where to get a good bo online?

[setboy]

I'm looking for a new bo(not a toothpick) any good sites around?

Raphael

[koko1969]

Have you tried googling? There are many online vendors to choose from. If you need a list, let me know.

[jay46]

I'm looking for a new bo(not a toothpick) any good sites around?

Raphael

Be prepared to pay an extra $5 -$20 on top of normal shipping. Karate Depot seems to have the price with shipping. That's the only reason we took the family on a 90 minute drive to AWMA retail store in order to get a couple of bo for the kids (damn, they grown too fast). The savings on shipping for just the bo more than made up for the gas and tolls.

[MisterRadley]

Karate Depot is a very good site, and their prices are pretty reasonable.

[lordtariel]

wle.com is a pretty good site. I bought my white oak bo from them and was pretty happy with it. Also, try talking to your instructor... sometimes they get deals on equipment, or find someone else who needs to buy a long weapon and share shipping costs.

[cathal]

For practicing you would probably be happier with a 1 1/2" dowel. That you can purchase at Home Hardware, or a building supply store, for a few bucks. For gradings & tournaments then I'd suggest a full out bo. But as for purchasing those you can get them anywhere but keep in mind that in tournaments bos will be breaking so don't spend too much money.

[lordtariel]

For practicing you would probably be happier with a 1 1/2" dowel.

That's a pretty thick bo isn't it? Mine's a 1 1/4" bo made out of white oak and it's about as thick and heavy as I would want to ever use. Just remember, a dowel like that is probably going to be made out of something like pine so it's not going to be as heavy, or as high of quality, although it is considerably cheaper and will be free of varinsh.

[setboy]

For practicing you would probably be happier with a 1 1/2" dowel. That you can purchase at Home Hardware, or a building supply store, for a few bucks. For gradings & tournaments then I'd suggest a full out bo. But as for purchasing those you can get them anywhere but keep in mind that in tournaments bos will be breaking so don't spend too much money.

I have never seen a bo break at a tournament bfore

[Rick_72]

I have never seen a bo break at a tournament bfore

I saw a guy break one once, on accident during his kata. I remember thinking to myself that if he did that at every tournament how expensive it would get, at $20 a pop.

At any rate, unless your going to be spending a significant amount on a bo, you really should ask your instructor, because more often than not he's ordering lots of equipment from some company and paying for shipping in bulk. Chances are your bo is going to run between $15-30 and if you order it yourself you'll end up paying $5-15 on shipping along with it.

I've ordered equipment from karatedepot.com, and they have really good prices, resonable shipping, and my stuff gets to me very quickly. So if I have to order something myself, I usually go with them.

If you want to buy a really high quality bo, plan on spending between $75-150 for it. With that said, shipping isn't going to make that much of a difference to you. You can order directly from Shuriedo USA, who will get them from Okinawa for you. I'm not sure of their web address, but its searchable in Google.

Edited October 2, 2006 by Rick_72

[cathal]

For practicing you would probably be happier with a 1 1/2" dowel.

That's a pretty thick bo isn't it? Mine's a 1 1/4" bo made out of white oak and it's about as thick and heavy as I would want to ever use. Just remember, a dowel like that is probably going to be made out of something like pine so it's not going to be as heavy, or as high of quality, although it is considerably cheaper and will be free of varinsh.

Ugh, yes I meant to put in 1 1/4" not 1 1/2".