Jonathan_Kaplan wrote:This thing is ~$45 SHIPPED!!!
Actually it is not just $45, it is $45 and all the work needed to modify it so that it works. A NSA waster is about twice that at about $90, but it is ready to go out of the box and has a very proven history. As a software engineer I use a lot of open-source software and the cost of the troubles I encounter using that free software I refer to as the "Price of Free". What you are running into is the "Price of Cheap".
I agree with Ran on this one. I'm all about being budget conscious and saving money, but sometimes the extra money is well spent if you're serious about your craft.
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Stacy Clifford Free-Scholar ARMA Houston, TX
Well, doesn't someone want to at least try to mod it, see if it can be done effectively for under $10 or so? I think that it is still a worthwhile project, if only to see if it is possible/feasible!
Also, what about someone who doesn't want their first waster to be wooden? Maybe they like the idea of other materials, to start with? I mean, that means that for an equivalent, they have to go to Brian Hunt, right? Where the equivalents are $100-110 before shipping, right?
I went out the other day to meet a prospect, and we did some partner stuff with two of these swords. I was suprised at how terribly they bounced. I tried a zornhau at my partner full speed while he was in hengen, and his own waster hit him from wobbling at the impact. Another time I tried, it bounced off his waster, and if I had kept following through, I would have hit him in the head.
I also tried swinging it at full speed, and they were actually kind of whippy, which was pretty annoying. I can see how, if I were to practice regularly with one of these, the whippiness might actually slow down my ability to string together combinations of cuts. So I'm glad I also have a wooden waster.
That being said, my wooden waster is pretty run down. The hilt slides, there's various cracks I've had to glue, etc., so it's nice to have a plastic waster with which I can do pell work until I can afford my albion, though again, the bounce and whippyness are annoying during this activity too.
Now, that being said, I must confess the whippyness was likely aggravated by the fact that I left them in the trunk of my car all week in 110 degree weather.
Also, just doing a quick Google shopping search, I found one for $25.99 plus $10.99 shipping at katerno.com = 37 bucks.
My conclusion? It's a good supplementary training tool, not bad for loaning out to new people, but it would really suck if it was all I had to train with. I think my skill with the sword would actually decrease, given the above observations.
As for modding it, it may help the balance, but it won't help the bounce or the whippyness. On the other hand, I'm thinking one of these days, I'm just gonna drill up through the pommel and handle, and screw in a long metal bolt and see how that holds up. I don't know how much it will help the balance, but it's worth a shot, and it wouldn't take too much money or effort, since I already have the drill, and all I'd need to do is buy a long bolt, which shouldn't be more than a few dollars.
(EDIT: I'd also like to clarify the bit about it being good for loaning out to new people: I think it might be help them along for the first week or two if it were their only training tool, but after that, it might cause them to develop some bad habits. At least, that's my own speculation.)
To be fair, hickory actually has quite a bit of bounce to it as well. I can't tell you how many times I've seen (or suffered) a blow that landed right on the strong where it was supposed to and then immediately bounced over the cross onto the fingers almost as hard. Hickory was about 4rd or 5th on the list of good woods for making bows in North America because of its resilience, but that same property that makes our wasters so tough is also what causes a few "extra" hits. But when it hits your fingers, it's definitely not whippy...
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Stacy Clifford Free-Scholar ARMA Houston, TX
Maybe a little, but probably only as long as it stayed cold, which won't be long once you put it in the car to go to practice. I don't think altering the physical nature of the plastic is likely to be very successful.
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Stacy Clifford Free-Scholar ARMA Houston, TX
Well, I'm trying to encourage people to experiment! At least with the mass management, if not whippiness or bounciness. I was just trying to figure out what issues could be mitigated before I bought one...
That would both stiffen the blade and change the center of gravity. Sounds to me that this as shipped is at best a fair hand and a half waster, but it might make a better sword and buckler one.
Hey, just wanted to let you all know. To further clarify what I said earlier in this thread, I did an early morning practice yesterday, and, in the absence of the oven-like Phoenix heat that I usually practice in, the wasters were significantly less whippy. In fact, I would say that they are less whippy than even the With Intent waster that I handled a few times back in Idaho in the wintertime.
