This bo is limited in our stock right now. If you go back to our main bo page here: http://www.karatedepot.com/bo_staff.html, you can search for specific sizes within the navigation on the left side of the page.

I personally prefer straight for both forms and striking. However a lot of people enjoy taper for forms because it makes the bo lighter (less total material) and spins around a center axis very nicely.

In general if you want to strike hard objects, the straight bo is more reliable. That's not to say tapered is completely unusable though. The type of wood has a lot to say in that regard as well.

Actually Duffy this bo tapers down at both ends. As a general rule if you see a bo that mentions tapering you can safely assume that it tapers on both ends to maintain it's balance and versatility.