I have heard from several sources that feeling core through the side of the pommel is not a failing point. True or false?
If this is not a failing point, why is the side of the pommel not tested as a regular non-striking surface?
EDIT - I would tend to go with Kage's interpretation, as a pommel is a non-striking surface. If my pommel is a foot long for some stupid reason, I expect that foot of incidental padding to be properly padded to prevent injury.
The length of the pommel is not counted as part of the handle length when measuring a weapon last I checked, and therefore should be checked like a non-striking surface and not a handle. Any input Brutus?
EDIT 2 - Thurat, I see where you're coming from in that it's no more dangerous than having a handle at the same location. My issue is that if this surface is not being checked, you can theoretically have more than the maximum allowed max handle length (By having cheap padding that exposes core), without having it measured as handle length due to being counted as part of the pommel.
Example:
A 36" weapon is allowed 12" of handle.
3" pommel + 15" blade + 6" haft padding passes
5" pommel + 15" blade + 4" haft padding passes
If those pommels are not checked for padding safety, why are we counting them as a non-handle portion of the weapon? You could make arbitrarily large pommels that don't pass as haft padding, but the weapon would still pass because we don't check it.