Noob Review: Windlass Munich Cut & Thrust
Feb 20, 2012 21:48:05 GMT
Post by Warlokk on Feb 20, 2012 21:48:05 GMT
Hi everybody!
Since this forum was so instrumental in helping me decide which swords I plan to buy in the near future, I thought I'd write up a quick first-impressions newbie review of the Windlass Steelcrafts Munich Cut & Thrust sword, which I just received from KoA today. It surprised me that nobody had written up an actual review of this sword, despite a number of members here owning one, so I thought I'd remedy that.
First off, the packaging. The box arrived UPS from KoA, and had no visible damage at all. I was thrilled with how quickly it arrived, since I only ordered it last Thursday, and here it's only Monday and it's in my hands, despite the website saying to allow an extra week for sharpening service. Once I opened it up, I found a huge mass of brown packing paper. Digging through a couple layers, I finally reached something solid, wrapped tightly in another layer of brown paper. I lifted out, and unraveled the wrapping around the sword, and ended up with the following:
The sword had a fine layer of oil on all the metal surfaces, and plastic wrapped around the steel throat and cap of the scabbard. I wiped the oil off with a soft cloth, and removed the plastic from the scabbard, and settled back to take a look at my new investment.
The sword feels very solid, and has quite a bit more heft to it than I expected, at almost 3 1/2 lbs. As this is my first real sword, I don't have a lot to compare it to as far as handling, but the balance felt good in my hand, especially in a pistol-grip with my finger against the ricasso. The wire-wrapped handle has a good thickness to it, and my hand fit comfortably around it. The POB seems to be about a half-inch from where the hilt assembly ends, and about 2 1/2" from the actual hilt itself.
Specs from KoA:
Overall Length: 39 3/4'' Blade: 33 1/4''
Weight: 3 lb 6.1 oz
P.O.B.: 2 3/8''
Thickness: 3.7 mm - 2.4 mm
Width: 41.4 mm
Grip Length: 3 3/8''
The scabbard is less rigid than I expected, but seems well put together. The steel fittings are thinner than I expected, and there is a gap between the protruding decorative bits and the leather, but everything is tight and solid so no real complaints there, although I may try to make them more flush so they don't snag on anything during costume wear. The throat of the scabbard seems a little rough, and tends to leave debris on the blade when sheathing and drawing, but this may be normal.
The swept hilt design is very nice, there are some tool marks on the steel in a few places but nothing that detracts from the look of the sword. The pommel is a quite large, but not unwieldy or in the way.
The sharpening job from KoA is what I expected, there is a definite secondary bevel starting about 1/2 inch from the end of the ricasso, and it is fairly even all the way down the blade, although the back side bevel was slightly narrower towards the point of the blade. The edge is nice and sharp overall, and I look forward to doing some cutting with it once I am more familiar with the sword and techniques. The usual Windlass and Made in India stickers are present, and appear to be easily removed.
Overall, I am very satisfied with this sword... it isn't perfect by any means, but then it's not as expensive as the A&A Town Guard either. For the less than $250 sharpened and shipped, it feels like a solid, well balanced sword, with good workmanship and materials, and I feel like it was a good choice to start my collection with. It is more substantial than a rapier, with a good amount of weight in the hand, but the blade feels light and easy to control. I look forward to learning more about handling techniques and giving this one a go against the dastardly Plastic Bottle Army that seems to be gathering in my garage lately
Hey, I have a SWORD! WOO!
Since this forum was so instrumental in helping me decide which swords I plan to buy in the near future, I thought I'd write up a quick first-impressions newbie review of the Windlass Steelcrafts Munich Cut & Thrust sword, which I just received from KoA today. It surprised me that nobody had written up an actual review of this sword, despite a number of members here owning one, so I thought I'd remedy that.
First off, the packaging. The box arrived UPS from KoA, and had no visible damage at all. I was thrilled with how quickly it arrived, since I only ordered it last Thursday, and here it's only Monday and it's in my hands, despite the website saying to allow an extra week for sharpening service. Once I opened it up, I found a huge mass of brown packing paper. Digging through a couple layers, I finally reached something solid, wrapped tightly in another layer of brown paper. I lifted out, and unraveled the wrapping around the sword, and ended up with the following:
The sword had a fine layer of oil on all the metal surfaces, and plastic wrapped around the steel throat and cap of the scabbard. I wiped the oil off with a soft cloth, and removed the plastic from the scabbard, and settled back to take a look at my new investment.
The sword feels very solid, and has quite a bit more heft to it than I expected, at almost 3 1/2 lbs. As this is my first real sword, I don't have a lot to compare it to as far as handling, but the balance felt good in my hand, especially in a pistol-grip with my finger against the ricasso. The wire-wrapped handle has a good thickness to it, and my hand fit comfortably around it. The POB seems to be about a half-inch from where the hilt assembly ends, and about 2 1/2" from the actual hilt itself.
Specs from KoA:
Overall Length: 39 3/4'' Blade: 33 1/4''
Weight: 3 lb 6.1 oz
P.O.B.: 2 3/8''
Thickness: 3.7 mm - 2.4 mm
Width: 41.4 mm
Grip Length: 3 3/8''
The scabbard is less rigid than I expected, but seems well put together. The steel fittings are thinner than I expected, and there is a gap between the protruding decorative bits and the leather, but everything is tight and solid so no real complaints there, although I may try to make them more flush so they don't snag on anything during costume wear. The throat of the scabbard seems a little rough, and tends to leave debris on the blade when sheathing and drawing, but this may be normal.
The swept hilt design is very nice, there are some tool marks on the steel in a few places but nothing that detracts from the look of the sword. The pommel is a quite large, but not unwieldy or in the way.
The sharpening job from KoA is what I expected, there is a definite secondary bevel starting about 1/2 inch from the end of the ricasso, and it is fairly even all the way down the blade, although the back side bevel was slightly narrower towards the point of the blade. The edge is nice and sharp overall, and I look forward to doing some cutting with it once I am more familiar with the sword and techniques. The usual Windlass and Made in India stickers are present, and appear to be easily removed.
Overall, I am very satisfied with this sword... it isn't perfect by any means, but then it's not as expensive as the A&A Town Guard either. For the less than $250 sharpened and shipped, it feels like a solid, well balanced sword, with good workmanship and materials, and I feel like it was a good choice to start my collection with. It is more substantial than a rapier, with a good amount of weight in the hand, but the blade feels light and easy to control. I look forward to learning more about handling techniques and giving this one a go against the dastardly Plastic Bottle Army that seems to be gathering in my garage lately
Hey, I have a SWORD! WOO!