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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JohnSnow" data-source="post: 3071190" data-attributes="member: 32164">Yeah. And it ain't LIGHT!My frame of reference? When I was taking martial arts, I once made the mistake of complaining to my instructor about the weight of my red oak bo staff (yes, I know the phrase is semi-redundant). He said "Oh, you think that's heavy? Try this!" and handed me a 6' iron bar.Then he says: "do the kata."My response: "ummm...I can barely lift this."His: "Sure you can."Stealing the calculations, how much does this thing way?Volume?height = h = 6' = 73" = 182.88 cmradius = r = 1/2" = 1.27 cmVolume of a cylinder = pi * r^2 * h = pi * 1.27cm^2 * 182.88cm= 926.667 cm^3Density of cast iron = 7.207 g/cm^3So, weight =6,678.5 grams= 6.6785 kg= ~14.7 lbsTrying to do a staff kata with an iron bar was...educational. I was much faster when I picked up my red oak staff.And I never complained about its weight again.I think walking sticks, staves, poles, pitons, ropes and the like are perfectly reasonable things for PCs to carry. I will allow the characters to make survival checks, knowledge (dungeoneering) checks or INT or WIS checks to remember basic gear. Basic clothing I'd remind them of. Rope, on the other hand...I have no problem with 10' poles, other then them being a trifle unwieldy. Players who want to take them into dungeons are encouraged to go with two smaller sticks instead. There are times when a pole that big isn't appropriate.People keep mentioning that dungeoneering should feel like an Indiana Jones movie. It's worth pointing out that Indiana Jones did carry one VERY useful item - a whip. It was a portable rope, weapon, and long range grabbing device rolled into one.  He also made a regular habit of tapping floor tiles that looked...suspicious.Sapito (moving forward): "There is the idol! There's nothing to fear now!"Indy (grabbing him and shoving him back): "That's what scares me."*Indy peels back the moss**Indy takes a torch and depresses a tile**whhhht - THUNK!*Indy: "Stay here."Sapito (shaken): "If you insist, senor..."So clearly, there's room for being cautious. Later in the film, Indy deals with the snakes by burning them to a crisp with GALLONS of flammable substance (gasoline or kerosene)...Paranoid, much? <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/paranoid.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":uhoh:" title="Paranoid    :uhoh:" data-shortname=":uhoh:" /> The Mummy and The Mummy Returns are other good examples. And they make another very important point. If you suspect a trap, and have your henchmen open it instead, you're one of the bad guys. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

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