BOFFING (Weapons, Armor, and Construction)
(Still under construction)
The Team
The Team From Left to Right: Chris, Nick, Me (Max), Michael, Cody
Boffing is the not-so-ancient art of medieval fighting using weapons made from PVC pipe, Foam insulation, and Duct Tape. People make their own weapons and sometimes armor out of these materials and then fight each other with their home made weaponry. Boffing is an extremely fun (and a bit painful) extracurricular activity and most of the equipment (especially the basics) are extremely easy to create. This section of the site will deal specifically with the sport of boffing, showing pictures of my own creations, as well as those of my friends, and also tell how to make some of the equipment. I hope that this may be useful to someone.
WEAPONRY-
Basic Swords-
Top to Bottom:
Short Sword 2'6, Bastard Sword 4'6, Long Sword 3'6
The most common armament in boffing as well as quite possibly the easiest to make. In order to make a sword i like to go with 3/4 to 1 inch diameter PVC to get some good weight as well as make it fit your hand better. the length of the sword is completely your own decision, you can make a short sword, dagger, long sword, or Bastard Sword. All you have to do is specify the length you want your sword to be, and have it cut to that length. After deciding on the length you should then cover your PVC sword in some pipe insulation then wrap repeatedly with duct tape. These swords are really going to take a beating so you might want to go a little crazy with the amount of duct tape you use to keep your sword from getting holes in the padding. some people like tgo use extra padding which gives the sword alot less bite and also helps to keep the sword intact. personally i like to put a layer of tape directly over the PVC pipe before i put down padding. this seems to help keep the pipe from breaking when it takes a heavy blow.
The Staff-
For those who dont like swords, but prefer a nice two handed quick weapon , the staff is probably the way to go. the staff is extremely easy to make too, all that is required is one long peice of PVC pipe, alot of insulation, and alot of tape. most staffes have a break in the middle of the padding in order to make it easier to grip. again i like to put duct tape directly on the pvc pipe pefore putting on insulation and then the final amount of tape.
THE EVIL CREATIONS OF THE PLATT-HOWARD HARDCORE BOFFING TEAM-
Max's Axes-
These are my axes, Malice and Havoc (yeah, im a dork). Each axe stands at about 2'4 and has a head that is about 6 inches wide with a 3 inch wide blade. I will be the first one to say that these were a definite bitch to make simply because the axe heads are made out of various pipe joints. padding these axes was also a bit of a problem just because of the awkward shape of the axe head. at the bottom of each head there is a bit of a catch which makes them good for disarming weapons. other than that fact, these axes are purely offensive weapons which are slow but powerful. choking up on the hilt of the weapon makes it a bit quicker and easier to use, but at the cost of range and power. if you use only one axe it is a deadly weapon since it is much easier to manipulate the movements plus your speed and power become much higher when you use a single axe in two hands.
The Claymore-
Ahhhhh the Claymore as made by my friend Michael. This claymore stands at about 5 feet tall and i believe is made with 1 1/2 inch pipe. another purely maurauding weapon that is big, slow and powerful. definitely a two-handed weapon. this is a great weapon which was quite easy to make, requring an X-joint to connect the gaurds on the side of the claymore to the blade and handle. that place is also the place where the claymore ran into some engineering problems. the X-joint was holding alot of weight and was taking too many direct blows, so at one point the joint finally gave way and snapped, putting this great weapon out of comission. this problem could possibly be avoided by A: prewrapping the the fit together PVC with duct tape for added strength and support. or B:Addicng axtra padding and tape t the joint itself to keep it from taking a direct blow.
The Kitars-
These little devils are the pieces I am most proud of making. I got the idea for them when i took a hard blow from the claymore right in the thumb, which sprained my thumb and tore a few things in there to. in order to keep boffing i decided to make a padded glove for my right hand so that i wouldnt take a direct shot to the thumb. The gaurd worked so well that i thought i might as well make a weapon with it, so i ripped off the hand gaurd for the glove and started working. These are two lean mean boffing machines. the hand gaurd allows you to possibly carry an extra weapon (such as a pole arm or daggers). they are excellent blocking weapons as well as quick attackers. they definitely lack range though so you have to be a good blocker. there are three sections of pipe running down the top of the armgaurd which provide extra protection as well as a great blocking surface. the laces on the bottom help to secure them to your arms so they dont just fly off when you try to block.