ateliers-nemesis Durability?

I agree with Rob.  If Calimacil did custom weapons I'd be all over that just because I know the weapon would never be destroyed.

It's unfair to compate iron liege and Alt-nem to Calimacil in regard to construction. Calimacils are made entirely different from latex weapons

  The question was not to compare construction. It was to compare durability

  I know the Calimacils have different material.  But how does one hold up versus the other ?/?

  You know long sword vs long sword vs long sword ?? Pricing is different as well as the Iron Liege Non Latex vs Hybrid

Do the shafts. break,? Does the outer coating tear?  do the tips bend over or break off?

What is the general  appearance of the weapon after a dozen or so well played games//

I have some WarLords as well  The latex coating is more fragile than the non latex coating of the Iron Liege

Calimacis are not hand-made, they are injected, which means that they cannot be customized unless you make a one-shot mould, which would be cost prohibitive.  Their durability is largely based on the way they are produced, which precludes customization by the manufacturer.  This is not to say, how ever, that they cannot be modified after-market.

The Nemesis weapons I have have all held up very well to moderate use.  Carlos' sword, Rosa's staff, and Gideon's anvil are all A-N, and while they are showing some signs of use, mostly it's from me packing them oddly, and the foam is deformed, as opposed to torn, scratched, or otherwise combat wear & tear.  Granted, I'm not the biggest combat person OOG, but they have all held up remarkably well compared to any other Latex I've had.  I'd go so far as to say they are a touch more durable than Iron Liege's stuff...  but IL does glow wire.

It's unfair to compate iron liege and Alt-nem to Calimacil in regard to construction. Calimacils are made entirely different from latex weapons

I really wish Calimacil did custom weapons... even custom hilts would be better than nothing.

I agree and also wish Calimacil had like 30 more varieties to at least diffuse the commonality of some designs. That would help given that custom work is harder for them. I like A-N's work. Can't wait to give IL a shot at a glow wire project. Down the road...

I wouldn't worry about A-N's durability. I'll let you toss the axe I have around, the blade is extended from the haft farther than most axes and the thing is very very strong!

I keep wanting to jump into this conversation, but everyone is doing my job for me lol. The cult of Calimacil is spreading...

I'll second everything that has been said so far about the Calimacil's, and especially what Geoff mentioned about the cost of custom weapons. They did do custom orders once upon a time. They may even return to it again some day. But at the moment, it's just too expensive. The injection molding process -- while necessary to the production of these weapons -- is prohibitive to creating custom orders... BUT, it helps to keep the price down on the normal swords, since they can be easily mass-produced.

Calimacil's are intended for war-gaming, so they HAVE to be able to stand up to just about anything -- and they do. As far as comparing durability, it's a matter of high-density foam + carbon fiber cores vs latex + (what DO they make their cores out of???):


Latex will eventually crack. [Calimacil] Foam won't.

Latex will eventually break or tear, if hit into something hard enough. the Calimacil foam won't. It can, of course, be cut (note to self: don't let customers try swords if they're wearing spiked bracelets), but so can latex.

I have only once in my life seen a Calimacil break, when a very angry teenager wailed it beyond what would ever be considered combat-force -- even for war-gaming -- into Vince's junk. As it is, that sword turned out to be part of production series that got recalled.

I have NEVER seen calimacil foam break. In the above scenario, while the CARBON FIBER rod was split in 'twain, the foam was and remains to this day, untouched. I can twist it and turn it 1080 degrees (yes that's supposed to be 1080, not 180)  and it still will not break. That is durable stuff.


There's bunches of other comparisons between latex and Calimacil that can be made, but you're only asking about durability so I'll keep it to that.

In terms of some of the comments made about more variety... well, I CAN tell you that they're working on it. They just added several new weapons, including a Falchion and that new Odo [strike]hammer[/strike] mace.

If you've got something specific you'd like to see, a direction you'd like them to take, a complaint, comment, or compliment, don't just mention it off-hand in a forum: let me know the details! They pay me (well, not really, but it is in my job description at least ) to collect that kind of feedback! Gimme gimme gimme!

From the 3 Iron Liege weapons I own (now 2)... I've never had issues.  Of course mine were all custom and 2 had glow-wire built in.  Just be aware that any custom orders from IL have a huge wait time.  I am not even sure if IL is still doing customs right now.