Belegarth

Last practice we had two minor injuries, both from the unpadded handle part of spears hitting somebody near the eye while the spear was being used for blocking. I would hate to have to outlaw that use of a spear, since it's pretty central to spear combat, but I can't just let this go on until we squish somebody's eye.

So, two construction questions:

This spear was built with a relatively thin (1/4"?) solid fiberglass core. I have since gotten some 26mm (1") PVC tube that seems stiff enough for the task. Does the thinness/solidness make any significant difference for this issue?

The rules say that non-striking surfaces should be padded, no exceptions made for handle parts. What do people who actually pad the handle part do to make it not wear off quickly, yet be handy in combat?

Thanks,
-Hårdgrim Bonebreaker of Monachium

Encourage the use of footwork. People don't need to swing the spear on such a way that the handle hits your opponent to block.

Encourage the use of footwork. People don't need to swing the spear on such a way that the handle hits your opponent to block.

Agreed. I cant think of a circumstance where blocking would result in such an injury. Was there a lack of incidental padding?

There is incidental padding except for the roughly 2 feet of handle. The padding is pipe insulation and works fine.

This happens when lifting the spear for blocking when an attacker is rushing in close.

I suspect the shorter length can make it worse because it gets to be more vertical. These are 2m poles, so minimum length. The next ones will use 2.5m poles.

-Hårdgrim

Lifting a spear to block? If anything, I shift to a tip-down guard position and use good footwork to get out of the situation...

Tobia Blackthorn wrote:Lifting a spear to block? If anything, I shift to a tip-down guard position and use good footwork to get out of the situation...

http://youtu.be/lhkzv2yEERE this video gave me a basic understanding on how a spear fighter should look. It uses the down guard and the footwork top open up the attack.

I usually have my back-up weapon, which is a very short blue-green. So, when I get rushed down, I tend to drop my spear, holding it vertically, tip down, and utilize it as a shield until I can get out of the situation, whether that be by killing the person rushing me, or good footwork and coordination with my teammates. The only time I "swing" is to knock other spears off line, and even then, its more of a controlled push.

This happens when lifting the spear for blocking when an attacker is rushing in close.

It really seems like the solution boils down to blocking in a safer manner.
The game in its very nature is full contact, and as safe as you make anything injuries can still happen.

Your best bet would probably be to block differently and be a bit more mobile with your foot work.

Lifting the spear to block is a common tactic, however the spearman is always responsible for the safe use of their weapon. If your spearman was harming other fighters then they need to told to change their tactic or change their weapon.

When I was new to spear I hit myself in the head several times raising it to block strikes from someone rushing me, however I never hit another fighter with it like that. I kept it close and controlled (a little too close a few times, thus the brain bashing), and if I felt like I was going to hurt someone I dropped my weapon.

As far as padding the entire handle, I don't really know of a good way to do it that isn't going to add obscene weight and not just break down in a couple months of use. As far as the core goes, flex is the biggest factor in determining how much getting hit with a particular core is going to hurt or have the potential to cause injury. Something that flexes a lot won't deliver as hard of a hit as a stiff core, just because of the way the force disperses.


tl;dr Tell your spearman to change tactics, get more practiced with their weapon, or choose a new weapon style. It's their responsibility to ensure their equipment is not injuring other fighters.

this is the nature of the full contact game we play. Accidents will happen, we can pad the world as much as we want but it still comes to being smart.

Your spear user needs to learn to keep the haft lower or closer to his body, you cannot really change the spear to be safer when its an unsafe practice he was doing.

I have blocked for years with a spear and have never caught someone in the head with the handle, theres no reason it should happen with safe practices.

I have seen this happen before as well. It usually happens when one rushes a spear men and they hold it up to block even when having it pointed down the 2 ft of handle get raised up just as the rusher makes contact causing the handle to accidently strike the rusher. They are blocking as if using a 2 hander which isnt bad but with such a huge handle they need to be more aware when rushing the spear in my opinion.

The spear is not getting swung i am hoping but you never know. I just think that both parties should be aware that it is a possibility and play accordingly

Xilof: Yes, that's exactly what's happening. While we're not swinging the spears as weapons, when a rush comes suddenly, the move up to block can also be rather fast for unprotected core.

An update in general: I modified my spears to have padding all the way down, and not only does that make them safer, it also gives a nicer grip - our core is rather thin. So we'll stick with that approach.

-Hårdgrim Bonebreaker of Monachium