Happy!

[bouteillebleu]

I have a sword!

To be precise, it's in a big cardboard box propped up against my desk at work. I don't want to take it out because otherwise I won't be able to get it back into the box to go home, and I'd really rather not be carrying a sword on the bus, LARP-safe or not. So it stays in the box.

As the auction link above says, it's a 50" Eldritch katana. I have precisely one Treasure Trap character who can (a) wield it without exploding their mana everywhere messily and (b) do more than superficial damage IC when wielding it. :)

I'm also going to need a back scabbard for it, probably, because my legs are not long enough to keep it off the ground if it's in a drop scabbard off my belt.

(For anyone who was worried, this is indeed a LARP sword - it's made out of carbon-fibre or fibreglass, then foam, then latex. The worst you can get from this sword if someone whacks you with it is a bruise, and that only if they really hit you hard. :)

Comments

[duncanneko.livejournal.com]

Mmm, that is shiny. Damnit, now I want to LARP again, or at least hit people with swords (which may or may not be the same thing).

Incidentally, remember that drawing from a back scabbard is highly impractical for long swords, so it won't be easy to get at.

[bouteillebleu.livejournal.com]

If you want to hit people with swords I will happily have a sparring match in the back garden or the park this week. :)

And yeah, that's the problem with any scabbard I'd use for that swords, though back scabbards more so. I'd much rather have something I could draw it from quickly.

[king-of-wrong.livejournal.com]

Shiny!

But... 50"?! Normal katanas are only about 39" end-to-end, and a six-foot-tall swordsman would be recommended to use a 2.50 shaku (30") blade. It looks like a fairly straight blade, too, which will make drawing even more interesting. (I'd imagine you'd need a three-quarter-length scabbard)

[bouteillebleu.livejournal.com]

Aye, it's going to be interesting. I've been using a 42" sword with the character I bought this for, and even that was a little difficult to draw.

(The drop scabbard I use is only about six inches, open at both ends, and is designed to let the hilt guard rest at the top and stop the sword falling through.)

50 inches is going to be a little ridiculous, but I'll see how I do.

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

My Americanness is showing. I was honestly puzzled for a long moment as to why you had to put a disclaimer about it being a fake sword. :) Is it totally illegal for you guys to own real swords or just highly looked down upon because they're weapons?

[bouteillebleu.livejournal.com]

I'm not entirely sure about LARP swords, but I do know that recent legislation has made it less advisable to carry round, say, rubber pellet guns that look anything like real guns. (This made the university Assassins game a bit tougher. People just have rubber band guns and water pistols now, though.)

I don't think they're illegal, but I do know that a few members of my LARP group have had the police ask them what they're doing with these dodgy looking weapons (http://www.srcf.ucam.org/tt/wiki.pl?WhenPoliceAttack). So I'm just trying to be sensible. :)

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

While you'd definitely get some weird looks, I don't think people would generally get in trouble if carrying around a sword. I could be wrong, having never carried around a realistic looking sword in public, but my dad used to bring his WWII katana to classes for show and tell when I was a kid (admittedly, that probably wouldn't be allowed nowadays, but that's just in schools...and you know what, maybe we Americans are getting as paranoid as you Brits. :).

[bouteillebleu.livejournal.com]

Also, I think real swords may be okay as long as you either keep them at home, or you're carrying them to a martial arts training session. Not entirely sure about that one, though.

[chess]

Basically when carrying weaponary or good fake weaponary you have to keep it out of sight so that people can't possibly think you are threatening them with it, and if you are confronted about it you need to be able to demonstrate a lawful reason why you are carrying it (I think most sensible reasons, like 'going to my re-enactment group' or 'taking it for show-and-tell', work fine).

[evilgrayson.livejournal.com]

Muahahahaaa. I just saw that you've joined us in our insanity. Welcome aboard. :)

Okay, first things first. Don't get a back scabbard, you'll have to draw the damned thing two or three times to get it out in a hurry, and that just doesn't work that well in case of ambush. There's no guards on the sword, though, so a plain metal ring style back scabbard won't work either. You need a scabbard for your belt that'll keep it more horizontal, or to just suck it up and carry the damned thing. Not such an issue if all you're doing is adventures, but if you're going to be doing 'fest' type things, you'll want a scabbard of some sort.

Next. Treasure Trap. The first LARP system *ever*, first run back in 1982. That might explain a few things. :) I didn't know Cambridge had a Treasure Trap, but I'll put money on knowing some of the people involved. The system's probably been a bit modified from the stories I've heard from friends who went to Peckforton Castle all those years ago, but I know enough about it to have a clue about what you're on about. :)

Legality of carrying it. Keep it covered and you'll generally be fine.

Finally. Fests. Are you headed to the Gathering or to Renewal, or even Summerfest, at all? I go to Renewal.

[bouteillebleu.livejournal.com]

Most of the people in my university LARP group also go to Maelstrom, and have been trying to persuade me to go along. I'm still not so sure. (Fest events are big and out in a field, and as I've learned from running our end-of-year event, it takes a while to wind down from them.)

Cambridge University Treasure Trap is an offshoot of Durham University Treasure Trap - we were started about three and a half years ago by some ex-Durham students.

Durham itself is an offshoot of the Birmingham one, which I think is an offshoot of the original one.

Our system has been modified from the Durham one - we have a unified call system for spells/miracles/weapon damage that means you don't have to memorise a long list of all the spells in the game - and we've been rewriting bits of the setting. Killing off extraneous gods, that sort of thing. So yes, it's changed somewhat since 2001, never mind 1982. :)