Just wondering?

Sup,
MRL ones are pretty good and are $39-$45
(google Museum replicas)
Purpleheart armoury $70-$80
I wouldn't pay more then $50 (unless it had metal fittings or leather grips) but thats just me :)
Z

It has been claimed by people supposedly in the know, that MRL have, from time to time, had poor quality wood.

Stay away from the MRL wooden weapons. They use shesham or some other tropical wood that dries and splits quickly out of its natural enviornment. I bought one of the longsword trainer last year and it broken at the handle under what I would consider light contact. Additional, the wood was split up the handle upon receipt.

I'd might consider one of the shinai conversions or making one yourself like here:

http://www.the-exiles.org/essay/shinaiLongswordSimulator.html (More realistic weight/feel)

or like this:

http://www.scholasaintgeorge.org/shinai.html (Cheaper and Easier)

That way you can replace the blade for a few bucks a pop and customize the handle to your liking. This is if you are planning on using it for sparring.

Good luck!

Purpleheart takes the cake. There's also, somewhere, a place that does simicustom wooden wasters, but I can't recall the name.

M.

I have a heavy bias against shinai and for New Stirling Arms wasters. NSA's are hands down the best wasters out there and you won't regret paying a higher price. Raven Studios is also supposed to be good but I've never handled one of their longsword wasters. Both of these companies are above average in cost (the NSA longsword is $90 and the Raven is $88) but more than make up for it in terms of quality, craftsmanship, and handling. I can't recommend NSA enough.

New Stierling Arms hands down, is the best. Well balanced, sturdy and well conformed. Can't beat NSA!

I use them twice a week for classes and have been using them for about three years now. Great service and product.

Bryce

Thhank you all for the info

I use a coppiced ash tree. I just bought the tree and stripped it from bark, and dried it for 8 months. It outlasted other wasters, but it generally is very expensive

Huh... I never generally tell people to buy from MRL but the longsword waster I got was wicked good outlasted a friend of mines $90 purpleheart. I use mine for pretty heavy fighting and I've had it for two years, the crossguard got a bit loose but it still is almost unnoticable the blade is a bit nicked but not bad. It balances pretty nice to, don't know what else to say.

New Stirling Arms is the way to go. Although they still feel blocky (as all wooden wasters do) when compared with a steel sword, they handle and are balanced much more like a real sword than other wasters. Raven Studios build robust wasters, but they don't handle like an NSA.