War fan

[Fuuma Kyosuke]

I was wondering about the legality of a War fan (tessen, menahri-gata, etc) as a strictly defensive tool. My gut says no, but I still wanted to check.

[ziglerrobertson]

I'd say you'd be better off just making a shield that has an outward appearance of a fan, as opposed to making a foam covered fan. Besides, as I've heard Tat say before, "It's more fun to dodge them," or something similar.

* uchiwa (団扇?) were large iron fans, sometimes built on a wooden core, which were carried by high-ranking officers. They were used to ward off arrows, as a sunshade, and to signal to troops.

* Gunsen (軍扇?) were folding fans used by the average warriors to cool themselves off. They were made of bronze, brass or a similar metal for the inner spokes, and often used iron for the outer spokes, making them lightweight but strong. Warriors would hang their fans from a variety of places, most typically from the belt or the breastplate, though the latter often impeded the use of a sword or a bow.

* Saihai (采配?) were tasseled signalling fans which would be used by a commander to signal troop movements.

* Tessen (鉄扇?) were folding fans with outer spokes made of iron which were designed to look like normal, harmless folding fans or solid clubs shaped to look like a closed fan. Samurai could take these to places where swords or other overt weapons were not allowed, and some swordsmanship schools included training in the use of the tessen as a weapon. The tessen was also used for fending off arrows and darts, as a throwing weapon, and as an aid in swimming.

[Fuuma Kyosuke]

It is, but it is still nice to have some sort of defensive tool just in case.

[Baethor]

so your talking about making a shield? or a weapon? Either way i can't see how this could be made to dagorhir standards for either

[Haldour]

Cut out a large chunk of foam in the shape of a fan and use it as a shield. I don't see why not. It'd be terribly ineffective and honestly be rather goofy looking due to how bulky it'd have to be. But that'd be on you.

[Fuuma Kyosuke]

yeah, it was more of a flavor idea. Essentially I was looking for a Japanese equivalent to a shield, and the war fan was sort of what came up. I completely agree with it being ineffective, however.

[Zaron]

A fan like that would definatly have to be counted as a shield for playability reasons. If it was a weapon it would become an unbreakable shield for all practical purposes.

[spoons]

Go for it! I'd love to see a tessen on the field. It'll be interesting to see how it will work out.

[Fuuma Kyosuke]

Hmmm....Actually, if built correctly, a tessen could probably work as a blue, especially if it is built in a manner similar to Tachibana-dono's Shamisen.

[Kotaro]

But then it can't block arrows.

[Fuuma Kyosuke]

Sir, 90% of the time, if an arrow comes at me, it's either magnetized to my groin area or I am dodging it. I don't think it'll matter all that much.

[Kotaro]

True, but this is all very theoretical until someone actually builds one.

[Balfur Ignis]

I know this was from long ago but...

I drew up some plans recently wanting to build one acting as a blue although i need to fix some lengths and make measurements i think it could work

it is just a tessen (unfolded) with a handle coming out of the base of the fans grip

[Kotaro]

Drunken Bob made a war fan as an arrow-repellant. He says it's surprisingly effective.

[Firoth]

It's also a shield.

Always remember kids! Blocking arrows with weapons will result in you auto-dying.

But yeah, a war fan blue would be pretty cool. I've thought of doing one myself, but it doesn't really fit me

*cough* I'm not a pansy foreigner. ;D

With love,

~Frothy

[Kotaro]

It's still more impressive to simply dodge arrows.