Materials

-PVC Core-

The cores of our weapons are made out of PVC piping, a durable and yet flexible material that can withstand all of the punishment of Battlegrounds warfare. We use two different sizes depending on the weapon being constructed. 1/2 PVC piping and 3/4 PVC piping.

-PVC Caps-

To ensure saftey, the ends of all weapons must be sealed with a PVC cap. These can be found sold alongside the PVC pipes above at your local hardware store. All weapon tips -must- be capped or they will automatically be turned down. Make sure to pay close attention to what kind of cap you pick up when you buy them to ensure that you do not accidentally get a “Threaded” cap. These feature little lines or “Threads” for screwing onto threaded PVC, which we are not using.

-Foam Padding-

Also sold near the PVC piping should be rows of foam insulation for it. While we do not use an exact size (The manufacturer here keeps changing it.) there should be some pre-measured to go around both the 1/2 and 3/4 PVC you have chosen. It must be sealed on all sides and have at least a half inch or so of padding around the PVC it is covering. (Sometimes it is a little thinner but not by more than a millimeter or two.)

-Tape-

We use good ol' duct-tape for the vast majority of covering our weapons, and electrical tape for sealing and tightening. You will want to avoid using electrical tape for full coverage as we've found that it tends to harden over time becoming potentially dangerous especially around the tips. The colors of your tape do not matter so long as you can see the blade stripe (The strip of tape representing the blade) so others can tell whether it is or isn't a slashing weapon.

-Elbows and Glue-

These are not always necessary, just for a few, and largely should be avoided in the main structure of a weapon as each one increases the chances it will break/fall apart. The impact of combat combined with the inherit flexibility of the material tends to shake most of these apart, but we will add them both for completion and the necessary role they play in a few of the weapon types.

Also to be considered in the construction involving elbows is the type of glue you use to bind them together. Unfortunately, as mentioned before the flexibility of the PVC combined with the impacts sustained in combat tends to shatter or shake loose any glues used. To date, we have had the best luck with underwater epoxy, though we are still testing different methods.