What's the difference?

[Fulke]

Great comments and points made all around.

After I get my belt from Torv, I think I will try out one of his swords myself.

The only one I have made so far that I enjoy fighting with is the ugliest of the lot...I made better looking ones, but they will cost me a shoulder eventually on the field.

I respect and value craftsmanship in any form - And I am willing to pay someone else that can do it better than I can.

[ulfhirtha]

I must confess that the attitude being discussed here frankly baffles me. It is basic economics: "Whether or not you could do/make X is irrelevant. To get the one I made will cost $$." If I could make a weapon, but didn't or I want the one you made, well...unless it's a gift or a favor, I expect to pay. Those who quibble about paying at all probably weren't going to buy anyway.

(re:people perceive wepons as disposable)... This line of logic would keep everyone out of restaurants.

Indeed! I find that mindset quite...remarkable. Something as transitory as a steak dinner (which I bet you can cook up at home too) will still cost you for the time, materials and skill used to make it. Yet folks go out & buy it anyway. Does anyone whine about paying for it? Gas is disposable/consumable too, but try filling your tank & not paying.

Rattan is "free"?? I'd like to know where their supply is coming from, as I don't regard $3/foot as "free", let alone the cost of any other materials.

I buy stuff not unnecessarily because I can't do it, but because I don't want to do it. or don't want to spend the time to learn it, or someone already does it better, or a million other reasons. I appreciate someone willing to take my money and make me things.

Quite so and if you aren't especially crafty, it's doubly nice that someone is willing to make stuff for sale. I prefer to see the limitations of people fighting being on their health/safety end and not on if they were good in shop class.

So carry on, Torvaldr!

[Oswyn_de_Wulferton]

I have never understood the aversion people have to replacing weapons and armor in the SCA. They aren't overly expensive, but people just don't do it.

g-

I believe it is the same reason you see so many house upgrades, right before it is sold. People are unwilling to spend money on things that still "work", until they have to. For some it may be a sheer lack of funds (though I would wager it is a small percentage), and others, it isn't nearly as high of a priority.

[GermanicMayhem]

from discussions about charging for weapons to remodeling houses... this really went the full spectrum.....

But back to swords and sporting goods.... anyone make their own bats for softball or baseball? aluminum or wood? stich their own baseballs/softballs? make their own baseball/softball gloves from their leather stores? stich up some pigskin? dish out a 9 iron? ever buy a shotgun and return it because when you shot it you missed? The sporting goods you buy off the shelf are the same ones the next guy will be buying too.

Probably a few people here will say yes I have made that...but the rest of us are content to buy something we could learn to make. Its just easier to buy some things for most people. We probably have more armorers than there are sporting goods manufacturers.

Buy it, make a few adjustments, make a change or two, make it your own with less work than making the whole thing..... in between remodeling tasks that is......

[Brennan mac Fearghus]

But back to swords and sporting goods.... anyone make their own bats for softball or baseball? aluminum or wood? stich their own baseballs/softballs? make their own baseball/softball gloves from their leather stores? stich up some pigskin? dish out a 9 iron?

I think that if I could walk into Dick's, Modell's, or whatever store and go through all the different rattan sword options, like I can for softball bats, I would never pick up a draw knife again. It is precisely that reason that so many new fighters start off in hockey/lacrosse pads (I did).

On the flip side though... for me, I make HORRIBLE swords. I buy real decent rattan, then add my distinct lack of skill, and come up with a semi-serviceable stick. However, where I to pay someone the $10 for the time to make a sword for me, that would add up fast as I'm starting to go through rattan way too quickly for that to be an option.

$25 is a certainly reasonable price for a weapon, but I'm on my 6th or 7th sword of '08. That's $150-$175 if I pay Torvaldr. Looking at Icefalcon's website, the same blanks would cost me $48-$56 in rattan (plus tax & shipping). Even if I spend another $25 in tape on those, that's still essentially half price to make it myself... or a savings of about $150 per year.

Unfortunately, paying someone else is just cost prohibitive... even though I am fairly certain that it would produce better results than doing it myself.