surfrose

Yep, contact paper is the key, done just like Malibu said. I would make one addition, though. If you want a color that you can't find contact paper in, buy white and then spray-paint them in whatever color you want.

Hey, that's about what I'm doing, except mine start on the 11th.

definitely 6ft. This just seems to be the best in-between size to get the best of both worlds. A 7ft gives more effect, but less maneuverability, and a 5.5 gives the maneuverability but little effect. A 6 combines both as much as possible.

By the way, the problem with the DM's uniform in Esperanza wasn't that he had it unzipped. The zipper actually broke when he bent over, so it wasn't really his fault.

In my instructor's defense, I notice that the times when sabre really hurts would not be helped by gloves at all. Gloves cover the part of your hand that is the most naturally padded anyways. The times when i find that sabre hurts enough to want a glove are the times when I catch it on parts of my hands that wouldn't be covered by a glove at all, like my fingertips :P . Also, a glove REALLY makes it difficult to to handle the sabre well while not actually tossing, cause you can't really pinch through it as well.

Um, well, I'm using those sabres this summer. If gloves are a must, then somebody should tell my instructor :) They hurt, no question about it. I've spun both the white coated ones and the spanish ones. The spanish ones hurt a lot more, but they're weighted much better and therefore easier to spin. btw, they may look flimsy, but solid metal, no matter how thin, is far from flimsy.

well, usually with guards I've marched with, the catch count changes based on tempo and amount of buzz. A good guard will be able to catch on whatever count the instructor asks for, changing the speed of release as the tempo changes (within reason, of course :P )

Well, I have a really hard time classifying what I like and don't like in guard. I used to say that I didn't like slow shows, but then I saw BD's last world class winterguard show and I changed my mind, sort of. I think that anything works if it's done well. Some things, like slow shows, are harder to pull off than others. With the whole props thing, I personally don't really like them. However, sometimes they are the better design choice. If a guard is not that strong, sometimes props are necessary to cover that up. If a guard is truly good, though, props should not be necessary. The only exception I would make to that rule is that a prop is only as good as how you use it. When a guard that really is good enough that props shouldn't be necessary and is just using them to take up space, that doesn't work. When the prop makes the work more difficult or can be spun with as much technique as normal equipment, then it works. The commas, I think, work. Backdrops just sitting behind a performance do not.

All right, well, mine isn't so bad, but it was somewhat embarrassing. I was warming up for winterguard at james logan high school in union city. it was really windy, and we were in a pretty oddly shaped space outside. i was in an alcove thingy about 10 feet square, as i remember, which is plenty of room to toss and such (without wind, that is). Anyways, i tossed a flag double and next thing i knew i was literally on the ground. i remember looking up and realizing that the flag was going crazy and i had no place to run. apparently the end of the flag with the big bolt in it hit me. i found out afterward that it was a slight concussion, but at the time i just put ice on for a while, then warmed up and did the show with a gigantic lump on my forehead also, has anyone ever done the one where you toss something pretty fast on rifle and don't get your left hand onto it in time and the tip comes up, hitting you in the jaw? gotta love it.