What I've got so far

Alex W

Newbie
I have a spear polearm that I'm turning into a Halberd of sorts and I was just looking for some feedback to see what you guys think. It's only my second build so it's a bit rough around the edges I know. It has a pvc core, the axe head I made jagged and it will eventually be made white, because it IG will be made out of teeth or bone of a hunted animal. That's not necessarily something I saw a lot of (the bone/teeth parts of the weapon) but I thought it was a cool idea, would that work in game?
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There are two concerns I'd have with that weapon.

One, PVC core polearms tend to be whippy at anything above minimum length. Keep that in mind. Unless you're planning on gripping it by the haft, that setup doesn't look like it has nearly enough grip room to safely use it two handed. Part of how you can control whip in play is by having a polearm grip that goes up past the midline of the weapon so you can choke up on it.

Two, your thrusting tip seems over-long. How far up it does the actual pipe foam come? From the second picture, I'd be concerned with it folding over on a thrust and possibly tearing off, which is a safety concern.

The head isn't what I'd use, but whatever works for your character is what you should go with. You'll likely need to rebuild it fairly often, though. Small points like that are going to compress out the foam over time with strikes and the tape will stick to itself, making the points uglier and uglier over time. Accidentally letting anything lie on it while transporting/storing it will make that process worse.
 
It is a little wippy, what are good pole arm core alternatives? Also I agree, your point on the thrusting tip was well heard I'll shorten/sturdy it up a little. Thanks!
 
My rule of thumb for thrusting tips is that they need to be roughly as tall as the full width of the boffer (usually a 2" cube) before trimming the corners down to make them round like the boffer top. That way they compress under pressure rather than fold. So long as you have a proper pipe foam overlap and puck below it, you will have a perfectly safe tip.

As far as core alternatives, my favorite polearm ever used a .745" epoxy tube from TAP Plastics. They're a bit spendy, at about $18 a pop, but the core will outlast everything else on your polearm by years and get rebuilt over. Plus, it fits pipe insulation intended for 3/4" PVC.

Goodwinds has them as well, although they want a few dollars more.
 
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Get is checked to make sure the shaft isn't to hard. I see you wrapped the tape around instead of lengthwise. That has a tendency to compress the foam and make it hard if not done carefully.
 
You can use PVC, it just needs to be big enough not to whip. I like to use 1" PVC pressure pipe for polearms. It will have a thinner wall than Sch 40 pipe and you might need to call around to find it. However it does make a good and somewhat light weapon.
 
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