Abstract: To investigate the effects of bamboo nodes and scarf joints on the mechanical properties of continuous bamboo strip composites in continuous forming processes such as pultrusion, this study fabricated continuous bamboo strip/ epoxy resin composites (BS/EPs) using vacuum-assisted resin infusion (VARI) molding. The research focused on analyzing the differential impact mechanisms of node and scarf joint density under concentrated and stepped distribution patterns on the composite's mechanical properties. Results demonstrate that under concentrated distribution, increasing node density to 100% significantly reduced tensile, flexural, and impact strengths by 30.6%, 29.8%, and 63.8%, respectively, primarily due to stress concentration caused by anisotropic vascular bundles at node regions, inducing premature brittle fracture. In contrast, scarf joints at equivalent density caused only 19.7%, 18.4%, and 10.6% strength reductions, with failure mechanisms dominated by interfacial debonding and delamination energy dissipation, exhibiting progressive failure characteristics under flexural loading. Stepped distribution design effectively mitigated mechanical performance degradation through stress dispersion for both defect types. Notably, short-beam shear tests revealed distinct response patterns: concentrated distribution 100% node density increased shear strength 6.0%, while 100% scarf joint density caused 42.0% shear strength reduction due to adhesive layer delamination. This study confirms that stepped defect distribution effectively alleviates stress concentration, and that spatial configuration control of nodes and joints plays a decisive role in balancing interface reinforcement and performance degradation, providing theoretical guidance for structural optimization of engineered bamboo composites.