SCA post on Darkwood Tips and a side rant that is interrelated.

[troyfish]

I like Darkwood, and I think they make a great product and have some very well intentioned ideas with the tips that they've created.  However, the issue is that the tips to be effective, have to have a LOT of things just perfect to work properly.

1. They really seem to work on some blades, specifically tapered blades that will make it fit snugly with

Comments

[greta_k]

". . . I'm really not worried about . . . good fighters hitting someone too hard."

You know that that I'm no crybaby when it comes to fencing (I did martial arts for 20 years and can take and receive some hard blows), but some of the hardest shots I have ever received have been from WS who didn't use good calibration. It behooves EVERYONE to calibrate at the beginning of a bout.

I once reamed out Brian of Darkwood after a 5 Man bout at Pennsic for hitting the Navigator so hard that he dented his mask and gave him a headache. Christian from Aethelmarc had to keep me from crawling all over poor Brain, who's actually a very nice guy and a good and safe rapier fighter.

[troyfish]

Ohhh, don't get me wrong... I've gotten the hardest hits from the "More experienced" fighters too... I've had m face dented to the point of cutting my nose in a "Champions' tourney" and the guy never apologized. A little over a week ago, my arm got cut open by a man who I consider a VERY experienced fighter.

I never said I didn't get hurt by them, I just worry about them less.

Ohhh, and in regards to my bloddied arm, it was a beautiful shot, that I was too dumb to block properly... you know, with the blade and not my arm.

I chalk all these up to "Shit happens" which is NOT the same as "This is what I was taught to do" which I've seen some people do, and those are the ones I'm worried about.

[pascual_del_mar]

"I've had m face dented to the point of cutting my nose in a "Champions' tourney" and the guy never apologized

[alricthemad]

If the There is No Crying in Rapier is done the way Connor and I discussed, all who enter will be fully aware of what they are getting into well in advance.
I'm looking forward to the details.

Someone at GW had what I considered a pike. A 3o or so in blade on a 4+ foot handle. Near as I could tell he was safe with it. I for one would have liked to know he intended to use it. I lost my first run in against him just because I stopped to think WTF. He said it was based on a Japanese weapon.

[alricthemad]

I like how you are thinking about ushering.
I usually give my opponent in a auth bout many chances to hit me hard (yeah try to simulate silly newbie tricks) I am honest when I feel they don't have much control and it rarely happens.

I was thinking about those tips also. I think someone should find me and take some good hard shots at my helm since it's unlikely they will dent it. Perhaps some practice against another firm surface and an examination of the inside of the tip afterwards.

[lady_catwings]

I found this interesting to read, you lay out some excellent counterpoints to some of the recent discussion.

[troyfish]

Thanks, I've been reading some of the point / counterpoint arguments as well. The big one that gets me is that people talking about the DW tips say how great it is with leather over the top, except that when I was at GW and looked at the tips with their directions it said nothing about that.

Having other people say, Follow the directions exactly, makes me want to go, really? You so sure?

Tips are going to fail in time. Gloves will fail in time. All things need to be changed in time. But I'd rather know that my tip was going to fail by the plastic on the sides going dead before I see a metal piece sticking out the end.

Personally, I had a nut welded on the end of one of my blades, by someone that had a clue. (He knew to use a heat sink as well as being the KRM for a couple of years) and all other safety precautions, and that is my best one) But again, someone, somewhere will read that and do it wrong and totally ruin the temper on the blade.

What do you think about it? Or is it really a silly argument?

[nixve]

Not really related but this made me remember something about my own authorization fight. The guy I was fighting did a flashy move on me that hooked the guard of my sword and yanked it straight out of my hand. I think his reply was "Wow! I've always wanted to try that!". :-/

He wasn't so much thinking about how experience levels and fighting differ between newbies and those who have been fighting a while.

[troyfish]

I've seen a could of people try to use an auth bout to prove something before, and all I've really seen them prove is that they were an ass. I may do some silly things in those bouts, but that is either to A) loosen them up, or B) to test to see how they handle the crazy.

I'll et you back to liking to hit people with swords. :)

[nixve]

oh, I still like to hit people with swords, I just don't have the time nor opportunity to do so these days. :(

[anonymous]

Telling someone "you hit too hard" should be a "here's something that happened that you need to improve" event. I think most of us are more than understanding when the person throwing the hard shot a) recognizes it and b) sincerely accepts the responsibility for that shot and makes an effort to improve.

You should never be worried to provide this sort of feedback. If no one tells me that I'm throwing hard or in any other way making mistakes, how can I be expected to realize it and correct things?

Far too often I see fighters hesitant to comment to their opponent on that. And even worse, they then go back and bitch to their friends.

Grumpy seahorse guy