# Raven Studios weapons...any good?



## Blaze Dragon (Feb 23, 2014)

I was wondering if anyone has purchased anything from them...are they worth it? They are up there in price, with low grade metal training weapons. Do these hold up well for sparring?

http://little-raven.com/RS/MA/index.html


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## Grenadier (Feb 23, 2014)

I've had some dealings with them, and can honestly say that they do put out a decent product.  

I was given one of their hickory laminate bo's, which is a 6 foot long staff, and this one was 1 inch in diameter.  It's good quality hickory, and the finish was a nice smooth one that could easily slide in your hands (no stickiness), yet, you could still maintain a good solid grip.  I would say that they're in the same class of premium wooden weapons as other good stores, such as Crane Mountain, etc.  

Given the quality of the wood laminate used in the bo's, I would deduce that this material would make for a good bokken or western blade as well. Durability wouldn't seem to be a problem with the hickory, since it's a decent all-around wood.  It's strong, resilient, and not brittle.  They would hold up as well as any wooden weapon can (with the exception of lignum vitae).  


I will say this, though, that any wooden weapon used for sparring on a regular basis is going to break sooner or later, and quite frankly,  I'm not too fond of sharp wooden spiky surfaces.  

If you really want to spar with non-metal weapons, you're better off using rattan.  At least it simply shreds into relatively harmless threads, instead of a potentially deadly sharp piece.


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## Blaze Dragon (Feb 23, 2014)

Grenadier said:


> I've had some dealings with them, and can honestly say that they do put out a decent product.
> 
> I was given one of their hickory laminate bo's, which is a 6 foot long staff, and this one was 1 inch in diameter.  It's good quality hickory, and the finish was a nice smooth one that could easily slide in your hands (no stickiness), yet, you could still maintain a good solid grip.  I would say that they're in the same class of premium wooden weapons as other good stores, such as Crane Mountain, etc.
> 
> ...




I appreciate the feed back. It kinda drew my attention as I would think it would be better to train with wood then metal (which I currently do). I would prefer something like Shinai or even the foam ones, however Shinai are not really in the form or shape of what I am looking for and the foam ones, weight and sturdiness becomes an issue, I imagine.

I did have my eye on these, but was weighting them against the wooden weapons of Raven Studios. That and I can't find a Guandao, Miaodao, Yanmaodao or Qiang in the Polypropylene or other rare weapons. That and Raven is suppose to be willing to make custom weapons if requested.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BMU0BII...TF8&colid=3QSFI3M1W89P3&coliid=I3JP3876M7R6HJ
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0088BANBY/ref=wl_mb_recs_1_title


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## Xue Sheng (Feb 23, 2014)

I have been told by a few that they are very good but I have never purchased anything from them. I just can't get myself to pay that much for a wooden weapon


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## clfsean (Feb 24, 2014)

They are very good. A training brother just got one & we cracked a 1.5 inch diameter southern staff with a raven do & all it did was divot the "blade edge". I would not want to get hit by it. But it is price intensive. It cost more than a metal training do & I can actually get about 1.5 metal training do for the price of 1 from Raven... and quicker too. They're great if you have to wait for the construction of it, but don't order it today & expect it Friday. Not gonna happen... 

A Miao Dao won't work due to the blade design. It will not be as strong as a do from them. Besides... SD doesn't have any Miao Dao stuff in it unless there's been some recently added to it. 

If you really want a wooden spear, get a yari from them. It's not going to be the same as a CMA spear with feel & function.


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## Blaze Dragon (Feb 24, 2014)

clfsean said:


> They are very good. A training brother just got one & we cracked a 1.5 inch diameter southern staff with a raven do & all it did was divot the "blade edge". I would not want to get hit by it. But it is price intensive. It cost more than a metal training do & I can actually get about 1.5 metal training do for the price of 1 from Raven... and quicker too. They're great if you have to wait for the construction of it, but don't order it today & expect it Friday. Not gonna happen...
> 
> A Miao Dao won't work due to the blade design. It will not be as strong as a do from them. Besides... SD doesn't have any Miao Dao stuff in it unless there's been some recently added to it.
> 
> If you really want a wooden spear, get a yari from them. It's not going to be the same as a CMA spear with feel & function.



hey, good to know  thanks. So I assume it's safe to say they are better then those 12 dollar wooden bokken you get at martial arts stores?


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## clfsean (Feb 24, 2014)

BlazeLeeDragon said:


> hey, good to know  thanks. So I assume it's safe to say they are better then those 12 dollar wooden bokken you get at martial arts stores?



Yup... much more so.


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## Grenadier (Feb 25, 2014)

BlazeLeeDragon said:


> hey, good to know  thanks. So I assume it's safe to say they are better then those 12 dollar wooden bokken you get at martial arts stores?



Those cheap bokken are made out of low quality, highly porous red oak wood, and are usually smoothed out using wood putty / fillers, before they apply the cheap varnish.  If you use chemical strippers to remove the varnish, you'll actually see the liberal use of wood putty.  

In the end, you have a bokken that will break very quickly, and doesn't look too good either.


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## Blaze Dragon (Feb 25, 2014)

Grenadier said:


> Those cheap bokken are made out of low quality, highly porous red oak wood, and are usually smoothed out using wood putty / fillers, before they apply the cheap varnish.  If you use chemical strippers to remove the varnish, you'll actually see the liberal use of wood putty.
> 
> In the end, you have a bokken that will break very quickly, and doesn't look too good either.



yeah I've broken about 4 in my life. But they are only 12 dollars and seemed to be better then the wooden oxtail saber I bought which broke much quicker (looked something like this one http://shopbushido.com/weapons/swords/broadsword-wooden-22.html). Needless to say I've had bad experiences with wooden swords in the past. Not that she makes only swords, but my wax wood bo staff holds up very well


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## Grenadier (Feb 26, 2014)

Just as a rule of thumb, if they don't specifically state what kind of wood it's made out of, it's most likely not going to be worth purchasing.  If the blade is thinner than what you would see on those cheap bokken, it becomes even more breakage prone.


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## yak sao (Mar 21, 2014)

Grenadier said:


> If you really want to spar with non-metal weapons, you're better off using rattan.  At least it simply shreds into relatively harmless threads, instead of a potentially deadly sharp piece.



We used to do 2 man staff work years ago. A rattan staff breaks a wooden staff very easily.

White wax wood is also very good as a staff. It's very dense and flexible.


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## clfsean (Apr 16, 2014)

Just ordered a pair of their "fut ga" butterfly swords... we'll see how this works.


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## wingchun100 (Apr 17, 2014)

I think I ordered my wooden dummy leg from them, although it was so long ago I can't remember. Still holding up though!


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 17, 2014)

clfsean said:


> Just ordered a pair of their "fut ga" butterfly swords... we'll see how this works.



Which ones?

And let me know what you think. I have been thinking about buying an Ox Tail Saber from them and/or a Jian.*[SIZE=+1]  [/SIZE]*


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## clfsean (Apr 17, 2014)

Xue Sheng said:


> Which ones?



These ... 16 inch blades to match mine from Kris Cutlery






Xue Sheng said:


> And let me know what you think. I have been thinking about buying an Ox Tail Saber from them and/or a Jian.



Will do!!! A training brother has one of their do ... this one:



A waxwood staff (mine specifically) came out worse for wear after "impact testing" the two of them. I'll tell you though, it's a hoss in the hand!!


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 17, 2014)

clfsean said:


> These ... 16 inch blades to match mine from Kris Cutlery
> 
> View attachment 18719
> 
> ...



That's the Dao I'm thinking about getting.


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