58:31 AM »
Oh I dont get to fight near as much as I would like to... :/

Here is an old video of the first prototype of the "boffer" sword I made based on (one of the many) Greek Kopis style blades and using hoplon style steel shields.  (Im the one with no sleeves and the newer blade...as you can see at the end when the old style we were using loses a tip).  The newer blades are larger and more hearty, but still require regular maintenance when using with intensity.

Quality isn't that good, but you can see how well they work as far as not hurting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0jARZFx6UQ

and he was hungover so...I used the time to try some goofy moves :D


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Offline The Rebel

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #24 on: October 29, 2008, 09:06:03 AM »
My friends and I tried dueling with the hard plastic extending lightsabers... at night... needless to say, it was very hard to see. I took a thrust to the throat in one fight, and I was pretty much done with that. LOL

Most of my friends are either too jittery or idiotic when we fight. One guy won't stop shaking and smacking everything as hard as he can, and one guy slides all over the ground and spins around like he's trying to breakdance or something. So far, I've only had one friend that I could work with as far as choreography goes. XD

Offline Akitoscorpio

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #25 on: October 29, 2008, 10:42:46 AM »
My friends and I tried dueling with the hard plastic extending lightsabers... at night... needless to say, it was very hard to see. I took a thrust to the throat in one fight, and I was pretty much done with that. LOL

Most of my friends are either too jittery or idiotic when we fight. One guy won't stop shaking and smacking everything as hard as he can, and one guy slides all over the ground and spins around like he's trying to breakdance or something. So far, I've only had one friend that I could work with as far as choreography goes. XD

Oh my god I know how that works, Half the time the people we Boffer aganst Disallow and swings that are not from the wrist or have a larger swing arc than 90 Degrees, and xxx because or are boffers are to heavy, even though we use heavy PVC pipe and foam, just thicker PVC that you would normally eexpect to get the proper weight.

I actually said once "Really you boffer but your such a wuss that you can't even properly swing a 4 pound sword?"

Overall most of the boffering around here boils down to furious stick waggling.
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Offline Ebon

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #26 on: October 29, 2008, 10:52:57 AM »
Most people I have sparred with were very jittery until they were hit a few times and realized they would be just fine after the sting goes away, then the jitters tends to fade out...then comes trying to keep from blinking everytime someone swings at you...that one was tough to break at first.  Alot of the calm control just comes with experience, adrenaline can make someone into a quivering wreak if they can't control it.  Even professional fighters get the shakes sometimes.

My buddy and I didn't wear head gear when we started using paddeds, until I caught a flat edge across the ear and busted my eardrum...we decided looking tough can take a backseat to protecting the dainty bits after that.  We kept fighting for a while after that anyways and I just thought ..."well, I didn't make the block, that was my responsibility to defend...He really showed me where my defense was weak"

Pain has a way of letting us know when we aren't doing something right and the fear factor that comes with a sting can make you respect the need to develop proper defenses.   ::)

We have only two rules in my yard, control your temper and honor your opponent.

Ebon






Offline Goodman

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #27 on: November 28, 2008, 09:23:31 PM »
We have only two rules in my yard, control your temper and honor your opponent.

What about the third rule:
"Crush your enemy totally" ?  lol
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Offline MoonDragn

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #28 on: December 02, 2008, 08:42:49 AM »
Seems even when you are careful you still can get hurt. The other day I was in my Modern Arnis class and I got rapped in the knuckles by the other guy I was just doing drills with. He wasn't even going full speed but it left a nasty bruise.

We use the hardened retan sticks in Arnis, maybe I should start wearing gloves.

Offline darthtater

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Re: Armor recomendations for Dueling?
« Reply #29 on: December 02, 2008, 10:43:00 AM »
As was previously stated you should cover vulnerable spots like the head, knees and elbows, kidneys, neck, and of course the groin. Thats all i used in the sca. You'l get some good welts but as long as the v spots are covered well you should have no problems.

 

retrousse