Designated areas

General

The rapier marshal-in-charge will designate the areas where rapier activities are allowed to occur, in coordination with the event steward and event marshal-in-change.
Combat must only occur in an area that has been designated for combat.

The area should have access and space to support marshals.
The area should be clearly marked or have natural boundaries to exclude non-participants.
Check that the area can be safely fought upon (i.e. can someone in armor, with restricted vision and possibly moving backwards/sideways, cross it safely).
Check for holes, soft spots, rocks, etc. If possible, these should be marked or cordoned off. If a serious hazard cannot be worked around, move the fighting location.

A buffer zone must be provided between the edges of the battlefield and spectators at all times. This will need to be increased when ranged weapons are included.
The marshal-in-charge must set this distance and ensure that it is safe (it should not be possible to hit a spectator, either with direct fire or with a bounced missile), taking into account the type of scenario, to minimize the chances of deflected shots traveling into the spectators.
Physical barriers may eliminate the need for a buffer zone or lessen the distance needed.