The conker season is upon us
If your interested, the tournament in Somerset due October 2nd.

Couple of things before you get too excited; there have been new measures to ensure fairness.
Judges will collect all conkers before competition and send them for forensic testing and if they pass will be marked with a fluorescent pen.
It seems in the past unscrupulous contestants have used ploys as reinforcing the shells with glue or even concrete.
This has begun a plan to chemically test each conker.
Al entrants will be frisked with on the spot checks and will receive a life time ban if caught.
Anyway this is where I thought “money to be made out of this”

Shhhh no one mentioned the string.

The normal knot at the end of the shoe lace gives an impact ratio of around 10%
If you add a tap washer to the knot you will receive a yield of 25% thus increasing your odds by 15%
A tap washer is small enough to conceal in your underwear without being detected by the frisk.
“It’s just a mole govner”

Tried to get our local Cosa Nostra involved and after I escaped with my knees intact, thought “your loss”

Maybe conkering should be left to the innocents as it’s always been “without rules.”

Like bird watching.

Lawn bowling.

Not cricket! :)

Vinegar is King Arthur's armour, but they are starting to test for it.

It's too competitive - people should only compete with their family and friends, and anyone caught cheating fortifying should be banished from the village.

Ummmm..........uhhhh....um.....errrr......uhhhhh.......

What Mellissa said.... :-/ ;D

What camp are you in, Cav?
Are you a hardener or a purist?

Purist i'm afraid

My husband tells me that soaking them in vinegar is the best way to harden them. Not that you'd be happy about that of course Cav... ;)

Apparently conkers will keep spiders out of a room as they don't like the smell (for the arachnophobes out there!).

Em wrote on Sep 29^th, 2009 at 11:20am:

Apparently conkers will keep spiders out of a room as they don't like the smell (for the arachnophobes out there!).

How do I get hold of some "conkers"??  This sounds like something I need to put downstairs in Lily's bedroom, lol.

OK, I finally got the time (and inclination) to find out what the hell conkers are:

Quote:

Conkers is a game traditionally played by children in Britain, Ireland and some former British colonies using the seeds of horse-chestnut trees – the name conker is also applied to the seed and to the tree itself. The game is played by two players, each with a conker threaded onto a piece of string: they take turns to strike each other's conker until one breaks.

And as for the hardening issue:

Quote:

The hardest conkers usually win. Hardening conkers is often done by keeping them for a year (called laggies in many areas or seasoners in Ireland and Liverpool), baking them briefly, soaking or boiling in vinegar, or painting with clear nail varnish. Such hardening is however usually regarded as cheating. At the British Junior Conkers Championships on the Isle of Wight in October 2005, contestants were banned from bringing their own conkers due to fears that they might harden them. The Campaign For Real Conkers claimed this was an example of over-regulation which was causing a drop in interest in the game. In the World Conker Championship contestants are also restricted to using the conkers provided.

(Above quotes thanks to Wikipedia)

NOW I understand all the comments ...

Wonders-no-more-Chuck

Hitler was lucky he never got across the Channel. These are strange people, Chuck. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGESTART PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Charlie  8-)

Too bad it is strictly prohibited in the US ... something about kids losing an eye and lawsuits and such. But there is a conkers group at my fight club.

I personally think it was invented as a ploy by farmers to trick kids into harvesting the chestnuts. Ok, sonny boy, here are the best 20 nut that I picked out for you to use in competition .... lets puts the other 200 pounds into the barn to 'season' for later.  They get better with time, unless the conkerrobbers get them.

Really Monty....It's surprising we didn't kill one another, we had horse chestnut fights all the time it seems.  START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGESTART PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Charlie

monty wrote on Sep 29^th, 2009 at 2:46pm:

Too bad it is strictly prohibited in the US ... something about kids losing an eye and lawsuits and such. But there is a conkers group at my fight club. I personally think it was invented as a ploy by farmers to trick kids into harvesting the chestnuts. Ok, sonny boy, here are the best 20 nut that I picked out for you to use in competition .... lets puts the other 200 pounds into the barn to 'season' for later.  They get better with time, unless the conkerrobbers get them.

Show me the law that says conkers is strictly prohibited in the U.S.

               Potter

Potter wrote on Sep 30^th, 2009 at 1:19pm:

Show me the law that says conkers is strictly prohibited in the U.S.

Sure - as soon as you show me anything I have said in this thread that should be taken seriously.  I can't has the fun & the sarcasm?? :D

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In America, the game currently has no official status or competitions. Its popularity has surely declined, but it is not thought to be an extinct game.
It was played during the late 1940s and early 1950s in New York in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, and in the 1950s and early 1960s in the Amalgamated section of the Bronx and a winning chestnut was referred to as a "killer". Also, was played in Mohawk Valley area of upstate New York into the 1970s. It was being played in the 1960s in Rhode Island [4] and into the early 1980s in Smithfield, RI.

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I lived in the upstate NY Mohawk Valley (Utica) for 4 years for 1968-1972. My girlfriend's lunatic family was very British and lived near farms in Oneida County. No one ever mentioned conkers or the like but then I was even more in the dark I am now. I'd like to have a couple of those years back. God I could waste time....

Charlie

Far from being a purist on this subject,
I’ll have to say in my shameful youth, yes!! I did doctor the odd conker.
The favourite rouse was to carefully (with the aid of a scriber) scrape out the innards through the lace hole and replace with car body plastic padding.
Now as you car body filling hobbyists know this is pretty tuff especially in a ball.
The other thing going for it was colour.
If the shell was to break, as was quite normal the colour of the plastic padding was pretty convincing.
My word did I give them a few bruised knuckles.
It certainly beats soaking in vinegar, shoving in the oven or waiting for a year.
Since the interest in the topic, had a root around the cellar and found a string of really matured conkers.
Anyone fancy a game????????

Me think someone has too much time on their hands!!? :-?

I suppose Kilt wearing is allowed ???   :D ;D

JustNotRight wrote on Oct 4^th, 2009 at 9:34am:

I suppose Kilt wearing is allowed ???   :D ;D

Only north of Hadrian's Wall.