MRL Pompeii Gladius and discontinued Greek hoplite
Aug 16, 2007 21:40:39 GMT
Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2007 21:40:39 GMT
Since Ricwilly asked about these, I thought I'd take them out for a test run. I've had both for about 2 years and never cut with either. My son uses the Pompeii a goos bit for ren faires, as it carries all day very well.
First the Pompeii
www.museumreplicas.com/museumreplicas/detail.aspx?ID=655
This is a very light, fast sword with good balance and a great feel in the hand. Mine is very solidly made, and took repeated swings against my shield target without any loosening at all.
The Blade: 20" long, a uniform 2" wide out to 16", then tapering to a point. Cutting edge starts 1 1/2" from the guard. pob approximately 4", cop approx. 11 1/2"
The Grip: 3 1/2" long, 3" circumference circular turned maple with finger ridges (some vary now I think), well stained and finished.
The Pommel: 7 3/4" circumference maple knob, again very well stained and finished. Pommel nut is 1/2" long rounded brass.
The Guard:: 1 1/4" long, 6 3/4" circumference oval shaped maple faced with a 5/16" mild steel oval plate
The Scabbard: black leather over a wooden core, covered with a brass throat and accents. Mine came with a brown leather baldric.
Its not as "fancy" as the Mainz pattern offered by Windlass, which actually appeals to me. It retails for 190.00 today, but if you shop around you can get it for a good bit less. As I have an absolute horror of paying retail, I looked around for about a year and half before picking mine up at Windlass' scratch and dent sale, marked down for a few scratches on the scabbard. Patience does, sometimes, have rewards.
I tested this against my greatly abused (and subsequently reinforced) shield target. As an unsharpened cutter, it did quite well, as you can tell from the photos below. In stabbing tests against the same target it consistently achieved 1/2" deep impacts. This is probably less that it could have done to be honest, as the shield was unanchored (intentionally, to try to simulate the give a person's arm would have).
Ratings:
Historical accuracy 3.75/5
Fit and Finish: 4/5
Handling: 5/5
Structural Integrity: 5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
OVERALL: 4.5/5
All in all this is a very good gladius for the money
Next was the older central ribbed hoplite.
This has been much maligned on several sites as having very little historical accuracy. I honestly have no clue. When it was first presented in MRL's catalog several years ago, they states it was a modern representation in steel of a bronze hoplite sword. Maybe Hank Reinhardt could elaborate, as this was back when he was at Windlass I believe. It would be interesting to know whether this was a Windlass designed piece, or one made to the pre-Windlass owned MRL's specs.
I bought it because I love leaf blades, and it is good looking sword.
The Blade: 23 7/8" long, leaf blade 1 3/4" wide at the guard, narrowing to 1 3/8", then swelling to 2" at 14"- 18", before tapering to a point. Cutting edge starts 1 5/8" from the guard.(though I wouldn't recommend trying to use it there) pob approximately 7 3/4", cop approx. 16", though my strikes in the photos were closer to 14 1/2"
The Grip: 3 1/2" long, spindle shaped, 4"- 3 1/8" circumference circular turned indeterminate wood (some vary now I think), very darkly stained and finished.
The Pommel: 1 1/2" long, 4 3/4" circumference continuous piece with the grip, again very well stained and finished. Pommel nut is 3/8" long tapered brass.
The Guard:: 1 1/4" deep x 3 1/4" wide, 5/16" thick rounded rectangular shaped mild steel plate
This is a very front end heavy beast, with a lot of mass. It handles a bit like an axe/mace due to the weight distribution, and isn't a quick recovery weapon, at least not without a lot of forearm strength.
Its design doesn't lend itself to deep cuts, as the central rib acts as a brake on the downward strokes. Not to worry though, whatever you hit is going to be bludgeoned to death. In the photos you notice that it did penetrate beyond the central rib, but that was a swing with everything I could put into it one handed. Earlier swings plowed 3/4" hunks out of a different edge of the shield and collapsed one of the planks. As I said, beast. I believe this one would survive most anything you could reasonably expect to use it on without failure. You might get an gap in the edge or similar, but taking a set?- forget it. SOLID.
The ratings:
Historical accuracy: passing on this, not knowledgeable enough of this period.
