ANST - Better Bannering

[Bill Sholar]

I'm not a fighter (yet anyway) but I've picked up from past discussions
that there is a relatively new rule requiring that marshals' staffs be
made of rattan. The theory is that in an accident, a wooden staff might
break, leaving jagged and possibly dangerous ends, whereas rattan would
pulp. Following that line of reasoning, when Tomonaga says:
> In a fall, it would be far more likely that the 
> pole would break than the people.

Larkin replies:
> And that would be a reason for not using it. 
> Remember that even marshaling staffs must 
> now be of rattan.

So to Tomonaga's second question:
> I'm not sure--are you saying that if a man falls 
> and brings down the banner he's carrying, it's 
> safer for the people around him to get hit with 
> sword-grade material than a light breakaway item? 

The official answer is apparently yes, that a blunt sword-grade impact
is safer that a potential puncture from the light breakaway item. 

Lacking first hand experience with any of this, I should add that I
don't personally defend either position, but am merely passing on what I
recall.

--Giraut
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