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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2009 17:35:03 GMT
Just joined the forum. So I've been interested in swords for as long as I can remember. Right now I've got two Japanese blades. I think that, generally speaking both are referred to as katana, but one is longer and slightly less curved than the other. My grandfather picked them up in Japan just after WWII and said that they were Japanese officer swords - not too certain of the truth of that, but they've been hanging on a wall in my mom's house for over 25 years and the other day they made the move to mine. Those swords are probably a different topic.
Anyhow, I'm wanting to expand my collection, but I readily admit I don't know what I'm really looking for. I've been doing some reading about European medieval swords and I think that I'm most interested in getting a hand and a half, which I've read is the same as a bastard which is the same as a longsword.
So given this is the first sword I'm actually looking to buy, and I'm looking to do it within the next week or so. Any and all advice / comments are welcome.
Regards,
Kokoro
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2009 17:46:12 GMT
Welcome to SBG! ;D Well first of, not all longswords are bastards/hand and a halfs. So my question is are you interested in swords with longer grips or only bastard sized ones? What is your budget? Do you want a nice looking sword or are you more interested in functionality? Tinker designed two bastard swords for hanwei and that might be a good choice for you: www.casiberia.com/product_details.asp?id=SH2400 and one with a fuller: www.casiberia.com/product_details.asp?id=SH2411Tinker also designed a longsword and the GSOW for hanwei and you might want to check them out to. Note that these swords might not be as sharp as you want. The new batch seems to have better edges but you might get an old one if you order one online. I would also suggest looking at the Valiant Armoury offerings. Especially the practical longsword and Kriegschwert. I own a practical longsword and I'm very happy with it and if you don't like the simple fittings you can also get a customized one.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2009 17:56:25 GMT
Welcome to the forums, kokoro.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2009 18:29:22 GMT
If I may recommend as a fellow sword newbie recently arrived: READ FREAKIN' EVERYTHING. Like, everything you can find. There is a thread on this very board about "Survival Swords" which seems like a pretty esoteric fantasy, and it was, but in the process of getting answers to it, I got a whirlwind education in sword designs, down to and including the metallurgy involved. Western and Eastern swords included, cheap and expensive swords included. I highly recommend you read that thread and similar long "comparative sword anatomy"-type threads, using them as research springboards. For example, on the first or second page of the Survival Sword thread, one responder describes what he would order from Howard Clark. It took some Google searching to understand what he said, but my Japanese sword vocabulary doubled in the process. So yeah, read threads like that, where people who use and make swords are responding critically, rather than just bantering, and build a general foundation of sword knowledge before you proceed to spend any money. Also, read all of Paul Southren's sword reviews--especially the bad ones. Learning what makes practical swords bad is another good basis of education.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 2:25:46 GMT
Welcome!
I'm quite the newbie too. I just joined the forum recently and bought my first sword & main gauche based on reviews on the SGB main site. This site is an incredible wealth of information.
read, read, read, ask, read more.... ;D
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Post by Dave(utilityslave) on Aug 31, 2009 9:02:26 GMT
Welcome Kokoro, glad to have you with us!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 9:56:57 GMT
Welcome Kokoro, I also say read everything you can get your hands on.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 10:32:33 GMT
Welcome, ENJOY! It,s a Great time and well spent.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 17:01:55 GMT
Ask lots of questions, read and read and read- may I suggest speaking with young Jonathan Kenyon? I'd have to say of all of us, he may be the most recent repository of sword wisdom as he's asked every question about any sword you can think of.
He's in the same boat as you, only he's got a leg up because he's been here, quizzing us, for months- in all honesty, you should do the same- except, quiz him, he's got all the answers! lol
Seriously, welcome to SBG, read all you can on every sword type...you never know what you'll like til you've seen them all, or at least, a good number of them. A good place to start would be in the Reviews section where you can see pictures of swords, video clips of cutting procedures to test the blade's performance and overall assessment.
And of course, we're all more than happy to weigh in on just about anything- you have only to ask.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 22:27:57 GMT
Euro terminology can get tricky. The Japanese might be confusing because it´s in a foreign language, but the euro side is using the same language to say a dozen different things. For instance, a longsword can refer to hand and half or two handed oriented sword...or one that has a blade longer then 18 inches. Depending on which scholar and which era your talking about. And the thing is that scholar don´t always agree on what the terms mean to make matter worse. And yes there are typology...but that is a whole new field of scholar debates. While I quite enjoy this aspect of sword collecting, I do admit that it is not what draws most new people to this hobby. Nor is all this confusion very newbie friendly. So basically the best way forward is to say what you plan on doing with the sword and we can start to point you in the right direction .
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 22:41:18 GMT
My advise is show us some pictures of your officer swords....
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 23:58:10 GMT
My advise is this: /index.cgi?board=euromedieval&action=display&thread=10777&page=1 LOL
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 23:59:26 GMT
Thanks for all the feed back. I'll try to get some snaps of the two Japanese swords that I have - need to find a camera better than my phone.
As far as getting more precise about what I'm looking for in my first sword.... Well, as big as I am into sci-fi and fantasy I'm not interested in getting those types of swords - so as cool as they are, I'm not interested in getting Glamdril or Sting (if I remember the sword names correctly).
