The consequences of a poorly executed Unterhau!

[Sir Brian]

Borked!

I love modern technology and digital X-rays! 

[Sir Wolf]

ooooooooooooh no! time 2 start wearing gauntlets

[Sir Edward]

Youch! Just curious, what kind of gloves were you using? Nothing is perfect. Breaks like this are still easy to do with hockey or lacrosse gloves since the padding doesn't extend down the sides. Steel gauntlets also have gaps. If you want to actually be able to use your hand, they can't be 100% protective. The best defense is to not be where the opponent's blade is.

Let me guess, you were making a counter-attack into his attack, and brought your hands right into it? I've done that, many times. So far nothing's broken yet though.

[Sir Brian]

Yeah I was wearing lacrosse gloves and even the ones with side padding don’t cover the area I got hit. It really was one in a million shot. I was counter-attacking with an attack but was a tad too slow. It was counted as a double hit but if it was real I would be sitting at the tavern drinking while nursing a mangled hand and he would’ve been taking a dirt nap! 

[Sir Edward]

Yeah, I really try hard to break myself of the habit of going for the opening if it means ignoring his blade, or not sufficiently defending from it. I think it's a bit over-committed if you're risking losing your hand whether your shot hits or misses. But yeah, I do that sort of thing all the time.

What type of sword trainers were you guys using? The plastic wasters?

[Sir Wolf]

HAH! eheheheheh

[Sir Brian]

Yeah, I really try hard to break myself of the habit of going for the opening if it means ignoring his blade, or not sufficiently defending from it. I think it's a bit over-committed if you're risking losing your hand whether your shot hits or misses. But yeah, I do that sort of thing all the time.

What type of sword trainers were you guys using? The plastic wasters?

I claim the over exuberance of being a novice! I should settle down more when I become more comfortable with the appropriate defenses and counter-attacks.  We are using steel and aluminum wasters for our free bouts. Paul Wiedorn is making me an aluminum waster so I can interchange swords as needed depending on who I'm drilling or fighting with.
Hey cool! I just noticed Larry Tom added me to the roster.  - He doesn't know I should be on the disabled/injured list! 

[Sir Edward]

Ah cool. Yeah, steel/aluminum can be a bit unforgiving when it hits unpadded fingers. But I think overall it's pretty safe, as long as people are reasonably controlled. I certainly like it. That thumb hit I took at WMAW that cost me my thumbnail was in steel free play.

The polymer swords are starting to catch on a bit. The tournament at Longpoint is using them, though I saw in the rules that they're providing the weapons. I wonder which ones they're using.

[Sir Brian]

btw, how are the wasters you can get @ MDRF? Are the adequate?   

[Sir William]

That's not your sword hand, Brother- you can still carry and wield a sword. 

Glad that's all that happened!

[Sir Edward]

btw, how are the wasters you can get @ MDRF? Are the adequate?  

The plastic ones made by cold steel? Oh yeah, they're fine, but not great... it's the "you get what you pay for" thing. I think they're fine from a safety standpoint, it's just that the weight and balance isn't fantastic. The Purple Heart plastic trainers are some of the best, though they're pretty rigid. The Rawlings ones you get can from MRL are nice and light, but they flex too much, making them behave strangely in the bind, or hard blade contact.

I have some of each. I'll throw them all in the car this weekend.

[Sir Brian]

hehe, no I have a cold steel polypropylene waster I bought from Blacksword armoury last season and I use it in my practice drills, I was curious about the wooden wasters they sell at MDRF. 

Actually Larry Tom checked out my polypropylene waster on Sunday and said it wasn’t too bad. I think it’s a little too heavy in the blade but that’s ok to help build up the muscles you have to use so when you change to a metal blade you’re a lot faster. 

[Sir Edward]

Ah yes, so the Hollow Earth wooden wasters? They look serviceable to me. I thought I remembered Hollow Earth being more expensive, but the website looks more sane. Maybe the raise the prices at faire. Here's their swords page:

http://www.hollowearthswordworks.com/swords.htm

The "bastard swords" are really the longswords. They're using the D&D terminology, it looks like.

Compare with Purple Heart:

http://woodenswords.com/WMA/longsword.htm

So the prices are about the same, at least on the websites. I've never played with the Hollow Earth swords outside of their shop, but they seem sturdy. Purple Heart swords hold up really well in practice.

[Sir James A]

I picked up a wooden waster off ebay for somewhere under $15. I have yet to give it a try, though.

I did try using a plastic one (loaner sword) at a class once. It was terrible when against a wooden sword; it of course had some "give" the wooden did not. Not the best scenario when the drill was about "foolin" (however you spell "feeling" in german), which seemed to be about rotating your blade around the other person's to strike successfully.

Sir Brian, I hope that heals well and quickly. I noticed the x-ray says "unclassified"; I assume this means there won't be any titanium bone replacements?

[Sir Brian]

Thanks Sir James!

Sir Brian, I hope that heals well and quickly. I noticed the x-ray says "unclassified"; I assume this means there won't be any titanium bone replacements?

hmmm a titanium longsword coming out of my pinky...