Also the type of
armaments used in mideval
combat simulation organizations, such as
Dagorhir. Here's how to construct a sword that is permissible to use in such:
Materials:
2 equal lengths of 1/2"
PVC pipe or
Fiberglass Rods
A Large Quantity of
Duct Tape
2-3 rolls of closed-cell
foam (flat camping foam works well)
Approx. a 2-3" cube and (2)1.5x4x2 blocks of open cell foam (the
squishy kind)
Contact
Cement
2
Popsicle sticks / tongue depressors
About 50 pennies
A large piece of cloth (your choice of color)
Core:
Pair pipes/rods together (side-by-side) and duct tape together. Secure tip of
core with additional tape (and a few coins, if you feel it necessary) so it doesn't poke through the
padding.
Padding:
Note: Apply contact cement lightly to surfaces to be joined and allow it to dry to a "
tacky" texture before joining surfaces.
Glue two 1-inch wide strips of closed cell foam together, flat (just one strip would work as well, depending on the thickness of the core) and to the wide sides of the core with contact cement. Glue a 2-inch wide
strip of closed cell foam to the narrow side of the core that covers over both sides of the blade.
Repeat last step until the blade is covered with three layers of closed cell foam on each side.
Grip:
Place a popsicle stick on either side of the grip with the bottom cut flat. Leave about a penny's diameter of the popsicle stick to reach over the bottom to extend the handle length a little if necessary. Place some pennies between popsicle sticks and on bottom of handle for a
counterweight. The
balance point of the length should be 2-4 inches above the
thumb when holding the sword. Secure counterweight and sticks tightly with duct tape. Cover counterweight with the block of open cell
foam and a 2-inch wide strip of closed cell foam and secure tightly with duct tape as well as the bottom of the blade padding. Remember, the
pommel cannot pass through a 2.5" diameter hole to be considered safe.
Cover:
(In a pinch, this part can be bypassed with
a large sock.) Cut the piece of cloth to be 4-6 inches longer and 3 times as wide as the
blade and fold in half. Sew along top and side of cloth, cut off
excess leaving a 1/2 to 1-inch hem and turn
inside out. (for best fit, wrap cloth around blade and pin cloth along
sewing lines.) Cover blade with cloth and secure bottom of cloth with duct tape.
Cross guard:
There are many ways to make a
hand guard from the
rapier's
bell guard to the
katana's
tsuba. It should be foam and safe. This part describes a basic cross guard. Place a 1 1/2-inch wide, 6 to 9-inch long strip of closed cell foam above and across the grip with a block of open cell foam between the
overhanging strips. Secure and wrap tightly with duct tape.
And there you have it.
This is only a basic sword. More complex and entirely different weapons can be constructed. Some examples are
spears,
axes,
maces,
arrows, and even
javelins. However, all these
weapons share one
quality: they are
heavily padded to prevent
true injury.