Min Shaft measurements

[Requiem]

When constructing an axe or other weapon with a head, there is a "min shaft" measurement taken from the top of the grip to the head. Is this measurement taken from the smallest distance between handle and the head, or the bottom of the connection between the head and the closed-cell shaft?

I've already gotten a response to this question in another forum, but I don't know if that person was a marshall, and I want to be ABSOLUTELY SURE. I'm making a gift for someone and don't want it to fail a check at their first game.

EXAMPLE: If I construct a short axe with a blade that looks like a "<B" , with a corner that is only 10" from the handle despite there being 12" of pipe foam between handle and where the head is attached, is this a valid weapon?

 

[Dan Nickname Beshers]

The
shaft, which is the area from the grip to the beginning
of the head, must also be padded. The
“Shaft Min” column on the chart shows the
minimum length of padded area below the head.

I would be inclined to say that the use of the term shaft implies you're looking at the distance to the point of attachment. However, as the purpose is to delineate a non-striking surface for the weapon and something that looked like this:

|###\
|###/
| \#/
| |/
| V


could be seen as an attempt to circumvent that non-striking surface, I wouldn't want to affix a 100% money-back guarantee to that. I found your other thread and after looking at the weapons you're modeling from I'd say that you're probably in the clear. As others have said, you're likely to raise more concerns about accidental trapping than cheating.

Since a borderline rules call comes down to the individual marshal on the scene, I'd check with your local chapter's rules folk for their input. I suppose the question could also be put to ARC, since the book truly isn't crystal clear.

 

[evi1r0n]

I would say the shaft starts where it first attaches to the non striking surface. If there is an area that a weapon could get trapped in, I would reject it.
-Ron
Seattle/OR Marshal