Siloflex-only sword?

[Steve S.]

I was googling for siloflex swords to see if anyone sold them, and came across this:

http://www.kingdomofcalidore.com/sword.htm

Basically it is made by nesting 3 different diameters of siloflex inside each other, totally eliminating rattan.

Has this been tried for SCA combat?

Also, does anyone have a source for siloflex sword blanks?

Thanks.

Steve

[Sean Powell]

I remember it being tried roughly 1997-98 when I was living in the Midrealm. The inner most pipe needs a piece of tape to be a tight fit in the middle pipe. General consensus is that they bent easier then rattan. Generally they were ok for practice but the upper end fighters just couldn't put enough whip and sting into them because they weren't rigid enough. A few 2-stick fighters even played with 2-layers only which gave them extra sword length and tip speed but unless people calibrated by sound or exposed tissue sting they were not very effective.

I did not participate in the testing and was not a marshal some I'm certain you can get better details from others.

At the time I thought that custom extrusions of very thick wall section pipe so the layers didn't slide past each other might have been more effective. Since seeing Barron Ericks shaved rattan swords I now think that a custom extrusion of a 1.75x1.25 oval would give plenty of stiffness font/back and more swordlike flex side to side which would be a good choice. No real time to investigate it though.

Sean

Edit: there may have been some concerns with the below 1.25" central core pieces coming loose and sliding out if a thrusting tip was not securely attached.

[Oscad]

I remember it about the same as Sean. They just didn't have enough impact to really be effective.

[chris19d]

I was googling for siloflex swords to see if anyone sold them, and came across this:

http://www.kingdomofcalidore.com/sword.htm

Basically it is made by nesting 3 different diameters of siloflex inside each other, totally eliminating rattan.

Has this been tried for SCA combat?

Also, does anyone have a source for siloflex sword blanks?

Thanks.

Steve

supposedly they've been in and out of experimental status for a while, but I cant find any written info on them anywhere, just word of mouth from a few knights.

[Jonathan Baird]

Since I wrote that article I can tell you they bend but can be bent right back. If you are in SCA they aren't going to hit hard enough to satisfy. That said they last forever and are perfect for SCA practice because they force you to hit harder to get the same results. When I was active in SCA my household practices were with these always and I was hitting like a tons of bricks when I switched to rattan.

We have since moved to using mostly the black plastic resin swords being sold by Therion and a few other places. they will bend after a while but they hit as hard or harder than rattan (I believe because they have a thin edge).

[Thomas MacFinn]

I have one reserved for pell use.

[Diglach Mac Cein]

Used 'em during the experimental period in the Midrealm - if you hit "soft" protection like padding, softer leather and the like, they were OK. Against "hard" protection, not so much.


Nobody I know used them for more than a few practices / events.


.

[D. Sebastian]

I noticed they use 3 layers and the biggest layer was 1" (ID?)

What about a 4th layer?

Might have to make a pair for practice...

[Jonathan Baird]

1" ID gives you a little more than 1 1/4" exterior diameter and with tape a little over 1 1/2". A 4th layer would get to more than 2" but I have never made one with a 4th layer.

[Konstantin the Red]

Is this the same Siloflex you heat-shrink over a rattan core?

[Oscad]

Yeppers

[Konstantin the Red]

Then given the kind of performance and durability (c. 7-10 years) they got out of skinning rattan staves with Siloflex shrunk onto them, and quite a while agone (BoTH-era) at that, what is the point of this other and apparently inferior recipe?



Color me Bewitched, Bebothered, and BeMildred.

[Steve S.]

Well, I could go down to Home Depot and buy everything I needed to make swords.

Steve

[Konstantin the Red]

Rrrrgghhhhh... in the era of the internet and online mail order of anything less tightly regulated than plutonium and assault rifles, he wants one-stop shopping for our other-than-mainstream hobby!

Steve, I can't muster up much sympathy. This sort of thing gives me a wry mouth.

The Luddites did not swing swords. We do.

[Steve S.]

Rrrrgghhhhh... in the era of the internet and online mail order of anything less tightly regulated than plutonium and assault rifles, he wants one-stop shopping for our other-than-mainstream hobby!

Steve, I can't muster up much sympathy. Confused This sort of thing gives me a wry mouth.

The Luddites did not swing swords. We do.

Not sure what this has to do with Luddites or desiring a one-stop shopping place for medieval things.

Siloflex-covered rattan is incredibly durable. A sword made completely of siloflex would probably be even more so. Siloflex would be more readily available than rattan, as you can go to virtually any Lowes or Home Depot and buy it.

Buying rattan, a product with natural variation, sight-unseen through the mail could be a crap-shoot (I've always bought rattan in-person).

I was intrigued.

Steve

[Jonathan Baird]

Again these swords are not meant for SCA use. The "recipe" was meant to allow a sword useable for combat that anyone with a couple bucks could whip together in a few minutes time. No wait no muss no fuss. They work perfectly for what they were designed to do. So I dont understand any of this frustration it isnt like this infringes on the SCA in anyway shape or form.

[Steve S.]

Has anyone thought about those polycarbonate shaft swords perhaps sheathed in siloflex?

Steve