Larp sword for sale on Trademe

In case no-one has seen this:

trademe.co.nz/Sports/Martial … 703947.htm

Can’t afford it but SO tempted! So so so tempted.

Was anyone else’s first thought on reading this auction that we should get in touch with this guy and see who he larps with Taranaki way?

Actually yes, but I noted with some sadness he wrote “I have never fought in an event with it” so I’m wondering exactly what they’re up to down there…

Calimacil are interesting, they’re one of the few manufacturers out there doing something quite different.

Their weapons are not made with sheets of foam cut to shape and then coated in latex. Instead, they cast foam directly into the blade shape, using a mould (or into two halves, which are then glued together). There is no latex coating. A number of other producers have tried this, but there has usually been an issue with the durability of the resulting foam - it tended to become brittle with time. Calimacil seem to have pulled it off successfully, although as this auction notes the result is heavier than most larp weapons.

The other curiosity about them is that most of their swords have blunt points, to make them safer for thrusting. According to them, they’re safe to be thrusted into plate armour. If you look at the sword in the auction, you can see that it has a point that’s like three sides of an octogon. When viewed point-on, you can see that the point is actually a flat surface, as shown here:

This is one of the reasons I never imported these, I didn’t think our local larpers would want swords with this shape of tip. Another reason is that if they’re heavier, that doesn’t fit with my ideas of what makes a safer weapon. And finally they are relatively expensive, and people here tend to be looking for cheaper prices. I think folks in Europe and Quebec spend a lot more money on larp gear.

Calamacil have recently released a couple of swords with a more realistic shape:

A nicer shape, but still somewhat expensive. The viking one above is about NZ $200, and the other is a long sword for about NZ $220. Plus shipping from Canada.

And I brought it.
One because I have always wanted to see what one was like and 2 because its not a bad price if you consider they threw in postage for me. Its a bit of an experimental buy on my part.

I also sent them links to the nzlarps page and diatribes once I made my purchase

For what it’s worth Ryan, I think you might have been right to not get them - not just for the shape and aesthetic, but from watching the videos there’s not a hell of a lot of foam in those tips and while they might be safe to stab “plate” with, stabbing something a bit more fleshy might be somewhat unpleasant. That said I’m interested to see how they fare in real life.

As far as I can tell, there aren’t any games in the UK that allow the Calmacil gear, and the one chance I’ve had to ask anyone it was one the grounds of safety. Adam if you catch this - at the risk of incurring your needless wrath, do you recall any, and what the full story is/was?

:wink: [size=85]mumble mumble[/size]

Oooh…

Watches the birds fly about

[quote=“TequilaDave”]For what it’s worth Ryan, I think you might have been right to not get them - not just for the shape and aesthetic, but from watching the videos there’s not a hell of a lot of foam in those tips and while they might be safe to stab “plate” with, stabbing something a bit more fleshy might be somewhat unpleasant. That said I’m interested to see how they fare in real life.

As far as I can tell, there aren’t any games in the UK that allow the Calmacil gear, and the one chance I’ve had to ask anyone it was one the grounds of safety. Adam if you catch this - at the risk of incurring your needless wrath, do you recall any, and what the full story is/was?[/quote]

The big problem with them if i recall was the way they spring back so for example if you get it caught in somones armor / shield / weapon lock by mistake (like in the nape of an axe head) and it bends down it will spring back up with force.

The incident I re-call resulted in one springing into somones mouth and resulting in teeth comming through top lip.

Eegad. Ow. :frowning:

I remember a guy breaking his two front teeth at a larp in the middle of a battle. He was rushed off immediately to a dentist who reattached them. There was a big argument afterwards about what had happened, where the guy fighting him was adamant he hadn’t hit him.

When the walking wounded returned later in the day, it turned out he’d gotten so exited, he’d broken his own front teeth. He said “it happens all the time”.

Weird but true… :smiley:

[quote=“Derek”]I remember a guy breaking his two front teeth at a larp in the middle of a battle. He was rushed off immediately to a dentist who reattached them. There was a big argument afterwards about what had happened, where the guy fighting him was adamant he hadn’t hit him.

When the walking wounded returned later in the day, it turned out he’d gotten so exited, he’d broken his own front teeth. He said “it happens all the time”.

Weird but true… :smiley:[/quote]

So a mouthguard might be a useful piece of safety equipment?

Probably only if you’re in the habit of breaking your own teeth when you get excited.

As someone who has fought with pretty much every kind of “weapon simulator” available, I’d have to say that modern larp weapons are safe. You are many many times more likely to injure yourself falling down or running into something in the dark than being injured with a weapon.

Hmmmm who do we know like that…let me think…

Too true. The worst larp injury I’ve sustained so far (touch wood) was a fairly annoying twisted ankle at Nightmare Circle. While Nightmare Circle is known to be a fairly rough and tumble, fairly much full contact game, I sustained my twisted ankle walking down a flight of stairs during a time out we had called to move to safer ground :unamused:

To be honnest compaired with some of the home brew items we have the excalibur weapons are perfectly larp safe :stuck_out_tongue:

Well both the calimacil sword and my long awaited order from the UK arrived today. Finally!

So far, the calimacil sword has some interesting characteristics. It is really quite a bit heavier than anything else I’ve used except maybe a boffer, the balance point is about half way down the weapon.

The foam is nice and soft but the weight and balance point give it an end heavy swing. This will make it useful defensively but will mean I will have to pull it back a fair amount when I strike.

It also has a bit of whip to it because of the tip heaviness but it doesn’t seem unsafe.

One thing it does which is quite amusing, it has an almost metal like quiver when you strike a surface with it. I was striking my own forearm and it quivered as it bounced back. The bounce back seems to come from the give in the foam.

Now, my sword from Eldritch is another beast completely, it has lighter slightly firmer foam and its balance point is a bit further back. Its not as easy to compare, it is a 42" blade but has a 2 handed grip. It will be a pleasure to fight with, both for the user and the one being struck. Its a good example of modern construction. The dagger I got with it is a little firm perhaps but given that you don’t swing it like a sword it will be fine. The firmness in both items is comparable to the excalibur weapons but without the rigid kevlar layer which features in the excalibur range.

Anyways, over all I am happy as can be. New toys new toys.

I will be bringing them along to the next few games (Multiverse, Wolfgangs) even if they won’t be being used in character, so if you’re attending, come see me if you want to have a gander.