So my interest is in blades that are historical in nature, but I'm not going to be able to just put them on the wall and let them be display pieces - so they have to be functional too. ;D
So in terms of historical blades I'm interested in mainly in ancient times to early renaissance, but that just describes the time period - I'm interested in blades from all cultures - so not just European but middle-eastern, african, asian, indian, japanese, etc.... Truth to tell, it's not just swords I'm interested but also knives.
Okay, I'm off to read some of the other posts, and I'll see about getting some pictures of the two swords I do have.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2009 0:06:18 GMT
If you want to learn about hand and a half swords or two handed swords, you can find almost all answers to any questions in the thread I posted. You will just have to read all 24 pages.
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Post by sparky on Sept 1, 2009 0:06:26 GMT
Just joined the forum. So I've been interested in swords for as long as I can remember. Right now I've got two Japanese blades. I think that, generally speaking both are referred to as katana, but one is longer and slightly less curved than the other. My grandfather picked them up in Japan just after WWII and said that they were Japanese officer swords - not too certain of the truth of that, but they've been hanging on a wall in my mom's house for over 25 years and the other day they made the move to mine. Those swords are probably a different topic. First welcome to the SBG family! We all love pictures, so please show us yours ......er swords that is. Here's a link to one I was given /index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=9928, so you can check it out. Who know you may have some swords with a history! Rob
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2009 3:29:48 GMT
If I may recommend as a fellow sword newbie recently arrived: READ FREAKIN' EVERYTHING. Like, everything you can find. I second that! When I was after my first sword, I think I browsed the forums a couple weeks before even posting, and after I posted it took me forever to choose a blade, so many things did I have to consider, but it was fun! You probably aren't as crazy as me or have so much time as I did, but your question has been asked many times before and there've been a lot of answers to questions like yours which will help you make your own choice. I don't mean to say you should read everything before you post, of course! These fine folks will be happy to help you choose. One thing that is quite important though: what is your budget?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2009 3:36:13 GMT
All I can say to the glamdring comment is are you suuuuure?! Just an intepretation one of our resident swordmakers had Welcome to the wonderful world of madness, knowing nothing is the first step to enlightenment
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Sept 1, 2009 4:26:31 GMT
welcome Kokoro, we're happy to have you with us.
my reccomendation is: don't get too wound up on the toughness of the sword. Paul has all those great videos of him smashing and bashing things that will amaze you. be amazed and then FORGET ABOUT IT!
you don't want to do any of that stuff to your swords anyway.
get a sword that handles well, is built well, made by a reputable company and buy from a vendor that is known to have good customer service.
try to avoid the cheap swords if your budget will allow, if not then be very picky and we'll help you find those few gems in the heaps of lower priced crap.
if you can afford $800- $1000+ for a single sword then it's hard to go wrong with Albion or Christian Fletcher/Angus Trim swords
if you have $500-$800 take a good look at Angus Trim base models, Arms and armor, and armor class.
if you are more in the $350-$500 range look into the Valiant Armory Signature series
$250-$350 look at the Valiant Armory practical series and the Hanwei/Tinker series swords
for European swords that is as low as you go to get RELIABLE quality but there are some good swords below this mark just be careful if you approach anything in the ranges below these.
ask us, we'll be glad to help.
as for venders you can't go wrong with: KultofAthena, Wiwingtiswordsupply, and Valiant Armory. these are my three favorites for the sub $500 market but they have stuff above that that is worth looking at too.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2009 7:06:33 GMT
well you seem to have a varied interest in swords so you yourself will have to start narrowing it down...along with a budget. Tom has a pretty good general list...one you decide what kind of sword you want and what you can spend on it, then we can help a bit more in detail.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2009 0:33:48 GMT
welcome Kokoro, we're happy to have you with us. my reccomendation is: don't get too wound up on the toughness of the sword. Paul has all those great videos of him smashing and bashing things that will amaze you. be amazed and then FORGET ABOUT IT! you don't want to do any of that stuff to your swords anyway. get a sword that handles well, is built well, made by a reputable company and buy from a vendor that is known to have good customer service. Toughness isn't what I'm looking for, but it has to be a "real" sword, not a wall-hanger that just looks nice. It has to satisfy the requirement of "use" for me to consider it worth considering. try to avoid the cheap swords if your budget will allow, if not then be very picky and we'll help you find those few gems in the heaps of lower priced crap. While a $1000 sword sounds nice I don't think I'm at a point where I even know enough to appreciate it. Based on my experience and knowledge I want to start with something simpler. What's the difference you're looking at between the $250-$350 range and the $350-$500 range? So let's say anywhere between $250 and $500 to start. ;D I know that what I want is a two edged blade that can be used with either one hand or two hands. So I guess that means I'm looking for more of a cutter than a stabber. From what I understand that means a hand-and-a-half sword. I think this is a medieval type of blade as opposed to a renaissance blade, as well as it would be European in origin. I know this is the style I'm looking for, but given all the variety that's out there and my lack of knowledge I'm trying to figure out how to start, if that makes any sense.
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