As someone who wants to hit people with the point of their weapon occasionally, and also wants nice-looking kit, but most of all doesn’t want to hurt their fellow larpers, I’m interested to know what staff’s thoughts are on Calimacil’s rapiers.
I contacted their Customer Service and they said that there is not 2" of coreless foam at the end of the blade. From videos online it looks like there’s maybe an inch to an inch and a half. That said, they’re designed to bend, unlike most cored boffers, which will absorb some force of an impact.
I’m looking for a quick (and not construed as binding) “no way/mmmmaybe/oh yeah we know they’re cool” so I can decide if I should try to snag one before the first event, look elsewhere, or hold off on a purchase until staff/the PK community has a chance to evaluate one in person.
I don’t personally have experience with them, and whether a weapon is thrusting-safe depends on both the weapon itself and the person using it, so I don’t want to make a “yes good this is cool” guarantee, and my personal bias is at baseline not to allow thrusting with latex-and-similar weapons. That being said, from looking at the video on their website (http://www.calimacil.com/agrippa2.html, right?), it looks like they are at least on the safer end of molded weapons in comparison to, like, staves, so I’m not going to dismiss the possibility out-of-hand.
If you’re on the fence and thrusting is integral to your hitting-people-with-sticks experience I’d suggest waiting until staff gets a chance to poke at one.
My personal experience with Calimacil weapons is that they are quite a bit harder than other brands. I would not thrust with them and I consider myself a very safe fighter. When fighting with my own I go lighter than most people’s “lightest touch”, I am very cautious, because they are indeed quite hard.
If you’re looking for a latex weapon that’s got a bit more squish, Epic Armory weapons are pretty soft and I like them quite a bit. In general I still don’t thrust with latex.
B3 makes some pretty nice looking borders that have the shape of a rapier. They aren’t as fancy looking as calamicil but they definitely get the feel across.