Boffo cane

[Tesla]

Well, been slowly pulling together costume bits for the first adventure day. I haven't started on the "Psychiatrist is in" booth, since it would be our first day in Whisper Hills. Makes no logical sense to have that already set up.
I did finally find some reasonably priced jackets with elbow patches and my collection of raven accent pieces slowly grows.
But, I have to have a weapon. I will have an unpainted Maverick (Unless I get one of the newer Nerf guns coming out. Some look real nice) But I could use a boffo weapon to at least try to fend off blows. I've decided that the only thing that makes any logical sense is a cane.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how a boffo cane should be made?
I know that it won't actually be usable as a cane. The tip that would normally strike the ground would have to be padded and actual use would ruin the padding. I'll have to run around with it tucked under my arm.
Or I could get a real cane to use to walk around and have the boffo cane in some type of holster. Drop the real cane someplace safe when combat starts and pull out the usable weapon

Making the hook part padded and leaving a hand hold area just under the hook, to wield it by, seems like the obvious idea?

Anyone have any past experience making an Accelerant safe Cane prop or would anyone be willing to construct one (and possibly a back-up) for a fee?

[Erica]

I made a cane for the Shadows of Amun pre-event at intercon. I actually did the reverse of what you are thinking. The "striking" end was where your hand goes and the pommel, as per accenerant rules, was sturdy enough that I could actually walk around using it as a cane. In order to actually hit someone with it, I had to reverse my grip, but I found that if I was actually going to club someone with a cane, I was likely to do that anyway, since the head of the cane has more mass and therefore is better for striking. Besides tossing the cane up in the air and catching it in the right position is always dramatic and fun.

I wasn't totally pleased with how the head came out, though. I was going for a more ornate (i.e. no "hook") head, which I tried to shape to fit my hand. But I was making this at the last minute because Intercon, so I ended up cover the head with duct tape instead of rip-stop. It made it a bit hard to tell the cane from the sledgehammer. Although non of the mechanics were using their sledgehammers to lean on when they walked.
For the fall, I intend to remake the whole thing in cloth, and use embroidery thread (well probably tapestry thread) to create the shaping and details in the head.

[Jacob]

Seconding what Erica said, LE had a few characters with canes. The "handle" was at the bottom, and the top was built on a large squishy ball of foam so it looked like a "knob" top. They work pretty well.

Also: please remember that hooked weapons are illegal--they can easily trap other weapons and limbs.

[Tesla]

Thanks Erica. I was thinking of the hook for it's classic look (And I wanted the hook to be behind the hand wielding, that way it would be more like a pommel and if it hooked anyone, it would just be me) But making the hand grip as the base does open it up to be actually cane-like. That does sound like a better plan.

[Red]

I had a hooked boffer cane when I was at LE. It wasn't very long only 25+/- inches. I believe I used PVC and heated the area for the handle to create the hook. I then boffered up the straight area and tipped it before I padded the nub at the end of the hook to make sure it was safe.

You can put weight on it but it will compress the tip (danger Will Robinson!), too often and you'll have to re-tip; also if you have exposed sticky stuff or are near wet dirt or pine needles, they could stick to the tip only to come off at an inopportune time and make a very unhappy Plot/NPC, and a busy EMT as they fish stuff out of someone's face.

Use in boffer combat: I really enjoyed the curved handle as it opened so many more ways for me to hold, swing and guard with it. It can make boffer combat a little unorthodox.

[liahgeron]

I'd suggest avoiding the core hook portion if possible. While it might be neat and allow some interesting combat tricks, I'm flipping it around in my head and wincing at the risk of catching your wrist inside the hook while fighting and levering your joint in unfortunate ways, especially if you intend it as a full 46" weapon. Also if you take an unexpected fall while trying to swing. Additionally, you might accidentally trap someone's weapon as they try to tag your forearm. You could try a simpler "straight" handle like some fancier canes by carving open cell foam into an aesthetically pleasing shape about 2-3 inches long. That way it's pretty much impossible to trap a weapon with it. You'd probably want to keep that bit near your fighting grip rather than swinging it around as it might be a little pokey for eye safety. Probably easier to go with the "orb" suggestion though.