Safety of these items is a separate issue. Basic rules: THESE ARE REAL WEAPONS, EVEN IF NOT FULLY SHARPENED, TREAT THEM AS SUCH. KEEP THE POINTS UP, ESPECIALLY AROUND CHILDREN, CUSTOMERS, PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN DRINKING AND ANY OTHER IDIOT NOT ABLE TO WATCH OUT FOR HIM/HER/ITSELF.
ALL WEAPONS ARE SUBJECT TO REVIEW AND APPROVAL BY BOTH THE WEAPON MASTER AND THE COSTUMER COORDINATOR. WEAPON MASTER'S SAY IS FINAL. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, DON'T SPEND THE MONEY UNLESS YOU ARE CERTAIN IT WILL BE APPROVED! AT SOUTHERN RENAISSANCE FAIRE, THE ST MICHAELS' BATTLE PAGEANT COORDINATOR CAN SUPERSEDE OUR APPROVAL. THAT'S LIFE.
WEAPONS HAVE 2 FUNCTIONS HERE: THEY NEED TO LOOK GOOD AND APPROPRIATE AND IN PERIOD, THEY MUST ALSO BE SAFE AND APPROVABLE FOR BATTLE PAGEANTS WE MAY PLAY IN.
LANCES, SPEARS, PIKES: Lances are 7 to 9 feet long, heads should be compact, and fit the period and place. This still leaves a lot of latitude. Bear in mind that a lance is used from horseback, so you don't want a lot of projections that would get hung up on the other guy and drag you from the saddle. Spears are 7 to 10 feet long, heads are the same or possibly a little larger (longer the spear, smaller the head), these may have wings or bars or loops below the head. Likewise there by langets below the head to protect the shaft. Pikes are 10 to 18 feet long, not our common weapon, they have a compact head, sometimes 3 or 4 sided, with langets below the head. Shafts: Our standard is oak or ash, if you can find it, 1 ¼ to 1 3/8 inch in diameter. Avoid cracked shafts or those with knots. Pine, fir, redwood, etc are not allowed. This is a safety issue. Safety requires at least one rivet through the socket and shaft, to secure the head.
OTHER POLEARMS: Lochabar ax, Jedburg ax, Northern staff, also called a Jeddart staff, Voulge, Bill, these all would be appropriate. Avoid fancy, bright models. If you are making it, get somebody who knows metal and welding involved. If you are buying it, have one of us check it for safety as well as authenticity. Either can disallow a $100 purchase! As with spears, our standard for shafts is oak or ash. See above.
SWORDS: This will be the most ignored warning in this chapter. Here goes: DON'T SPEND MONEY ON A SWORD TIL YOU HAVE EVERY THING ELSE YOU NEED AND A LONG WEAPON. Don't know what the deal is with swords, no doubt some "male" thing. but people get into this and start lusting for one right away. You don't need it at first. That being said, when you do purchase a sword-the guidelines are simple: The item must fit the time and place. Remember, rapiers are not acceptable for battle pageant and do not work on horseback in real life. No item will be allowed in this unit that has certain European ethnic associations, -like Landsknecht 'katzbalger', Swiss style short swords, various Italian and Spanish styles. -no 'fantasy' items will be allowed. Avoid stainless steel. Remember that in our time and place, there are a great variety allowed. We are a warlike people, we've been fighting and fought over for several hundred years and many of our folk have done mercenary service in the Baltic, Poland, etc. This means that just about anything Northern European, that is not disallowed above, from roughly 1450 through 'today', would be allowed. This includes certain early basket type hilts. Ask before you buy, these things ain't cheap.
AXES, ETC: For use on foot, there are many types of military fighting ax that we might have access to. We might also have brought back Irish type axes, even the types used by Galloglaigh, from Ireland. One handed or two handed types are both allowed, these are a cheap, appropriate alternative to a sword, tucked through or slung from the belt. There are also light axes, meant to be swung from the saddle, that would often be used by cavalry as "backup" weapons, to use a modern term. Very nice thing to tote around.
Maces seem to be another one of those things people see and just have to buy. Maybe for a backup, but these are difficult to use safely, they're heavy and "slow", you can't parry with them (unless you're Curmudgeon!). People do seem to dig 'em, though.
SHIELDS, TARGES, BUCKLERS: Make these from wood, covered in leather or not, edged in metal or not, one big boss or several small ones, riveted, nailed, patterned, etc. Metal shields can be purchased or modified from other items. We generally paint ours white with a red St George's cross, as seen in the prints in Derrick's "Image of Ireland". It could also be appropriate to paint a metal or wood/metal composite shield with an emblem of a known border area lord, (not your personal device!), if your characters' story includes being in that persons' service at some time. Remember, we've been out of the country for a long time and a shield is an expendable item, meant to take blows. A blazoned shield such as the above would be pretty battered and dented by this time. Nice period artistic touch?
Bear in mind that if you take a shield out on a battle pageant, it's going to get hit. Hard. The originals were not meant to last long, they get broken or crushed or dented in action, thus preventing the same from happening to the user. Give Costume Coordinators and the Weapons Master a look at your work in progress, rather than get told to hang your masterpiece on the tower wall and leave it there. A buckler is a small sturdy shield, held in the center and used away from the body, rather than close in, to aggressively parry blows rather than block or absorb them. Neat thing for a foot guy, we could use a couple more.