Windlass Sword of Tristan
Feb 5, 2009 4:21:44 GMT
Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2009 4:21:44 GMT
Windlass Sword of Tristan
Review by Sébastien ''sebastian'' Bilodeau, near Montréal, Qc, Canada
Before starting, I will show some proof that swordaholism is a known addiction, and these few pictures will show you that it is one of the few human addictions that animals can also suffer from ...
The sword wasn't sharpened and most of these pictures were taken very quickly, will my cat tried to touch my sword ...
Anyway, lets get this review done ...
I have been eyeing this sword for quite some time (actually, I tend to do that with all the swords and blades I buy ...), I always thought it was a good example of swords that were used during the migration era, or the so-called dark ages (between 500 and 1000 AD, give or take a few centuries ...).
I like swords from this era, I view them as no-nonsense chopping swords who were very good at their task. Most people view these swords (any medieval european blade actually) as unbalanced and very heavy metal clubs, which is far from the truth, considering these blades usually weighted between 2 and 3 pounds. Most people who will read this are probably already aware of what I am claiming (some probably know even more than I do on this subject), but I feel it is important to write down this stuff, for the few who still think that medieval swords were 40 pounds metal clubs ...
End of the little historical course, now lets get back to this review ... I bough this replica at Kult of Athena, about 175 US$ + shipping ; a total of about 201 US$ (not including customs, who were about 32 loonies, CA$ if you prefer). The sword arrived in a large brown cardboard box, filled with brown paper. The sword was wrapped in oil and sticky scotch-tape like stuff. The scabbard and sword were separate. Everything arrived after about one week, no damage at all. Overall, nothing to complain about from Kult of Athena and their services.
First impressions
After removing the oil, I fell in love with this sword's look. It has simple, pure lines, the blade looked almost exactly like I imagined blades from the migration era. The pommel and the guard are elegant, not very fancy but well-made and nice to look at, in my opinion.
The scabbard was good looking, too, but was a bit disapointing. Windlass seem to have made effort to make this scabbard different than their usual black leather scabbard, this one is dark brown with small metal suspension rings and studs. The result looks good. However, the scabbard is very tight, one has to litteraly push the sword for the last 4 or 5 inches, which is a bit frustrating.
One thing that quickly irritated me, at first, was how the sword behaved during dry handling. The pommel painfully slammed my wrist everytime I swung the sword. After taking some time to share this experience on this forum, it quickly became apparent that I had a thing or two to learn about handling this sword. After changing the way I held and swung the sword, things got much better and the blade was fun to play with.
I took some measures :
Overall lenght : 38,75''
Blade lenght : 32,75'' (about 2'' wide at the hand-guard, evenly and slowly tapers until the end of the fuller, see below)
Overall hilt lenght : 6''
Handle lenght : 4,5''
Point of Balance : about 6'' from the hand-guard
Weight : 2 lbs 8 oz (Kult of Athena number)
Blade
The blade is about 2 '' wide, it slowly and evenly tapers toward the tip. It has a wide and shallow fuller on both sides, that ends about 1-2'' before the tip (that is also the place where the edge tapers rapidly toward the tip). The tip isn't very acute, it can make decent jabs but the blade's shape doesn't favor this kind of strike. Overall, I think it is a nice replica of early european sword blades; wide and dedicated to cutting and chopping motions.
Althought I have very, very little knowledge on steel and temper, I think this blade is well-made on that point. As you will see in my videos, the blade took some hard hits without taking any damage and without giving any unpleasant rattles (something that I didn't expect from a Windlass sword ...).
My only complaints are the mirror-like finish, which really decrease the sword ''historical'' look and really show that the sword was made in a modern setting with modern tools, and the small ridge that goes between the end of the fuller and the tip, I don't think blades from the dark ages had this.
On a side note, if the copyright on this sword is right, the blade was made in 2006. I am very happy that no rust is present on my blade after such a long time, congratulations to Kult of Athena for their storing.
Pommel, handle, hand-guard, etc
I like the look of the pommel, it is made of steel (stainless or carbon, I don't know ...) and it has simple, graceful curves. At first, its T-like shape was hard on my wrist during swings, but adjusting my grip during my strikes and movements helped a lot, and know it doesn't do much harm.
The grip is covered with black leather, nothing really special. It didn't hamper me during dry handling and cuts. Personnaly, I would prefer a slightly shorter handle, but that would make this sword very hard to grip for people with large hands.
I have nothing much to say about the hand-guard. It looks historical. Theres a small whitish circle on it, like somebody dropped something chemical there by accident.
One thing I noticed is shown on this image ;
This probably explains why the hilt doesn't rattle after my test cuts. Something has been added in the empty space between the tang and the hilt, without this the blade would probably rattle after taking a few hits.
Scabbard
At the moment of this writting, I just noticed that I forgot to take some pictures for the scabbard ...
