Noob re-enactor: should I purchase this gladius?

[sillious saurus]

Can I get some thoughts on this? Is it worth $80? It's a Pompeii Gladius with a bone handle, brass fittings and baldric. I am new and I dont want to buy something that isnt accurate.

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/4900/pompeii16cu.jpg

[Cornelius Quintus]

Ave Sillious,

try the Legio XX Handbook

http://www.larp.com/legioxx/gladius.html

an scroll down to the model 'SDK1171' - that should be that one.

[Tarbicus]

That scabbard looks like it has all the possibilities of customising, if you want to do so. The metal fittings usually come off quite easily on the cheaper items, so you could add all sorts of things to it, but the essential bits are ready made.

[Gaivs Antonivs Satvrninvs]

It's a very nice gladius for the money. I believe still approved by Legio XX.
I have one and others in my group also. Just needs a little cosmetic work to be excellent, but perfectly acceptable as is(you may want to change the baldric,which is backwards and the buckle is from a watch band).

[sillious saurus]

Oh excellent, thanks for your help. I ordered it.

Ave Sillious,

try the Legio XX Handbook

http://www.larp.com/legioxx/gladius.html

an scroll down to the model 'SDK1171' - that should be that one.

[Magnus]

Yeah...get used to buying stuff and having to modify it...especially once you get the itch. I bought a deepeeka pompeii and ended up swapping all the wooden parts, as well as rebuidling a scabbard. But now i have a unique-ish looking sword.

[Caius Fabius]

sillious saurus\\n[quote]Oh excellent, thanks for your help. I ordered it.


"Sillious Saurus" Please read the rules for posting. I know some of the other moderators have sent you private messages, but you may not know how to access that part of the forum. Thank you.

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[Chuck Russell]

i have that one. its nice. i ground down the spike on the hilt, groved the finger spaces on the handle, nailed the brass work down on the scabbard and thats about it

[sillious saurus]

I will do some work on it when I get it for sure. But I am glad to here it is acceptable.

[sillious saurus]

And hopefully it will be soon!

[Matt Lukes]

I recently got one of these gladii to re-work for a client of mine. The blade is nice, and the wooden core of the scabbard is good, but nothing else is either accurate or really all that nice. The guard and pommel appear to be pine or another light-colored softwood and are rather crudely made, the scabbard leather is PAINTED some awful brownish burgandy, the metal furniture isn't even remotely accurate, the buckle on the baldric is a watchband buckle (and a cheap one at that), the leather is stiff, dry and smelly. So for $80 it's a good blade, but needs a lot of work to be remotely close to being authentic. That being said, there aren't any other inexpensive commercially-available gladii that are really so much better. All are half-hearted attempts that require a fair bit of work too, so I say get the cheapest one with a good blade as this is the most important part- the one few can fix for themselves if flawed.

[sillious saurus]

Any tips for what I can do to make this sucker a little more authentic?

I recently got one of these gladii to re-work for a client of mine. The blade is nice, and the wooden core of the scabbard is good, but nothing else is either accurate or really all that nice. The guard and pommel appear to be pine or another light-colored softwood and are rather crudely made, the scabbard leather is PAINTED some awful brownish burgandy, the metal furniture isn't even remotely accurate, the buckle on the baldric is a watchband buckle (and a cheap one at that), the leather is stiff, dry and smelly. So for $80 it's a good blade, but needs a lot of work to be remotely close to being authentic. That being said, there aren't any other inexpensive commercially-available gladii that are really so much better. All are half-hearted attempts that require a fair bit of work too, so I say get the cheapest one with a good blade as this is the most important part- the one few can fix for themselves if flawed.