Fighting in real life.

[Christo]

Hey guys, I'm really interested, is here anyone who's in a reenactment group, or something?
I know the method is not only straight blocks and spam IRL, that's why I'm interested.
I'll look around, but I don't think I have a medieval reenactment group where I live.
Me and my friend are interested in melee fighting, I'm thinking about making, or buying wooden weapons, for practicing the basics.
Can you help me out, where should I look for a wooden pole that's about as tall as me? 170-180 cm.
Simple broom etc handles are way too short for this. My friend wants to craft a wooden two-handed sword, so that he can spam me. 

I could use some suggestions, thanks for reading. 

[BD_Guard_Bane]

If you live in the country it's easy. If you live in the city, drive to the country. Then find some trees. Best ones are Ash or Willow trees (google images to see what they look like). Willow seasons well and is nice and flexible, so it won't snap. And ash is really strong. Get a big knife or a saw, find some saplings or some branches from a bigger tree, make sure they're reasonably straight, then cut them. For willow it's ok to use the dead branches as long as they aren't too dead because willow seasons well. You can cut off any smaller branches that come off the bit you want.

If you look for a bit you'll find some appropriate branches - both those species of tree tend to have long straight branches that grow up from the central roots in clusters. If you can find copsed trees (deliberately grown for wood) and can sneak onto private property, those trees are the best because they're cut regularly and forced to grow straight and up.
For willow you can also shave the bark and you get a bright white stick. Also, willow doesn't splinter because it's fibrous.

Alternatively you can use bamboo. Most farmers use it as splints for fruit trees because it's cheap. Find an orchard and sneak in, then steal the bamboo. There will be tonnes of the stuff. They use stems about 1-3 cm thick and between 1 and 2 meters high or so.   

So if you're ok with mutilating trees and trespassing, that's what to do. I've never used such sticks for fighting, but they have other uses that I'd imagine are the same things that would make them perfect for fighting with.

[Mattressi]

If you can find copsed trees (deliberately grown for wood) and can sneak onto private property, those trees are the best because they're cut regularly and forced to grow straight and up.

Find an orchard and sneak in, then steal the bamboo.

That's a great way to get shot (and justifiably so). How about instead of sneaking onto someone's property and stealing from them, you buy the frigging wood? It'll cost a lot less than if you get caught; you'll likely either be paying medical bills, paying off your fine (or bond money) or won't need to worry about ever paying for anything again. I know a lot of people are pussies about protecting their properties nowadays (especially here in Australia and in the UK), but I've yet to meet a farmer that doesn't have some means of getting people off their property one way or another.

As for the OPs question: if you're going to make it, ensure the wood you buy is straight and has a straight grain and no knots. Cutting off branches from a random tree in someone's yard will likely get you a warped stave with knots and run outs. Knots, warping and run out is fine if you're making a cabinet/table/other load bearing item, but if you plan on making a relatively thin, long staff for fighting with, you really don't want any weak points. A knot of any reasonable size will cause the staff to fracture around it after a few decently strong blows.

Alternatively, you can just buy a staff for ~$20. Depending on your method for making staves out of bought wood, this can likely be a lot cheaper (and obviously involves less effort).
Some sites:
http://www.karatedepot.com/bo_staff.html
http://www.swordsofhonor.com/fightingsticks.html

[BD_Guard_Bane]

I guess there is a risk of being shot, but its a very minor one

Why buy wood when you can get it for free? And if you can't sneak into an orchard or some private woods to steal a stick, then you deserve the bullet for your poor ninja skills. Though I wouldn't say that in any situation being shot is justifiable, especially if you just want a stick. Seems a little bit disproportionate.

And don't buy staffs from the internet:

1) It's a little bit weird

2) You'll never be a true staffmaster unless you select and cut your own staff with your own two hands!

3) You're paying someone money for a stick...

4) (edit) Also, think what the package will look like when it arrives. How are you going to explain that to your relatives/flatmates/partner? I mean, you're going to have to tell them that you paid money for a bit of wood...

[Mattressi]

Though I wouldn't say that in any situation being shot is justifiable, especially if you just want a stick. Seems a little bit disproportionate.

The main issue is the sneaking onto someone's property bit. The owner can't know your intentions; you could be there for much more sinister purposes. It's not their burden to read your mind - it's your burden to not be there in the first place. As for whether it's ever justifiable, I'll pass on the self defense debate for now. I don't want to derail the thread further.

I know you might be (sort of) joking, but I just thought I'd post in case anyone got the idea to do this. Hopefully it will help people consider the other side of the situation (when they're wondering "why is that guy shooting at me!?").

[Christo]

I'm quite lucky, I'm living outside of my town, there is a forest nearby, trees in the backyard, but the backyard trees aren't really useful.

My friend is making the sword for himself, I think he already has a plan for it, good for him.

I'm dumb when it comes to types of wood, I can't really tell what is what. I can only tell that they're trees, lol.

Also I would like to craft a bow, but that would be really difficult for me, I have no experience with woodworking, but I'm interested, and willing to learn.

But finding a 180cm straight branch is a bit difficult. Maybe I'll need some planks, or I don't know.

@Bane: I totally agree with you man.

[Thomek]

Come on steal it.. It's worth the excitement! Me and my friends used to dress up in cameo gear, drive around without headlights in the forest and try to cap canada goose with long knives once.. lol. We didn't manage to cap anyone though..

Back in the day when we used to get home from school and watch "Navy SEALs" again and again lol..

(live in Norway though, so people don't shoot after each other too often. Might be different in US and Australia. Dunno about UK, France or Germany.)