Handling
This is one part of the sword that I like. It isn't hard to swing and get moving. The sword feels light in hand yet strong in the cut, I think the light weight (2 lbs 8 oz is a bit light for a 38-39'' long sword of that type, but not light enough to make the replica inaccurate, from the historical viewpoint) and point of balance (6'' from the hilt) help. The blade can be stopped in mid-swing but can be a bit hard on the arm when doing so ; once in mid-swing, it has a lot of momentum (a good thing when you hit your target).
Althought I didn't wield single-hand swords very often in the past (so, you can take my opinion with a pinch of salt), this sword was very easy to handle for me, the sadistic pommel beeing the only problem I had to deal with ...
Test cutting
I took about 20 minutes to sharpen both sides of the blade, the edge seemed sharp enough at the time, so I went outside with a few plastic containers filled with water (3.8L containers for windshield washing stuff).
Since the test took place in mid-winter, with a few foot of snow, I cleared a space for me and my cutting stand and didn't try any fancy footwork when cutting. I did my swings with my hips and upper body, not using all my strenght and fully outstretching my arm, and keeping my two feet firmly at the same place.
This video shows my first test cuts.
The sword didn't cut at all, which was a big disappointment. So, I took some time with a friend and a accusharp to get the job done. On the bright side, the sword didn't suffer at all from those multiple hits (when the blade doesn't cut, it has to endure the full strenght of the blow).
This video show my second set of test cuts, after getting the sword properly sharpened.
I hit with the tip of the sword most of the time, it easily sliced through this hapless bottle. The jabs weren't fully satisfying, the balance of the sword clearly favors cuts and makes thrusting strikes imprecise.
Conclusion
Overall, I am happy with this sword. It is my first medieval ''one-hander'' and didn't disappoint me, it is a fun backyard cutter and looks nice in my sword collection.
On a side-note, since this is my first ''Euro one-hander'', I am not sure how this sword handles compared to more recent and better made ones (especially the new european swords from Hanwei and Valiant Armory). I will see when I get my hands on one of those new replicas ...
Pros
-Decent handling ; feels light yet strong in the cut.
-Simple, elegant fittings. Good looking scabbard, too.
-Good historical accuracy.
-Robust hilt, compared to other Windlass products.
Cons
-Tricky handle and grip, if your not used to single-hand european swords.
-A decent product in a market filled with very good ones ; see the new one-handers from Hanwei and Valiant Armory ...
-Scabbard is a bit too tight.
Overall, a good sword, I think Windlass did their job right on this one. I don't think it is one the best single-hander available, but it is worth to be looked at and should be considered amongst Windlass good swords.
edit : Forgot to mention that this replica is discontinued,but at the time I am writting this, it is still available at Kult of Athena. I haven't found it anywhere else ...
edit may 8th, 2009 ; The sword has been removed from KOA website's, still haven't seen it elsewhere. RIP Windlass Sword of Tristan
Review by Sébastien ''sebastian'' Bilodeau, near Montréal, Qc, Canada
Before starting, I will show some proof that swordaholism is a known addiction, and these few pictures will show you that it is one of the few human addictions that animals can also suffer from ...
The sword wasn't sharpened and most of these pictures were taken very quickly, will my cat tried to touch my sword ...
Anyway, lets get this review done ...
I have been eyeing this sword for quite some time (actually, I tend to do that with all the swords and blades I buy ...), I always thought it was a good example of swords that were used during the migration era, or the so-called dark ages (between 500 and 1000 AD, give or take a few centuries ...).
I like swords from this era, I view them as no-nonsense chopping swords who were very good at their task. Most people view these swords (any medieval european blade actually) as unbalanced and very heavy metal clubs, which is far from the truth, considering these blades usually weighted between 2 and 3 pounds. Most people who will read this are probably already aware of what I am claiming (some probably know even more than I do on this subject), but I feel it is important to write down this stuff, for the few who still think that medieval swords were 40 pounds metal clubs ...
End of the little historical course, now lets get back to this review ... I bough this replica at Kult of Athena, about 175 US$ + shipping ; a total of about 201 US$ (not including customs, who were about 32 loonies, CA$ if you prefer). The sword arrived in a large brown cardboard box, filled with brown paper. The sword was wrapped in oil and sticky scotch-tape like stuff. The scabbard and sword were separate. Everything arrived after about one week, no damage at all. Overall, nothing to complain about from Kult of Athena and their services.
First impressions
After removing the oil, I fell in love with this sword's look. It has simple, pure lines, the blade looked almost exactly like I imagined blades from the migration era. The pommel and the guard are elegant, not very fancy but well-made and nice to look at, in my opinion.
The scabbard was good looking, too, but was a bit disapointing. Windlass seem to have made effort to make this scabbard different than their usual black leather scabbard, this one is dark brown with small metal suspension rings and studs. The result looks good. However, the scabbard is very tight, one has to litteraly push the sword for the last 4 or 5 inches, which is a bit frustrating.
One thing that quickly irritated me, at first, was how the sword behaved during dry handling. The pommel painfully slammed my wrist everytime I swung the sword. After taking some time to share this experience on this forum, it quickly became apparent that I had a thing or two to learn about handling this sword. After changing the way I held and swung the sword, things got much better and the blade was fun to play with.
