Staff or Haft - Octagonal 30*30 mm

A traditional, hard wearing ash-wood octagonal Polearm Haft or Training Staff, 100% Made in France (grown, harvested and processed within 100km, and made 5 km from our location in the Auvergne).  

Sold in 1.8 meter (6 foot) lengths due to shipping limitations.

They are unfinished (not laquered, varnished, stained, waxed or oiled), lightly sanded natural wood. You may wish to further sand them a bit to "break" the angles for additional comfort, and if desired, you can finish the wood to your liking.

The octagonal cross-section is common throughout the ages everywhere : possibly because it is faster to make with hand tools than a fully rounded staff or haft, but also because this cross-section is slightly more rigid, less prone to splintering, offers a better grip (less slippery in rotation than round, more comfortable than square) and, according to some, the angles help deliver more concentrated and damaging blows when used alone as a staff.

As a haft this cross-section is commonly found alongside square and round sections on European polearms, with many contemporary HEMA practitioners preferring the octagon for the reasons above. All our ARCEM synthetic polearm heads are standardised to the dimensions of this haft (30 mm face-to-face). You will need to shape the top and butt-ends to fit a spear-head and/or blunt. This is easily done with simple hand tools (rasp and/or knife, sand paper).

As a staff, it is perfect for working at the pell, for conditioning training, and for training staff techniques in many martial arts, from Europe (Short Staff, Quarter Staff, Pau, Bâton, Palo, etc), Asia (Okinawan Kun, Japanese Bo, Korean Bong, Chinese Bang or Pang, etc) and all over the world. 

Careful! A staff, though "just a piece of wood" is a dangerous and highly effective weapon. Train with these staves as you would with any other polearm - carefully and with full control.

*Please be aware that we cannot ship wood products AT ALL to Australia and some other destinations. Feel free to contact us so we can discuss the possibilities.