by Jason "Aeston" Rosa
If you frequent the Realms Discord and have spent any time catching up on the #weapon-construction channel there isn't a lot I'm going to say that you don't already know. But in an attempt to keep the majority of the game properly informed, I would like to tell you all about the Rhiassa Tube (W).
As most of you know, the majority of manufacturers for the 5/8" foam that we use for weapons have stopped producing it. This has been a slow process as stock of the foam can still be found here or there but ultimately the situation is near it's breaking point. There are various solutions to this problem that have been pursued by people across the community with various ranges of success.
I would like to introduce you all to my attempt to address this problem, the Rhiassa Tube (W).
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| fig1. From left to right: A pool noodle, the current common Frost King Foam, Rhiassa Tube (W) |
The Rhiassa tube W, simply stated, is a custom manufactured extrusion of polyethene foam. This is the same type of foam that is used in Frost King insulation. I located an oversees manufacturer in Asia that would produce this foam per specifications. The white material on the right in the above photo is a sample of that material.
I set out to verify that this new foam was at least equal in quality to Frost King. I'm going to run through some of the testing I did in this article.
At the end I will talk about the ordering process. Scroll down to the bottom if you want to skip the science and get to the business.
First I thought it would be wise to take a close look at the size of the cells in the foam. Larger cells are an indication of a weaker material as there is less support for the structure of the foam internally.
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| fig2. Equally magnified, the cell structure of each material |
The fact that the new material is white makes it a bit harder to see but it's clear that the cell size is smaller than a pool noodle and somewhat equivalent, if not a little smaller, than the Frost King foam.
In order to try and get an understanding of how it would hold up to compression, an indication of how long it would last in combat before it wore out, I used some woodworking clamps.
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| fig 3. The clamp I used to test compression |
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| fig 4. The clamp placed on each material. |
It is clear how much more the pool noodle compresses, and we already know through anecdotal evidence that pool noodles break down a lot quicker. The Rhiassa Tube (W) compresses to a degree that is comparable to the Frost King foam.
To further test compression and help predict how much the foam would hold up through use, I designed another compression test. I took a small ring of each foam and put a piece of bamboo in the center to simulate a core material. I placed it inside my workshop vice with the aim of popping as many cells as I could by squeezing it.
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| fig 5. The testing method used in this second compression test. Top-left: the rings of foam I tested. Top-right: marking the sides that would be squeezed with red marker and the bamboo core insert. Bottom-left: the degree to which each foam sample was compressed. Bottom-right: The foam cut into pieces for measuring with the clamp. |
Once I had cut the foam down to work with more easily, I subjected it once again to the woodworking clamp. My assumption is that how much it compressed would give us an indication of how many cells broke and how well the foam would hold up to repeating stress in combat.
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| fig 6. The compression of the clamp on each material after being crushed in the vice. |
In this test it seemed that the Rhiassa Tube (W) really showed its merit. It compressed the least and seems to have had the least number of cells be destroyed in the vice. It was a good indication that this new material would work for us.
Among the tests that I did was a simple mass measurement to make sure weapons made with this foam would be about the same weight as our current ones. Putting a 6" length of each type of foam on a scale I got the following results (in grams):
So the Rhiassa Tube (W) does have a bit more mass. It is slightly more dense and that is probably what contributes to the smaller cell size and the better performance against compression. But I believe it's not so much extra weight as to make weapons too heavy. A standard single short that has 30" of foam on it would weigh 1 gram more than a sword make with Frost King.
In the next test I wanted to try compression over a longer period of time, so I set up a rig that would allow me to weigh down a sample of each tube and see how much it compressed over time. Two pounds of weight was set on top of each foam sample.
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| fig 7. The testing set up for sustained compression. |
I ran the experiment for 24 hours to get an idea of how much the foam would compress over time and how much it would go back to its original shape after the compression experiment ended. The results are below.
Again, the new foam performed well. Much better than the pipe foam as it compressed less overall and also returned much more closer to its original diameter. It was a very similar performance to that of the Frost King foam.
I also wanted to try a puncture test, a measurement of how much abuse the material could take from incidental damage like hitting a stick when swung in the woods or catching the edge of some rigid armor. Things that happen more rarely but are still a part of the reality of combat.
I created a testing rig using a Philips head screwdriver to do the puncturing. It would allow me to measure how much weight would need to be added to the top of the screwdriver in order to move it into the foam a certain amount.
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| fig 8. The puncture test. Left: The screwdriver that was used. Center: The testing rig. Right: The red lines show how far the screwdriver would have to move for me to end the test and record the weight. |
In the case of each type of foam the weight would, at first, cause the foam to compress. But for the screwdriver to move the full distance between the red lines shown in figure 8, the screwdriver did have to puncture through the foam's surface. The amount of weight needed to move the distance between the lines in shown in the table below.
As with every other test up until now the performance of the Rhiassa Tube (W) is much better than that of a pool noodle and comparable to that of Frost King. In this case in particular, anecdotal observation leads me to believe that the extrusion process of the white foam leads to a slightly more dense "skin" around its exterior which helped it perform better in this test.
I did one quick final test to gain some insight into the tensile strength of the foam. I placed a PVC core in each of them which I attached to a surface. On the other end I placed a different piece of PVC pipe and suspended two pounds of weight. I was endeavoring to see how much the foam between the two lengths of PVC would deform under the stress of the weight pulling down.
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| fig 9. The set up for the tensile strength test. |
I measured how much bend there would be in each foam sample. My assumption is that less bend indicates a material that is more internally robust and deforms less due to stress. The results were as follows:
In this case the pool noodle performed better than expected, but in retrospect that is largely due to the larger internal diameter and greater wall thickness which would allow it to resist deformation to a greater extent. The Frost King foam and the Rhiassa Tube (W) however had virtually the same internal diameter and wall thickness and the Rhiassa Tube performed much better.
In conclusion, I feel confidant making the claim that the Rhiassa Tube (W) is not inferior to Frost King pipe foam and has the added advantage of not having a seam in it beyond all the tests mentioned above. I am confidant based on these results that we as a community should buy enough to be widely distributed and used, put through its paces in combat, and learn more over time. I think it's worth the investment given what it will solve.
The Part About Ordering
I have a purchase order all set up with the oversees manufacturer of the Rhiassa Tube (W). It is an order for their minimum of 1000 pieces which will be delivered directly to my door.
The price, including all tooling, shipping and handling, tariffs and taxes comes to more than $3 per 36" length of foam.
I'd like to not take on the entire financial burden of getting them over here myself, so I am asking other groups and individuals to pre-order foam in a bundle of at least 20 pieces. Anyone who is pre-ordering in that manner will be able to get their foam for $3/piece. The remainder that I purchase and store should be enough to last the Realms for a couple of seasons at least and I will distribute that to anyone who wants any amount of it for $4/piece.
The whole processes of manufacturing and shipping will take about 6 weeks so my hope is to order by the end of the month so we can get our foam in June.
If anyone is willing to be a part of the pre-order please send me a private message over social media or email me at jason.t.rosa@gmail.com
Thank you for reading along this far and I hope you are looking forward to the results of this endeavor as much as I am.
In service,
Jason
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| fig 10. Foamy, the mascot of Rhiassa Tube (W) |
