Albion Europe!

[Virilis]

Thanks Marcus!

The logistics of getting a decent late roman sword is in the scale of Alexander`s army :wink: .... I will copy-paste your advice and start planning, thanks again!

[Martin Wallgren]

Marcus!

I was refering mostly to medieval longswords here, but not only. I have no experience of Mark Morrows blades and will look into it. My main interesst is if they behave as an original. Now I realise that no fully funktional roman sword has survived the test of time but what I mean is do it behave like a fully researched and recreationed example?

I know Albions Chiefdesigner Peter Johnsson personaly and have no doubts about his research on the models he designs for Albion. I have tested his prototypes for the Roman swords and also some of his bronzeage plades and they where fantastic. His work with medieval weapons are at the very frontier of bladework of our time and he could be one of the most knowlageble researchers of swords living today. This is not saying that Mark Morrow is not good at his Roman stuff.

Virilis!

Where in Finland are you located? Are you part of any group? A cooperation with Suomi would be great!

[Virilis]

I am living in Lahti (100km north of Helsinki). I don`t know any activity of roman re-enactment here in Finland. There was one guy here in the forum also from Finland who was planning to make some kind of group of a high-empire legions last summer. I have not heard of him since ...

There are some medieval/viking re-enactment groups in Finland, like "Harmaasudet" http://www.greywolves.org/ (GrÃ…vargar, eller hur?). For the time being my hobby is "only" studying roman history and collecting some items...

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I have 2 Albion Mainze gladii, and both are good, but the Alectus is , as you say, very authentic feeling.......whatever that may mean to all and sundry.

[Robert]

Forgive me for piping in, but in the sword business much depends on the use you want the sword to be able to perform. As to balance, a lot will depend on the weight one puts into the "working" end of the sword. A well made blade should not twist the point downwards if one wishes to make an upward thrust. The pommel will act as a cantilever if properly positioned, but the stable grip makes all the difference. If a sword is for show only, just make sure it looks authentic. A well ground sword should fit the needs very well indeed at a much lower cost then a forged sword.
I feel a scabbard itself is readily made if the metal trappings can be bought "of shelf". The wood and leather bits are well within the reach of many handy re-enactors, if they have good measurements to work to. I have found that much material posted lacks a simple scalebar or ruler, thus making it very hard to judge dimensions on the pictures posted. This also goes for the gladii posted in another thread. I am by no means a swordsman, my spatha is "show only" and poorly made by Deepeeka, much more proficient with bow and arrows, but a good tool is a good tool and should be regarded as such.

[Martin Wallgren]

I agree fullywith you Robert!

Well said!