What is your experience with Rattan cores?

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What is your experience with Rattan cores?

Postby seldon » Mon Aug 29, 2011 5:19 pm

I know from discussions here, that some people on this board have used rattan for Belegarth weapons.

My questions are:

  • What has been your experience working with rattan?
  • How do you like/dislike the weapons you have built on rattan?
  • For various weapons, what diameter of rattan have you used?
  • Are you using rattan with skin or shaved down?
  • I know that many SCA youth combat parents are purchasing rattan from:
    http://www.franksupply.com/bamboo/rattan-poles.html. Does anyone have any other recommended sites for purchasing rattan of various diameters?

Looking forward to your comments.
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Re: What is your experience with Rattan cores?

Postby Mughi » Mon Aug 29, 2011 7:44 pm

Don't do it bro. It's a trap.

I cross into SCA like quite a few people here, and I just want to reinforce how different this is. It all seems the same in principle, but it isn't. Rattan cores take a LOT of work to turn into passable Belegarth weapons due to their heavy nature, and even once all of that work is put in the end result is an overweighted sword that makes you feel clumsy compared to even the lower-tech PVC cored weapons that are prevalent on a lot of fields. I've done one, and considered it a HUGE mistake.

SCA, helmets and other safety gear is mandatory. Here, it is not. You know how messed up someone in minimum safety gear gets during heavy fighting, and that would be compounded many times in Belegarth especially if you hit someone in the head.

I have heard of people using bamboo for lightweight spears. I have never heard of someone advocating making rattan belegarth weapon for striking.

Sorry for the long winded post, but I just want to reinforce my case for keeping the rattan to SCA.
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Re: What is your experience with Rattan cores?

Postby Caleidah » Mon Aug 29, 2011 7:54 pm

By the time that you had padded rattan out to be fully safe for our fighting, it would probably be so heavy as to be unwieldy. Fiberglass cores are the chosen core of 90% of Belegarth for a reason.
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Re: What is your experience with Rattan cores?

Postby Big King Jimmy » Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:03 pm

Caleidah wrote:By the time that you had padded rattan out to be fully safe for our fighting, it would probably be so heavy as to be unwieldy. Fiberglass cores are the chosen core of 90% of Belegarth for a reason.


65%, of blues. 15% would be PVC and 30% kitespar. Don't forget back water realms still use PVC.
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Re: What is your experience with Rattan cores?

Postby Mekoot Rowan » Tue Aug 30, 2011 6:19 am

Big King Jimmy wrote:65%, of blues. 15% would be PVC and 30% kitespar. Don't forget back water realms still use PVC.


110%

I believe kitespar and PVC would be about equal with newbs balancing out vets with money to burn and a great desire for high-tech weapons.
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Re: What is your experience with Rattan cores?

Postby Kyrian » Tue Aug 30, 2011 6:30 am

Back in '93, I used a skinned rattan escrima stick just under 1" in diameter as a core for a falchion similar to this:

Image

Compared to the PVC we were using at the time, it was a much lighter and rigid core. I used an open-cell piece between the foam box and the outer layer of foam to give it the blade shape and had no issues with it hitting someone. Unfortunately, I think the rattan finally dried out too much after a couple of years and snapped. I think the key is not to use the rattan that the SCA uses (last I checked, it has to be at least 1.25" in diameter to not go into a bar grill) but look for some of the narrower rattan used for escrima.
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