All foam shield with points

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Ravis_Graystone

Ravis_Graystone

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I plan on building a shield that looks like the picture below, it will be made from camp padding and then have plasti-dip coating the entire thing. My question is are the points going to be a problem? I don't really see this as any different than a latex weapon except that it won't be swung at anyone so I'm assuming it will be safe?

shield.png
 
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By the rules as written, on ARB pg 80. "All edges of the shield must be padded with 5/8" pipe insulation." I searched for an ARC ruling that waives this for full foam construction shields and did not find any.

I have seen full foam commercial shields used in game however. With that I would like to hear from other Marshals before posting to ARC about the legality of such shields.

Assuming full foam construction is acceptable in lieu of pipe insulation edging, I would, as always, recommend speaking with the officials in the chapter you plan on playing in. The points in and of themselves would not give me reason to fail the shield.
 
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In general (although it's under the "Weapon Construction" section of the book, not referencing Shields ... which it probably should) I would consider this to be of import:

In addition, all non-striking surfaces which may come into contact with another player (such as the shaft of a blunt weapon or polearm, crossguards, and the flats of sword blades) must be protected with sufficient closed cell foam to ensure safety should accidental strikes happen with those areas of the weapon. Weapons which do not have sufficient padding on non-striking surfaces will absolutely be disallowed from play...
Click to expand...

This is the passage that (more than any other passage) says "really, guys, keep it safe" and allows latex or boffer weapons to come in with less than minimum foam on non-striking surfaces, yet still pass. Your local Marshals might have more input on this, but in some cases in some chaptesr a shield which is shown to be safe when struck with weapons has been allowed in. In general, you will need at least some foam on the edges to protect both other players upon incidental contact and protect the integrity of the weapons which might strike said shield.

Unfortunately, when we updated the weapon construction rules to give more leeway for weapons a while back, the shield text wasn't updated to correspond with this. It really should have been.

As always, your local Marshals will determine what does and does not pass in your chapter. The above is only advice and my view as Seattle Head of Rules, and should not be taken as gospel in other chapters. If you bring a shield to another chapter and it has less than 5/8" padding on the edges, don't expect it to pass without running it by that chapter's marshals first.

-Bryan

PS And yes - that shield should be fine in Seattle so long as the edges prove to be safe to other players and to weapons based on the foam you use.
 
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I concur with Bryan. We actually have at least one player in the PNW who uses an entirely latex shield, and I've never seen it to be a danger. The points don't look like an issue based on design, but I'd have to see it personally to say yes/no.
 
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Calgary would allow it. All foam by it's definition has not hard edges that can damage a weapon. It's foam. Now, if there is a solid core inside it that creeps to the edges, then yes, the edges need extra padding. I use LD60 Foam with LD45/LD30 on the main striking surface. Light as a feather and cannot damage a weapon even if it tried. :-)
 
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