Blocks/parries

One of the big challenges I've found in choreography involving hafted weapons is parries.

In part it's because I generally don't have all hafted weapons, so there's then the issue of steel and (usually with the hafted weapon) wood coming into contact. Then the grip of the hafted weapon gets chewed up, leading to potential for breakage, need for repairs or replacement, possible spinters/grip issues for the person wielding it, etc. I know I use a lot more avoids than parries agains hafted weapons, and some people get around this by using shields usually when they have hafted weapons...

Maybe this is in part because I generally go with the SAFD style edge parries, and a flat parry might be called for as general practice when dealing with steel (or aluminum) on wood?

Having langets along the shaft can also help, of course, and their historical presence on weapons might imply use for parrying with those particular weapons... but I don't know if their absence on other hafted weapons can be interpreted as meaning you didn't generally parry with them.

Just curious what people think.

having fought in reenactments for some years now with a bill and a pole axe i would have to say that parrying is used a lot and the weapons suffer for it. The bill being the longer of the 2 suffers more and ends up breaking, the pole axe fares a lot better and so far has not broken however neither are sharp if they were i dont think they would last long at all. i tend to believe that the weapons would last a battle and then need re-shafting in large battles such as tewksbury or bosworth pole weapons are the main weapon on the field and parrying is a large part of your fight and although you try to parry flat edge to flat edge its not that possible as attack comes from everywhere (as would for real) so you do what you can to live.although we worry of cost and replacent of shaft doubt they did, also armour itself needs a lot of repair work after a battle rivets pop armour is dented severly at times, never do i leave the field without serious repairs to my harness being needed so repairs to wooden shafts after battle would seem a necessary and common event to me