Thank you for this advice. Unfortunately we will not know if peoples weapons will pass our standards until the day of the event. I wish I could tell people what types of foam they should be using in their weapons and have all of them listen but this is just not possible. So, we are going to do our very best to make sure the weapons are all safe and legal at our event.
Please do not think me a fool (not that you do)... I have and always will carry one million dollar insurance coverage plus everyone will be turning in a signed Official Release Waiver (as is always done at conventions) before they are ever allowed to battle. In my line of work, you never know what could go wrong and I am always on pins and needles every time someone is battling, for fear of someone, somehow getting hurt (typically not by the weapons but by their lack of coordination - falling down and bumping their head, spraining an ankle, etc.), with the realization that if they do get hurt, it all comes down on my shoulders. So yes, I absolutely understand the problems with people bringing in their own weapons to battle with at the event but honestly there is no way we could ever provide enough foam weapons for the size crowds we are expecting.
We do use cloth covers over our weapons. Unfortunately though ,I have not been able to find a whole seller of high quality covers yet. So, sometimes the covers which we use get torn at the ends and then eventually come off. We then simply replace it with another cover (not cost effective or efficient but it's the best we can do for now, since I can't find a whole seller, as mentioned).
I would like everyone to please understand... I appreciate the advice and the support but please know that I am not just some noob who is putting together a small foam fighting day. I have battled with foam weapons for almost 5 years now. I have been building weapons for more than 4 years now. I have successfully owned and operated my foam fighting/Martial Arts based business for almost 4 years now. My business has attended over 60 conventions across the US, providing them with our Interactive Entertainment. So... we know what we are doing. No worries there.
As I said, I really do appreciate the advice and help anyone and everyone can give me, but please remember that we are not going into this unprepared.
As far as out West goes... unfortunately we do not travel past the Texas/Oklahoma area very often.
There just aren't too many cons in the North West for us to attend and those that are out there, either are too small for us to be able to afford to be Guests at (probability of loosing money at the smaller shows if they aren't easy to get to) or are too large for their own good and have massive chips on their shoulders. I would love to put a Shura Di event out in your all's neck of the woods eventually but I am unsure of when that will be able to take place. If/when we do put one out in that area, would we have the support of the local Belegarth groups, you think?
The reasons why we are putting the events in the areas of the US that we are, is because these areas are where most of our friends/fans of the business and supporters of Sleeping Samurai are located. Since we haven't gone out West too much, we really don't have a fan base there yet. Therefore it would be extremely difficult to host a Shura Di event out there without the strong support of the local foam fighting chapters. See what I mean...? It would be a problem getting the attendance at the event, if we don't have a fan base to start off with.
As this is our first Shura Di event, it will be a learning experience... but one that I am highly looking forward to.
Forkbeard wrote:I noticed on your facebook page that you started taling about weapon requirments. I like that.
I don't like how you just imediatly went to measurements. While 1" of foam is enough and 1 1/2" is too much for a min requirement, I fell you need to focus on foam.
Foam quality is really where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. We do not allow fun noodle, for instance. It is unrelaible and dangerous. Some forms of very high grade foam, like EVA, come in various poundages. 2# EVA is great and soft, but can get dead spots. 4# eva is hard and strong and doesn't get dead spots, but will hurt people. If you combine them right, they are the best ever, but spendy.
What I'm saying is, there are too many variations of foam(and more being released all the * time) to say "X" of foam will work every time." You'll need to have an inspection at every fight and throw out the weapons that fail, even if it * people off.
Also, after looking again at your site, you need cloth covers on those sword. Duct tape, in the long run, is going to be dangerous to your customers. I've seen some pretty gnarly surface cuts and bruises from ductape covered weapons over the years. They are few and far between, but in a convention steeing, you could get sued. Be carefull.
Is there a chance you guys will be out west doing stuff?
FB
