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Post by tabiris on Aug 18, 2013 10:40:08 GMT
I've been meaning to do a video about this, and I wanna see if I've forgotten anything that might be worthwhile. So the question is quite simple. What is/are the sexiest sword type(s) for you? Any culture, any era. These are some of my picks, in no pratciular order: Schiavona. Not much to say here. Slavic weapon used mostly in Italy, since Slavic bodyguards were considered the ultimate in badassery. The basket looks amazing on any type of Schiavonna, appropriate for high-society bodyguards, while the blade is usually a wide fullered blade quite obviously meant for business. Also, cat's head pommel. I don't know why I find that so awesome, but I do. Katana Everyone's familiar with this. A rather simple shape, it manages to be extremely elegant. Now, while I respect the sword, I do have a few gripes with it... Namely, it's been mythicized by pop-culture to a degree I find sickening. But that's not the fault of the sword itself. Swiss Sabre My goodness. Just look at the picture. LOOK AT IT! These single edge, two-handed curved blades are perhaps the closest thing to a Euro katana (besides a kriegsmesser), and they are bloody beautiful. Viking Swords The stuff of legend, quite literally. The masters of folded steel. There are even legends of a viking sword hewing a millstone in half with a single strike (which noone belives because it's not a katana ). But that's not what makes them so damn sexy. The patterns the vikings could get from their methods of folding steel are stunning. Take a look: Longsword: Similar to the katana, this is a merging of elegance and simplicity. Sadly, these swords have had the fate opposite of the katanas, making them heavy, barbaric and cumbersome in popular opinion. They are all but, though. Rapier The weapon of elegance, with beautiful swept-hilt baskets, and long, slender blades. They always seemed to me to me kind og elvish... And what sayeth thee? Which are the sexiest weapons for you?
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Post by William Swiger on Aug 18, 2013 11:12:20 GMT
Viking swords. Even the undecorated ones have a simplistic beauty of pure function.
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Post by Ninjadave89 on Aug 18, 2013 12:09:43 GMT
Bronze age swords are definitely my favourite, like this one from Neil Burridge. Got to get one of these some day.
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Post by LemuelTheLemur on Aug 18, 2013 12:44:43 GMT
The swords I find most romantic are the late medieval early renaissance longswords with the complex hilts that aren't quite rapiers just yet This is the sword I want around for defending the honour of my lady or avenging the murder of my father! D:< Also viking swords! at first, I found viking swords to be a bit bland but after seeing the work of Jake Powning I pretty much reversed that opinion altogether. His work is just jaw dropping! Got a dragon a sea serpent problem? Viking sword is the tool for the job.
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 18, 2013 16:11:32 GMT
I enjoy just about every sword for each of their own good points, but can't believe you left out the shasqua or the kilij. Granted, those are very broad terms with a lot of sharp stuff falling under them. Also nimcha and especially flyssa...mmm, flyssa...gotta get me a bigger one. I'm more fond of knives, they get pretty sexy, too. Just look to a good Persian kard or Afghan (some Indian) pesh kabz. The recurving models are something to see, but I prefer the straight from a practical standpoint. Oh, and let's not forget the Sri Lankan piha kaetta. Those are niiiiice. On my phone, so Google the unfamiliar words yourselves. :oops:
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Taran
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Post by Taran on Aug 19, 2013 5:17:32 GMT
No Jian? No Liu Ye Dao?
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Post by Onimusha on Aug 19, 2013 5:35:30 GMT
For me, it's the langemesser. It's genius is its simplicity. There's a great deal of mystery surrounding it's use. Simple yet mysterious. Powerful yet agile.
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Aaron
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Post by Aaron on Aug 19, 2013 6:29:27 GMT
I like a wide variety of western blades, but particularly arming swords of XII and XIIIb types. Direct link because the image resizing issue still has not been fixed: i.imgur.com/qTX9zMy.jpg
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 19, 2013 16:20:23 GMT
Oh yeah, China. Airways forget about ol' China. They've got a lot of interesting stuff I know too little about. :oops: Most jian bore me, personally, but a few styles are quite nice. I'm more a dao guy and yeah, liu ye might just be one of my favorites. Their pole arms, though, are just silly.
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Post by justin520 on Aug 19, 2013 17:26:17 GMT
I dig yi mon dao, zhan ma dao, and tulwar. These swords are all of course dwarfed by the mighty katana in my mind!
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Taran
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Post by Taran on Aug 19, 2013 17:29:22 GMT
The octagonal cross-section jians are pretty sweet. You should check them out. I don't know about the pole-arms being all silly. The Pu Dao and Quan Dao are pretty cool. And the rest aren't any sillier than some Euros I've seen.
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 19, 2013 17:37:40 GMT
True, I've seen a number of bills that were just absurd... Guess that's just what happens when you try to make one tool do too many things.
I've sen a few octagonal jian, they've been pretty neat, but for overall shape and basic silhouette jian do little for me. I'm a curvy sort of guy, generally.
Though if I had to pick the sexiest "western" swords, yeah, the Vikings. More a matter of decor and dat pattern weld than overall shape, though. Sure, other cultures did pattern welding, but it just looks best to me on a "Viking" sword.
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Post by justin520 on Aug 20, 2013 2:50:42 GMT
Ohh I'm also partial to dha lwe and emush as well as a good tang dao.
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 20, 2013 5:50:30 GMT
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Taran
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Post by Taran on Aug 20, 2013 6:19:10 GMT
I saw quite a few of those Yats in Afghanistan. Don't get an Afghan Yat. Really. They're horrible. Even the genuine antiques that were made for actual use. Ugh. The Turks at least make prettier swords.
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Post by Ronin Soren on Aug 20, 2013 6:39:37 GMT
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Lunaman
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Post by Lunaman on Aug 20, 2013 11:20:39 GMT
I don't think there's anything sexier than a good hand-and-a-half. For me, Peter Johnsson's vorpal sword currently takes the top spot.
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Aug 20, 2013 11:53:01 GMT
But will it...
""He took his vorpal sword in hand" and "One, two! One, two! And through and through / The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! / He left it dead, and with its head / He went galumphing back."
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Aug 20, 2013 12:12:24 GMT
While thinking about the term "sexy" I don't think a straight sword meets the criteria, sexy needs curves in MHO, so Elven styles such as Hadafang, Icing Death and the Beastmaster swords fit the description.
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 20, 2013 18:08:44 GMT
May I ask how so, exactly? The two Khyber's I have are believed to be of Afghan origin, and I find them to be fine knives. From my own impressions, I'd hesitate to call them extremely well made, but they're at least nice enough for me. I'll concede the blade on the larger one has very obvious dips and wobbles over its length, but nothing beyond what I'd expect for something that's been around a while.
The shorter is quite well made from what I can tell. Granted, I'm eager to get my hands on more for comparison sake.
I keep forgetting you toured in Afghanistan, Taran. I'm thinking one day I'd like to pay a visit there, myself, but with the current uh...climate, let's say, I'm hesitant to travel to any part of that region, for any reason, no matter how much I want to. Lots of stuff over there I'd love to see, including sharpies, mostly architecture (in some nearby older, more grand cities in neighboring lands) but I'm not sure I'm comfortable taking it on. Your visit was with the army, right? How long ago was that?
Sorry to dive off track, but the weapons of Afghanistan are so far the most aesthetically appealing to me, but if they're all as bad as you suggest, then perhaps I'll look elsewhere.
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