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Ouch.
Sir Edward:
The MRL wooden wasters aren't very durable. They work well enough for a while, but they tend to split right down the length of the grip. The Purple Heart wasters (http://woodenswords.com) are very good in comparison.
The Cold Steel plastic wasters (the ones Sir Brian picked up at MDRF) work well for the price. Can't beat that, really. Ideally they need a slightly heavier pommel to offset the blade weight, but they work well enough for being so cheap.
MRL has the Rawlings plastic trainers. I bought a set of these too. They're not too bad, though they have almost a little too much flex in blade which makes certain techniques difficult to perform. But then, no trainer is perfect, and they'll all have certain compromises in their use. They cost about the same as a waster from Purple Heart, and I think they're much safer than wood because of the softer plastic and flex.
Usually, as a general rule, you don't want to mix materials with what your partner is using, since one trainer will chew up the other. But plastic and wood seem to mix pretty well, IMHO.
Sir William:
Those are the ones...I like that they're not just cross-shaped pieces of plastic but they went the extra mile to make them look like the swords we know and love.
SirNathanQ:
Whoah. I'm seriously impressed by those wasters. Anyone try out those models? They might be just what I've been looking for if the handling isn't sloppy.
Das Bill:
I'm not very impressed with the current batch, but supposedly they're making changes to them. Right now they flex over the length of the entire blade, and therefore all actions from the bind are hindered because the blades flex with pressure. The feedback the community has been giving them has been that we want them to be stiffer in the forte of the blade, but retain flex around the third of the blade nearest the point, and supposedly they're working on that. Also they are really light, and many people want them to have at least a little bit more heft to be more realistic, but not so much as to lose sight of safety.
I prefer the Purpleheart Armory synthetics far more, but these Rawlings ones by MRL show promise if they make the appropriate changes.
SirNathanQ:
The page says that it only flexes the last 3rd of the blade. I think they may have made those changes.
lets hope. :)
http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=600874&name=Rawlings+Synthetic+Sparring+Long+Sword
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