You’re gonna poke an eye out with that thing!

Construction and standards of Thrown Weapons.

example of a throwing mace
example of a throwing mace

After constructing a few throwing maces, I got some good hands on experience, and wasted a little money, but in the end the ones I made need to be disassembled.  Alas the Schedule 40 PVC I was using exceeded the PSI but didn’t conform in other ways. It doesn’t remain flexible enough and can shatter. Thanks to Godai and Otto they have set me on the right path.

I want to share that information with you all now.

Siloflex: A brand-name polyethylene tubing made from PE3408 resin and conforming to ASTM D2239 standards. The material is approved for various uses throughout the rules in pressure ratings ranging from 75 PSI to 200 PSI. Please check the standards in the appropriate area of the rules for what is allowed.
Siloflex equivalent: other tubing or pipe, typically made for drinking water applications, made from polyethylene resins with the ASTM classification of PE 3408 and produced to the ASTM D2239 standard.

This was the mojo I needed! If you do a search for ‘ASTM D2239‘ suddenly you get tons of hits. Try doing a search for ‘Sil-o-flex‘… [crickets chirping].

 

siloflex_pipe

The 1″ Pipe I’m getting in lengths so I don’t have to straighten it out. The inner 3/4″ pipe is in a coil, but I have to worry less about the straightening as it will be inserted and glued inside the 1″ pipe.

I hope this helps others who find themselves on the path to making thrown weapons! Now that you have some technical specs to compare, it will make using any other comparable product easier to find!

Perhaps Ill save one of these PVC maces for martial classes for the ‘how to fail’ section!

Cheers friends!


references:

3/4″ Pipe at Lowes
1″ Pipe at Lowe’s
Construction Kits from White Wolf

Measuring Success – Martial Gauges

Hi friends!

as I get closer to becoming a CA martial there were two glaring omissions in my kit. A bow scale and a martial gauge.

Whats a bow scale!?

when you purchase a bow, it will display the poundage usually, or if not you typically choose the poundage you want. What if you dont know the poundage?

That’s where the scale comes in. One end attaches to the string, and then you the other end. The scale will tell you how many lbs were pulled.

Here is a scale on Amazon

What is a martial gauge?!

in combat archery and siege, there are safety minimums.  The gauge will help determine whether a persons equipment passes muster or not.

image

 

 

Checking things like the width of helm grills, depth of helm penetration, diameters of ammunition and more! Believe it or not these little guys are the Swiss Army Knives of martials and armored combatants alike.

Whether you’re a martial or not, I highly recommend getting these if it relates!

Someone on the SCA Combat Archery community on FB recently posted he had these pictured (top is geared to siege, bottom for CA) for sale. I just ordered two!

There are several places where you can get these. The above is from Evan Jones. I will update with links when I get them. Looks like $25 for CA, and $15 for siege ($8 S+H).  Post in the comments if you want to share your sources or wares!