[Ansteorra-missile] [Fwd: [SCA-MissileCombat] letter from the Society Earl Marshal]

[meggiddo at netzero.net]

FYI

Michael Fray
Unit Combat Archer for the Condottieri


tessathehuntress wrote:
>
> Greetings!
>
> The Society Earl Marshal, Earl Robert asked me to forward his letter.
>
> Tessa the Huntress, DSMCA
>
> ------------------------------------------------
> All,
> The recent events in Combat Archery ( hereafter " CA " ) seem to require
> an explanation to reduce confusion.  As your Society Marshal, I am happy
> to furnish one , along with some friendly advice.
>
> First and foremost, calm down.  No one in this office is trying to
> "kill" CA, reduce archers effectiveness, eliminate them from SCA combat
> or treat CA maliciously.
>
> The Marshals office is charged with safety and enforcement and those are
> the issues confronting us now. To be specific, I feel, and my CA experts
> feel, that the Baldar Egg Shaped Blunts as currently used are unsafe and
> must be modified for purely safety reasons.  Yes, they were previously
> passed as "safe for use" but the methodology, if so grand a term can be
> used in this instance, was flawed and it is obvious that some issues did
> not present themselves clearly.  We find ourselves in the strange, but
> by no means uncommon position, of having a perfectly legal set of
> rules/requirements that need adjusting.  To wit; combat has shown that,
> especially with crossbows, the Egg Blunt can be forced into perfectly
> legal helmet eye slots and face plates with enough force to contact the
> flesh beneath. Crossbow power has something to do with this and is being
> studied as a separate issue, the Egg Blunts are the focus of a large
> number of complaints about hurting people.  As anyone can agree, this
> is an intolerable state of affairs and I was forced to act.
>
> Once it became clear that the Egg Blunts were causing a problem, I
> turned the matter over to the functional experts, led by my Deputy for
> CA, Tessa.  Tessa , while still conducting tests, has issued a ruling
> that the Egg Blunts must be modified to be used in SCA combat. She has
> my full support and when we feel that the modifications are as safe as
> we can make them and the testing is complete, including receiving results
> from multiple different testers, we'll let everyone know.  The
> current modifications that are still being tested are easy to implement
> and should cost anyone using or selling these heads little to nothing.
> (A note on monetary issues: while sympathetic to anything that causes
> anyone additional outlay or loss of scarce funds, this office can not
> and will not let monetary concerns dictate the implementation of safety
> procedures.)
>
> So , the chain is like this- "Eggs" were introduced into combat,
> evidence started to build that they were penetrating helms and that they
> hurt folks, a proper and controlled investigation was initiated and is
> ongoing, an initial modification ruling has been posted and is being
> enforced.
>
> Modified Eggs are being tested successfully and I feel we are well on the
> way to putting this one to bed.  I have been shot, a lot, by these
> modified heads and have no complaints.  I am, however, awaiting Tessa's
> final report and conclusions and will base any final decisions on her
> recommendations as I firmly believe in letting people do their jobs.
>
> I hope this clears up any questions you might have and if you have more,
> please contact Tessa or myself.
>
> In Service,
> Robert Glendon of Auk
> SEM
>
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