WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS!!?? (SWORD)

[Virilis]

What is this, a bad dream, uh....?
http://drachenschmiede.de/catalog/catal ... 6378333a5c

[Chuck Russell]

its supposed to be a training sword like these:

http://www.armor.com/sword203.html
http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/alb ... -meyer.htm

[Virilis]

What an ugly son of a bitch! (thanks Chuck, and I really mean the sword :wink: ...)

[Primvs Pavlvs]

I think its been sharpend too much :wink:

[A_Volpe]

This is designed to look like a practice longsword seen in illustrations of period Fencing manuals/Fechtbuch, such as with Joachim Meyer c. 1570. Some examples survive, one of which is in the Metropolitan Mus. of Art in New York; and has been "copied" by Arms and Armor and subsequently modified with input from places like Higgins Armory Museum / Sword Guild (If I may brag oh so slightly)

My only quip is the blade looks a bit too thin width-wise...The blade (the MET version anway) has been mentioned as being somewhat "whippy", meaning it can flex a bit while being swung around - which can be backed with the Fechtbuch techniques - J. Meyer mentions is a few times but I forget where in the manual.

The handle/grip is really I think a moot point, the illustrations show various lengths...

The "ricasso", or, that flared square piece ontop of the crossguard; also appears a bit exaggerated, but I think it comes down to hairsplitting, and I haven't been directly involved with the surviving piece(s) personally, so I can't totally write it off - As the ricasso in the [Meyer] Illustrations seems to vary slightly...Whether that's a quirk of the wood block illustrations is an entirely different manner.

Anyway, Paul M - You're actually onto something there about it being "sharpened too much" - [We] hold that a "retired combat blade" had the edges milled down and rounded over/blunted, which is how that ricasso gets it's shape - and from what I've been told, there is evidence that later swords specifcally made for practice had this design intentionally made...it's possible that ricasso can be incorporated into several techniques anyway, so it not only became a "practice" sword, but a Fencing/Sport sword as well!

By the way, the translation of that Meyer manual is available as:
"The Art Of Combat: A German Martial Arts Treatise of 1570" By Joachim Meyer, Translated by Jeffrey L. Forgeng, 2006 Greenhill Books, London

[Chuck Russell]

What an ugly son of a bitch! (thanks Chuck, and I really mean the sword :wink: ...)

you bloody bastard! i know what you meant!



hahahha



jkjk hehehehe ya but i'm ugly too hahahahahhaha jkjk hehe

[Ironhand]

That is the ugliest bastard I've ever seen (and I've seen Chuck)
Even for training purposes wouldn't you want something that looked and more importantly handled something like a real blade? 2 pds 11 oz. ?Remarkably heavy for something that doesn't look like it has much steel to it. I bet Tinker would have it down to 8 oz. LOL Don't tell them its bad though. They'd change the marketing to being a supersteel armour piercing rapier that will pierce a titanium plate armour covered elephant clean through like butter.

[A_Volpe]

Ironhand

Huh?

2 pounds (up to 3 maybe) is pretty darn good for a "typical" longsword in the 1460-1500's, why would you want/need something heavier?

And even for practice, I'd certainly want a sword to be as close as possible in weight to the "real thing". Remember us Romans, according to Vegetius, says we trained with *double* weight swords and shields!

But as I've said, the theory is that these later "sport" longswords, by 1570 (?), that they were intentionally made in that shape.

As for "armor piercing rapier"... I know you're making a joke on marketing, and yeah it's a good chuckle, but [you're] a bit off the mark. "armor piercing" and "rapier" don't go together...Ever.

Sorry it's a major pet-peeve when some "expert" at a demo or a faire or some such comes up to [me] and tries to tell me that Maille armor was designed to break the tip off of Rapiers in combat, or that Rapiers were designed to punch through the links/ring holes in Maille armor, or even to punch through plate steel...Or that Rapiers were used on the battlefield. Sorry it just drives me nuts. :?

We still get the story now and then that cranes were used to hoist [Knights] onto thier horsies.

Sorry...sorry...Ok I'm done now, carry on. Don't mind me.

[Ironhand]

Man, you sure are being critical of a post that was at no time serious and you even took my own sarcasm as being literal hock: It is a piece of junk. Don't need to handle it to see that. 2 lbs 11 oz isn't heavy for most historically accurate swords, but looks probably a bit heavy for that piece. It seriously could probably be cut down to 1 lb 8 oz give or take several oz, though I doubt anything could make it handle right with its design. It just looks like it would feel bad. Armour piercing rapier should never go together. That was the point. Give me two minutes though and I bet I could go online and find those words together. Marketing gimmicks is one of my big pet peeves as well. The weird thing is how many of the salesmen actually believe the crud they spew. If you write my post off as a post-work bored need for creative sarcasm, I'll write off the anal retentiveness of the review off as too much coffee and a sore nerve.

Cheers,
Derek

[A_Volpe]

Sounds like a deal

Wasn't sure where you were going with your {sarcastic} post, but yeah either way.

Guess I needed to get that stuff of my chest, it certainly wasn't meant to be aimed at you personally. I agree, some of the drivel that is passed off as accurate explanation of pieces in catalogs and such is really irritating...So as long as the junk sells, ya know?

Anyways.

*shrug*