[Ansteorra-missile] Clear the bow!

[Eadric Anstapa]

Donnchadh Beag mac Griogair wrote:
>
> I just went out and grabbed some spare blue foam, and did some 
> measuring.  What I'm calling a 2 layer and 3 layer tip is based on the 
> number of layers of standard blue foam on the tip.  
I don't think there is such a thing as "standard blue foam".  They vary 
so much.  Some are 3/8" some are 1/2", some are more rigid, some less.   
The rules says 1/2" for SCA minimum, 1" for Ansteorran, 3/4" for Gulf War.

> I just measured it, 
> and 2 layers is 7/8"  just barely not enough to pass at 1", especially 
> after you've shot something with it once.  To pass 1" I have to use 3 
> layers of foam which is 1 3/8".  So no, I've never been hit with an 
> actual 1/2" blunt.  Were the experiments you did with actual 1/2" and 1" 
> of padding?  What were you using for padding?  Are we comparing apples 
> and oranges?  I can see how an actual 1/2" padded blunt (just over 1 
> layer of foam) would be considerably different.
>   
I used 1/2" foam and 1" foam since I was specifically testing impact 
with the SCA minimum and the Ansteorran standard.  I buy from a 
commercial foam supplier which you can find is almost any big city or 
online.  I have tried many types and compared them for compression and 
longevity.  I am currently using F-cell crosslinked polyethylene foam as 
it has I think the best of what we need.  I buy it in 1" thick sheet for 
making blunts and 1/2" thick for use in padding armor.

You are correct it is important to compare apples to apples. One person 
could buy really crappy 1" foam that might protect no better than 1/2" 
of really good foam.

A common blue foam camping pad is about 24 inches wide and 60 inches 
long (many are smaller).  So thats 1440 sq inches and they cost about  
$7 at Walmart.  So thats about half a cent per sq inch.  But ya need at 
least 2 layers for a SCA legal blunt or 3 layers for an Ansteorran or 
Gulf War legal blunt  so that takes ya up to a 1 cent for SCA legal or 
1.5 cents per sq inch for GW and Ansteorran legal.

I buy 5ft x10ft sheets of 1" thick great quality crosslinked poly foam 
for about $80.  So  7200 sq inches for $80  or 1.1 cents per sq ft.  I 
only need 1 layer of foam so I come out about  4 tenths of a cent 
cheaper for each sq inch  of Ansteorran legal  blunt.  I only need one 
layer so there is a lot less labor involved because it is no more work 
for me to punch out 1 layer than it is for you and you have to punch out 
two or three times as many as I do.  You have more waste than I do 
because you waste foam with every disk you punch out,  It's less labor 
for assembly of the blunts because I only deal with one layer.  I use 
good foam rather than what I can grab quickly at Walmart and I save 
money, save time, and I get far better foam that lasts much longer.

For the record  I didn't just test clay.  I stood out in my back yard 
and Iaen Mor got to shoot me in the unarmored back with crossbows of 
various poundages with various blunts.  Even if I couldn't see the 
blunts coming at 600IP I always knew which one hit me by how much it 
hurt.  I could tell an Egg Baldar from a Classic Baldar from 1/2" padded 
from a 1" padded.  I could also tell by which bruises still hurt days 
later and which healed the quickest.  At lower IP crossbows(say below 
500 IP) and with 30# longbows it was difficult to tell the difference in 
a 1/2" padded blunt and a 1" padded blunt.  I only let him shoot me once 
with a 1/2" padded blunt out of 1000IP crossbow before deciding that was 
enough.  I am sure Iaen had fun...

There were a couple of months there that people were sorta saying "Hey, 
lets go over to Eadric's house and see what he wants us to shoot him 
with today."   Ouch...


-EA