Boffer

Boffer combat is a variant of armored combat specifically designed for minors. The armour tends to be lighter and relies more heavily on modern materials than a heavy fighter's, and the weapons are not made of rattan, but rather lightweight rigid plastic pipe wrapped in closed-cell foam, further reducing the risk of injury.

Boffer combat is more strictly regulated than armored combat, and boffer marshals are more like referees than their armoured combat equals. In addition, boffer combat is lower-intensity, with no melees or battles, only single combats. Great emphasis is placed on courtesy, chivalry, fair play and safety, for obvious reasons.

Boffer combat is a reletively new addition to the SCA's stock of activities, but it is popular with minors and teenagers, who otherwise would not be permitted to fight until they attained the age of majority. Currently, boffer combat is restricted to minors and their adult instructors and marshals.

In the Kingdom of Ealdormere, boffer combat (often simply referred to as "boffer") is becoming increasingly popular among minors. In the Shire of Trinovantia Nova, it has become so popular that a boffer practice is scheduled alongside the weekly heavy fighter practice, allowing experienced heavy fighters to give constructive criticism not only to new heavy fighters, but the older boffer fighters as well.