Albion Principe Bastard Sword (Mat Cutting vid added!)
Jul 22, 2013 9:01:17 GMT
Post by exiel on Jul 22, 2013 9:01:17 GMT
I looked for an Albion Mercenary Sword for years, a new one comes in 3-4 months, and it’s a rare one in second-handed market, when Albion unleashed the Principe photos, it instantly caught my eyes and ended my pursuit on the Mercenary, the unique XVIIIc blade and the fittings makes it a dream sword to me~
So I mailed to ask Mike about the price and surprisingly, there’s one in stock. It means no 3-4 months waiting, just a couple days and I’ll finally own a fantastic Albion sword!!! It goes without saying, I paid, I wait, and I GOT THE SWORD!!!
They really did a good job on the packing; the whole sword came unharmed to me, and the first sight tells a lot; it really is a huge sword, from the pic you can tell the width difference between the grip and the blade, but later there’s a pic to tell how huge the sword really is~
The profile taper is beautifully achieved, almost identical to the Force Edge sword in the video game “Devil May Cry”, which is the 1st reason I bought the Principe; during youth I made a prop sword for a cosplayer friend and since then I want a real practical sword of it, and now my dream comes true~
The stats (from both measurement and Albion specs)
Total length: 46" (116.8 cm)
Blade length: 34 3/8" (87.3cm)
Blade width: 3" (7.62cm)
Blade thickness at Guard: 5mm
Blade thickness 3 inches from tip: 2.5mm
CoB: 3.25" (8.25 cm)
CoP: 20.5" (52 cm)
Weight: 3 lbs 15oz /1.8 kg (1.82kg, according to my measurement)
The blade, besides the width from the guard, has a narrow-but-rounded tip, which isn’t showed in the photos Albion unleashed, ensures the durability while thrusting (though I serious doubt the thrusting performance of such a wide blade). The CNC milled blade shows great flatness, I’ve bought several swords from Westerns to Chinese, and I have to say I’ve never seen this kind of smooth surface till now, it is believed that a smooth surface like this would do some help in cutting performance, one could expect the cutting part next~
I have a Kris Cutlery Teutonic Hand and A Half Sword (currently disassembled) which is similar in design with the Principe, both of them are good swords, but the Principe is more like a mature big brother to the KC Teutonic, the handle is shorter, makes it fit the name Bastard Sword more. The grip is wrapped with thick cord and ox blood leather, the cross guard is elegant and reassuring, and the pommel is narrower than the Teutonic, so one can grip it when a powerful strike is needed. Personally I like the curved lines Albion put on the pommel, and the pin is carefully grinded to increase the integrity.
The handling
Being a huge sword, I do feel the weight in one hand, but the COB helps and when swinging it with both hands, I actually feel no resistance at all; it moves fast and powerful in the same time, the point control is very precise; from my experience the Principe performs even better than some swords much lighter than her. When swing it with correct edge alignment, the blade makes delightful sound, not loud as a katana would do, but it does sound good IMO.
The cutting
I like water bottles and soaked paper rolls as target, both of them are cheaper than mats and relatively save to the edges, and according to one of my iaido friends, the free-placed paper rolls are even more difficult targets than the mats.
I performed some cutting on the bottles, the sword makes a metallic sound when silent cuts were done, which is differ to the “ding” as the Atrim I have, probably caused by the wide and thin blade of the sword, the only small problem with the sword is the thrusting, I can’t easily perform the way I like due to the wide blade, but hey, look at how sturdy the sword is with a hanging bottle at the tip! I would say this is by far the most pleasant cutting experience on water bottles.
For a HUGE sword like the Principe, I wouldn’t dare to despise it with rolls under 3 inches diameter, so I prepared 4 rolls from 3-3.62 inches diameter, after a successful cut through 3 inch roll, I performed a cut on a 3.1 inch one with less strength, and the sword made a clean cut through it, showing to me that she yearns for larger target, so I proceed to 3.6 inch ones, the first one doesn’t “fly away” after the cut is done, I think I did good edge alignment on that one, and I tried diagonal and level cut on the second one, all cuts were nicely done and I didn’t feel any resistance at all!
My friend's DSA black prince sword and coldsteel hand and a half sword looked just like younglings' training weapon next to the Principe~
2013-07-30
I was invited by an iaido friend to experience mat cutting,
and the Principe performed very well, i even achieved the unfixed challenge!
Conclusions
I’ve bought many swords since 3 years ago, including Darksword Armory, Hanwei, Zhang Shi, Valiant Armoury, Kris Cutlery, ColdSteel, Legacy Arms (known as Gen 2), and Atrim, I think they’re good at the price, and at the time I only focused on the practical performance, but all of them have some part I would like to change.