[Christo]

Well.. I could walk into the forest here, and if I find something useful, I can chop it, I'm very stealthy and careful all the time.
But the sight of a guy walking into the forest with a big axe, then walking back with a big ass stick would be risky, aye? 

I'm trying to indentify what trees I have around here by the way.. hold on. 

[BD_Guard_Bane]

I'm dumb when it comes to types of wood, I can't really tell what is what. I can only tell that they're trees, lol.

Well, one of the difficulties is variations in species from one country to another, and from climates and regions. There are many different species of Willow tree, and many variations on how they can look depending on where they grow. There are guides for telling what kind of tree it is - though some trees are only easily recognisable by the leaves, so it's tough in winter. Ash has a distinctive bark though. Just google trees for your country or region. If not just keep hacking at trees until one works

Also I would like to craft a bow, but that would be really difficult for me, I have no experience with woodworking, but I'm interested, and willing to learn.

For a bow I would guess you would need a soft wood, one that's really flexible - it'd need to start dead straight and then you bend it to add the string. If you make it out of something like oak, it'd be impossible to draw and would snap even if you could. Willow might work ok. I read somewhere that longbows were made out of yew, but I would guess that you would need to carve up the whole tree cos the branches don't grow in a nice straight way. I'd imagine you could make a bow just with a straight bit of willow, put notches in it and add some string. But it wouldn't be very powerful and probably not too accurate. And you'd have to figure out what string to use.

I think learning to make a bow would take a lot of time

But finding a 180cm straight branch is a bit difficult. Maybe I'll need some planks, or I don't know.

This is where stealing from copsed woods is good. The trees are all young and the farmers get them to grow up straight in clusters so they make easier to use wood - perfect for what you want. In a wild forest it's going to be harder to find a perfect branch. Look for young trees.
And planks are ok for making a sword I would guess, but remember that most of the planks you'd be able to find will be crappy MDF or building material, not proper wood. Actual timber is quite pricey - they only use it in stuff like expensive floorboards or posh furniture. And for a bow it'd be absolutely useless.


And @Mattressi, yeah it's true that sneaking onto property is illegal, but the way I see it it doesn't really count when their property is big enough to have an orchard in it

[Christo]

Hmm. Thanks for the info guys, I'll definitely scout the forest, and my backyard again.
Also I've gathered info about the staff, it should be 180 cm long, and 2-3 cm thick. I can solve the thickness problem, just need something straight.

Problem is that maybe I'll have to hide my axe, so the few people living near won't ask questions.
Maybe I'll bring a smaller one, and hide it in my backpack.

Also thanks for the bow tips, I'll try it out one day, when I'll be experienced enough.

[Mattressi]

Also I would like to craft a bow, but that would be really difficult for me, I have no experience with woodworking, but I'm interested, and willing to learn.

This site is what I used the first time I built a bow: http://poorfolkbows.com/oak.htm

It teaches a bit about what wood to look for, how to make the bow with minimal tools and all the basics of tillering (making the bow so that it draws correctly). It's reasonably straight forward. Best of all, it can be pretty much substituted for most other types of bow building wood (I had to use iron bark because getting US wood in Australia which is 6 ft long is pretty damn hard) and only requires a plank of the wood to be bought. If you don't like the look of the fiberglass backing (I don't), just use 100% linen or silk instead. Works just as well.

There's more complicated designs, but ultimately a board bow (flat bow to others) is one of the most efficient designs (in terms of power, not material - the English Longbow was probably the most efficient material-wise), so you don't need to make anything more difficult unless you want to be period accurate or you want to have a bow that doesn't look hideous.

What country do you live in? It'd be easier to work out what woods you could use then.

[Christo]

I live in Hungary.

This site is very informative, thanks for sharing it! *bookmark'd*

[Mattressi]

I live in Hungary.

Hmm, all I know is that the traditional Hungarian bow was primarily made of Ash wood. I'm assuming that means Hungary has some kind of Ash tree suitable for bow making. Often there's many different trees of the same name but have very different material properties (for example, Red Oak and White Oak are good for making bows, but over here we only have a type of Oak called Tasmanian Oak which is absolute crap!). Otherwise you can always import some Osage Orange from the UK (or Yew if you've got the money).
This applies to making a staff as well; both bows and staves need wood that can handle high tensile and compressive stresses and are not brittle (meaning they won't snap when you hit something or draw it back). I haven't made a staff before though, so it might be a little more or less lenient about the type of wood that can be used to make it.

[Balton]

It's so much different in real life compared to this video game. Everything is pretty much one shot, even with a wooden weapon, if you swing properly it's one hit knock out/broken bones. Oh, and you can swing so much faster (spam) in real life than you can in this game, especially with a staff, you can easily (with no prior experience) connect multiple (4+) times per second.

My only experience are fights (not full force of course) that I have had with friends using wooden sticks etc (live in Alaska, not much else to do).

[RagnarLodbroke]

Come on steal it.. It's worth the excitement! Me and my friends used to dress up in cameo gear, drive around without headlights in the forest and try to cap canada goose with long knives once.. lol. We didn't manage to cap anyone though..

Back in the day when we used to get home from school and watch "Navy SEALs" again and again lol..

(live in Norway though, so people don't shoot after each other too often. Might be different in US and Australia. Dunno about UK, France or Germany.)

hmm come to my property...then ull get shot after

But wtf, who the hell are hitting each other with sticks?
In Norway we got Guns...U know..."Magic" POWDER, as u might have heard!