Fit and finish: 3.5/5
Handling 2.75/5
Structural integrity 5/5
Value for Money: 3.5/5
Overall 3.69/5
Not my first choice for use by any means, but I'm still very glad I have it. It fills out a nice slot in the collection and has a definite "presence".
First the Pompeii
www.museumreplicas.com/museumreplicas/detail.aspx?ID=655
This is a very light, fast sword with good balance and a great feel in the hand. Mine is very solidly made, and took repeated swings against my shield target without any loosening at all.
The Blade: 20" long, a uniform 2" wide out to 16", then tapering to a point. Cutting edge starts 1 1/2" from the guard. pob approximately 4", cop approx. 11 1/2"
The Grip: 3 1/2" long, 3" circumference circular turned maple with finger ridges (some vary now I think), well stained and finished.
The Pommel: 7 3/4" circumference maple knob, again very well stained and finished. Pommel nut is 1/2" long rounded brass.
The Guard:: 1 1/4" long, 6 3/4" circumference oval shaped maple faced with a 5/16" mild steel oval plate
The Scabbard: black leather over a wooden core, covered with a brass throat and accents. Mine came with a brown leather baldric.
Its not as "fancy" as the Mainz pattern offered by Windlass, which actually appeals to me. It retails for 190.00 today, but if you shop around you can get it for a good bit less. As I have an absolute horror of paying retail, I looked around for about a year and half before picking mine up at Windlass' scratch and dent sale, marked down for a few scratches on the scabbard. Patience does, sometimes, have rewards.
I tested this against my greatly abused (and subsequently reinforced) shield target. As an unsharpened cutter, it did quite well, as you can tell from the photos below. In stabbing tests against the same target it consistently achieved 1/2" deep impacts. This is probably less that it could have done to be honest, as the shield was unanchored (intentionally, to try to simulate the give a person's arm would have).
Ratings:
Historical accuracy 3.75/5
Fit and Finish: 4/5
Handling: 5/5
Structural Integrity: 5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
OVERALL: 4.5/5
All in all this is a very good gladius for the money
Next was the older central ribbed hoplite.
This has been much maligned on several sites as having very little historical accuracy. I honestly have no clue. When it was first presented in MRL's catalog several years ago, they states it was a modern representation in steel of a bronze hoplite sword. Maybe Hank Reinhardt could elaborate, as this was back when he was at Windlass I believe. It would be interesting to know whether this was a Windlass designed piece, or one made to the pre-Windlass owned MRL's specs.
I bought it because I love leaf blades, and it is good looking sword.
The Blade: 23 7/8" long, leaf blade 1 3/4" wide at the guard, narrowing to 1 3/8", then swelling to 2" at 14"- 18", before tapering to a point. Cutting edge starts 1 5/8" from the guard.(though I wouldn't recommend trying to use it there) pob approximately 7 3/4", cop approx. 16", though my strikes in the photos were closer to 14 1/2"
The Grip: 3 1/2" long, spindle shaped, 4"- 3 1/8" circumference circular turned indeterminate wood (some vary now I think), very darkly stained and finished.
The Pommel: 1 1/2" long, 4 3/4" circumference continuous piece with the grip, again very well stained and finished. Pommel nut is 3/8" long tapered brass.
The Guard:: 1 1/4" deep x 3 1/4" wide, 5/16" thick rounded rectangular shaped mild steel plate
This is a very front end heavy beast, with a lot of mass. It handles a bit like an axe/mace due to the weight distribution, and isn't a quick recovery weapon, at least not without a lot of forearm strength.
Its design doesn't lend itself to deep cuts, as the central rib acts as a brake on the downward strokes. Not to worry though, whatever you hit is going to be bludgeoned to death. In the photos you notice that it did penetrate beyond the central rib, but that was a swing with everything I could put into it one handed. Earlier swings plowed 3/4" hunks out of a different edge of the shield and collapsed one of the planks. As I said, beast. I believe this one would survive most anything you could reasonably expect to use it on without failure. You might get an gap in the edge or similar, but taking a set?- forget it. SOLID.
The ratings:
Historical accuracy: passing on this, not knowledgeable enough of this period.
Fit and finish: 3.5/5
Handling 2.75/5
Structural integrity 5/5
Value for Money: 3.5/5
Overall 3.69/5
Not my first choice for use by any means, but I'm still very glad I have it. It fills out a nice slot in the collection and has a definite "presence".