I never understand why a sword should cost higher than 1000 (except for the customized ones), but the Principe Sword I got explains everything, the historical design, the superior finish, and the astonishing performance, I would like to own a sword like this even it cost hundreds more than the price (which is the exact case).
I recommend this sword, and for those who are still waiting, let me tell you, the waiting is over!
So I mailed to ask Mike about the price and surprisingly, there’s one in stock. It means no 3-4 months waiting, just a couple days and I’ll finally own a fantastic Albion sword!!! It goes without saying, I paid, I wait, and I GOT THE SWORD!!!
They really did a good job on the packing; the whole sword came unharmed to me, and the first sight tells a lot; it really is a huge sword, from the pic you can tell the width difference between the grip and the blade, but later there’s a pic to tell how huge the sword really is~
The profile taper is beautifully achieved, almost identical to the Force Edge sword in the video game “Devil May Cry”, which is the 1st reason I bought the Principe; during youth I made a prop sword for a cosplayer friend and since then I want a real practical sword of it, and now my dream comes true~
The stats (from both measurement and Albion specs)
Total length: 46" (116.8 cm)
Blade length: 34 3/8" (87.3cm)
Blade width: 3" (7.62cm)
Blade thickness at Guard: 5mm
Blade thickness 3 inches from tip: 2.5mm
CoB: 3.25" (8.25 cm)
CoP: 20.5" (52 cm)
Weight: 3 lbs 15oz /1.8 kg (1.82kg, according to my measurement)
The blade, besides the width from the guard, has a narrow-but-rounded tip, which isn’t showed in the photos Albion unleashed, ensures the durability while thrusting (though I serious doubt the thrusting performance of such a wide blade). The CNC milled blade shows great flatness, I’ve bought several swords from Westerns to Chinese, and I have to say I’ve never seen this kind of smooth surface till now, it is believed that a smooth surface like this would do some help in cutting performance, one could expect the cutting part next~
I have a Kris Cutlery Teutonic Hand and A Half Sword (currently disassembled) which is similar in design with the Principe, both of them are good swords, but the Principe is more like a mature big brother to the KC Teutonic, the handle is shorter, makes it fit the name Bastard Sword more. The grip is wrapped with thick cord and ox blood leather, the cross guard is elegant and reassuring, and the pommel is narrower than the Teutonic, so one can grip it when a powerful strike is needed. Personally I like the curved lines Albion put on the pommel, and the pin is carefully grinded to increase the integrity.
The handling
Being a huge sword, I do feel the weight in one hand, but the COB helps and when swinging it with both hands, I actually feel no resistance at all; it moves fast and powerful in the same time, the point control is very precise; from my experience the Principe performs even better than some swords much lighter than her. When swing it with correct edge alignment, the blade makes delightful sound, not loud as a katana would do, but it does sound good IMO.
The cutting
I like water bottles and soaked paper rolls as target, both of them are cheaper than mats and relatively save to the edges, and according to one of my iaido friends, the free-placed paper rolls are even more difficult targets than the mats.
I performed some cutting on the bottles, the sword makes a metallic sound when silent cuts were done, which is differ to the “ding” as the Atrim I have, probably caused by the wide and thin blade of the sword, the only small problem with the sword is the thrusting, I can’t easily perform the way I like due to the wide blade, but hey, look at how sturdy the sword is with a hanging bottle at the tip! I would say this is by far the most pleasant cutting experience on water bottles.
For a HUGE sword like the Principe, I wouldn’t dare to despise it with rolls under 3 inches diameter, so I prepared 4 rolls from 3-3.62 inches diameter, after a successful cut through 3 inch roll, I performed a cut on a 3.1 inch one with less strength, and the sword made a clean cut through it, showing to me that she yearns for larger target, so I proceed to 3.6 inch ones, the first one doesn’t “fly away” after the cut is done, I think I did good edge alignment on that one, and I tried diagonal and level cut on the second one, all cuts were nicely done and I didn’t feel any resistance at all!
My friend's DSA black prince sword and coldsteel hand and a half sword looked just like younglings' training weapon next to the Principe~
2013-07-30
I was invited by an iaido friend to experience mat cutting,
and the Principe performed very well, i even achieved the unfixed challenge!
Conclusions
I’ve bought many swords since 3 years ago, including Darksword Armory, Hanwei, Zhang Shi, Valiant Armoury, Kris Cutlery, ColdSteel, Legacy Arms (known as Gen 2), and Atrim, I think they’re good at the price, and at the time I only focused on the practical performance, but all of them have some part I would like to change.
I never understand why a sword should cost higher than 1000 (except for the customized ones), but the Principe Sword I got explains everything, the historical design, the superior finish, and the astonishing performance, I would like to own a sword like this even it cost hundreds more than the price (which is the exact case).
I recommend this sword, and for those who are still waiting, let me tell you, the waiting is over!