Recreations of period firearms, no matter what the type of propulsion used, are banned from use on the Armored Combat field. This ban was put in place by the Board of Directors on January 16, 1999, on suggestion by the Society Earl Marshal at the time. The stated reason was that the appearance of firearms signaled the downfall of chivalric combat, which the SCA attempts to recreate, and therefore having said items on the field detracts from the experience. However, rapier combat still uses firearm and cannon simulators which fire loops of surgical tubing, much like a rubber band gun.