I took some measures :
Overall lenght : 38,75''
Blade lenght : 32,75'' (about 2'' wide at the hand-guard, evenly and slowly tapers until the end of the fuller, see below)
Overall hilt lenght : 6''
Handle lenght : 4,5''
Point of Balance : about 6'' from the hand-guard
Weight : 2 lbs 8 oz (Kult of Athena number)
Blade
The blade is about 2 '' wide, it slowly and evenly tapers toward the tip. It has a wide and shallow fuller on both sides, that ends about 1-2'' before the tip (that is also the place where the edge tapers rapidly toward the tip). The tip isn't very acute, it can make decent jabs but the blade's shape doesn't favor this kind of strike. Overall, I think it is a nice replica of early european sword blades; wide and dedicated to cutting and chopping motions.
Althought I have very, very little knowledge on steel and temper, I think this blade is well-made on that point. As you will see in my videos, the blade took some hard hits without taking any damage and without giving any unpleasant rattles (something that I didn't expect from a Windlass sword ...).
My only complaints are the mirror-like finish, which really decrease the sword ''historical'' look and really show that the sword was made in a modern setting with modern tools, and the small ridge that goes between the end of the fuller and the tip, I don't think blades from the dark ages had this.
On a side note, if the copyright on this sword is right, the blade was made in 2006. I am very happy that no rust is present on my blade after such a long time, congratulations to Kult of Athena for their storing.
Pommel, handle, hand-guard, etc
I like the look of the pommel, it is made of steel (stainless or carbon, I don't know ...) and it has simple, graceful curves. At first, its T-like shape was hard on my wrist during swings, but adjusting my grip during my strikes and movements helped a lot, and know it doesn't do much harm.
The grip is covered with black leather, nothing really special. It didn't hamper me during dry handling and cuts. Personnaly, I would prefer a slightly shorter handle, but that would make this sword very hard to grip for people with large hands.
I have nothing much to say about the hand-guard. It looks historical. Theres a small whitish circle on it, like somebody dropped something chemical there by accident.
One thing I noticed is shown on this image ;
This probably explains why the hilt doesn't rattle after my test cuts. Something has been added in the empty space between the tang and the hilt, without this the blade would probably rattle after taking a few hits.
Scabbard
At the moment of this writting, I just noticed that I forgot to take some pictures for the scabbard ...
Handling
This is one part of the sword that I like. It isn't hard to swing and get moving. The sword feels light in hand yet strong in the cut, I think the light weight (2 lbs 8 oz is a bit light for a 38-39'' long sword of that type, but not light enough to make the replica inaccurate, from the historical viewpoint) and point of balance (6'' from the hilt) help. The blade can be stopped in mid-swing but can be a bit hard on the arm when doing so ; once in mid-swing, it has a lot of momentum (a good thing when you hit your target).
Althought I didn't wield single-hand swords very often in the past (so, you can take my opinion with a pinch of salt), this sword was very easy to handle for me, the sadistic pommel beeing the only problem I had to deal with ...
Test cutting
I took about 20 minutes to sharpen both sides of the blade, the edge seemed sharp enough at the time, so I went outside with a few plastic containers filled with water (3.8L containers for windshield washing stuff).
Since the test took place in mid-winter, with a few foot of snow, I cleared a space for me and my cutting stand and didn't try any fancy footwork when cutting. I did my swings with my hips and upper body, not using all my strenght and fully outstretching my arm, and keeping my two feet firmly at the same place.
This video shows my first test cuts.
The sword didn't cut at all, which was a big disappointment. So, I took some time with a friend and a accusharp to get the job done. On the bright side, the sword didn't suffer at all from those multiple hits (when the blade doesn't cut, it has to endure the full strenght of the blow).
This video show my second set of test cuts, after getting the sword properly sharpened.
I hit with the tip of the sword most of the time, it easily sliced through this hapless bottle. The jabs weren't fully satisfying, the balance of the sword clearly favors cuts and makes thrusting strikes imprecise.
Conclusion
Overall, I am happy with this sword. It is my first medieval ''one-hander'' and didn't disappoint me, it is a fun backyard cutter and looks nice in my sword collection.
On a side-note, since this is my first ''Euro one-hander'', I am not sure how this sword handles compared to more recent and better made ones (especially the new european swords from Hanwei and Valiant Armory). I will see when I get my hands on one of those new replicas ...
Pros
-Decent handling ; feels light yet strong in the cut.
-Simple, elegant fittings. Good looking scabbard, too.
-Good historical accuracy.
-Robust hilt, compared to other Windlass products.
Cons
-Tricky handle and grip, if your not used to single-hand european swords.
-A decent product in a market filled with very good ones ; see the new one-handers from Hanwei and Valiant Armory ...
-Scabbard is a bit too tight.
Overall, a good sword, I think Windlass did their job right on this one. I don't think it is one the best single-hander available, but it is worth to be looked at and should be considered amongst Windlass good swords.
edit : Forgot to mention that this replica is discontinued,
edit may 8th, 2009 ; The sword has been removed from KOA website's, still haven't seen it elsewhere. RIP Windlass Sword of Tristan