I went on the assumption it was a spinner-proof design! Yeah, non-spinner events should put up with polycarbonate well enough and if you can get replacements easily it may be cheaper. What's the weight density like of Polycarb and HDPE, are they around the same?

Because if so, it's always possible you could build with what's to hand and then remake the same parts in HDPE in the future if you choose to go to a full combat event, that's possible I suppose!