Construction – Medieval Youth Combat

A Youth Combat Pell

Pells are poles used as a target for sword practice. They’ve been used for at least two thousand years, as documented in this article on the ARMA site.

Common pell forms used in SCA adult armored combat practice are generally based on a 4×4 post wrapped in rope, with the base sunk in a 5 gallon bucket of concrete encircled by an old tire, or set into a post bracket attached to a wooden base.

Unfortunately, these pells are hard to transport in a crowded car, and the rough edges of the wood tend to shred the padded weapons used in youth combat.

I constructed a cheap, portable break-down pell appropriate for youth combat using an H-frame base made of PVC pipe. There are a few H-frame pell designs online; this one at ARMA is pretty similar to the one I describe below.

Continue reading “A Youth Combat Pell”

Youth Marshal’s Staff

Marshals in the SCA use black-and-yellow staffs when supervising combat activities. The staff allows people to recognize the marshal, and may be used to signal the beginning of the fight, to call attention to the edge of the field, or to keep fighters from crashing into spectators.

You can make your own youth-marshal staff with a length of PVC/PEX and some black and yellow duct tape. Continue reading “Youth Marshal’s Staff”

Youth Throwing Hammer

Thrown weapons are not a core element of SCA youth combat, but they do have some novelty/amusement value.

Here in the East, there are basically two styles: javelins made from 3/4″ PEX with a thrusting-tip point and either fins or a pommel on the other end, or else hammers/axes made of all foam. Continue reading “Youth Throwing Hammer”

Sword Construction Video

There are weapons construction guides on the East Kingdom Youth Combat web site, but sometimes a video is more helpful than words and pictures alone.

Thanks to Lady Karrah the Mischievous, we now have such a video, showing the construction of a basic sword from PEX and two layers of pipe insulation.