Windlass' German Bastard Sword
Apr 26, 2015 20:30:28 GMT
Post by pgandy on Apr 26, 2015 20:30:28 GMT
This is to give my impressions of my newly received Windlass German Bastard Sword. It is not a review as there are two on the forum. This was purchased with my money and I have no connections with anyone or business. As far as I know Therionarms is the only source still having this discontinued sword therionarms.com/reenact/therionarms_c1372.html . At $270 it is considerably more than KoA’s $189.95, who was out by the time I received mine.
This arrived at 4.2 lb. making it twice as heavy as any of my other swords and took getting use to. It is also closer the original’s 4.5 lb than KoA’s listed 3 lb 14 oz. I am use to oriental swords, and working tools that can double as a weapon which are fast and docile. The Bastard is not as fast, not to be mistaken as slow, nor docile. This is a copy of a more or less European battle field weapon around the turn of the 16th century and I am use to civilian defence weapons used against no or a little armour. While not as fast there is no doubt that it will plough through an opponent’s defences better than anything else I have. And by the same token will make it more difficult for an opponent to crash through. I find that it doesn’t cut, or maybe I should say, slice through targets as well as most of my other swords, but will cut. What it lacks here is more than made up by blunt trauma. Imagine slinging a 2½ ft., 4¼ lb. steel bar and rocking someone’s world. Now imagine with a sharp edge.
I should point out that I am right handed and injured my left giving me somewhat of a handicap. There was a dislocation and two fingers still remain taped. The bandages should come off in a week but I will need more time to get complete movement and strength back. So for the most part I am using this hand and half sword as a one hand sword, but not completely. Once I get the full use of my hand no doubt the performance will increase.
I found that it is manageable with one hand although the thought proved to be somewhat overly optimistic when I tried cutting bottles with one hand. It made a mess of them but failed to completely halve them. Things picked up with two hands, or what I am using as two.
I like the lines and one of the selling points was its oversize quillion. I thought that they gave it character. They are more impressive in KoA’s photo than real life. Hanging on the wall the quillion arms seem proportionally too large, but this is strictly a subjective opinion. In practice I find when doing a series of consecutive #1 and #2 swings, aka as figure 8s, the quillion arm hits my forearm. Not a big problem because I can adjust for this. The quillion block does give me a good sense of security with its length and double rings. The quillion arms measure 11½”.
I mistook the darkened metal in the photo for being blued. It has received some type of oxidation processing giving it a colour that I can best describe as greyish for a lack of a better description. I find the colour pleasing. That on the sword has a sheen while that on the scabbard is matte.
The pommel is peened. My preference is threaded. KoA listed the grip as being questionably short and I rightly assumed that the difference was made up in the pommel’s design. I can comfortably grasp it with my two size 8 hands, but there is no room to spare.
I haven’t been able to give it a fair cutting test because of the mending hand but thrusts are another story. I wish the point was more pointed, at least as much as the original in Wallace’s Collection, and prefer more. I am speaking from a cosmetic standpoint as I will never have an opportunity to pierce a steel breastplate although having a sharper point in general would not hurt. On more practical softer targets the present point performs admirably. The toughest target so far has been a plastic jug protect by 4 ply of clothe that measures .185” when tightly compressed. That is thicker than my gambeson. With one hand the sword passes completely through with ease. With two hands it is like the target wasn’t there. That 4.2 lb mass has the momentum of a Mack truck. And I should say that sword makes the nastiest, biggest hole than my other swords. The blade has a hexagon cross section that smoothly transitions to lenticular about 11” from the point. I had 19” of the blade, which is stiff, sharpened. The sword is well made, tight, and shows good marksmanship.
As for the scabbard it is leather with a couple of metal fittings. Inside at the throat there are two leather(?) inserts, one on each side. This is the same set up they used on my D-Guard Bowie knife. This made a good tight fit but over the years, while still holding the knife rattle free, has loosened to the point that in a vertical down position gravity separates the scabbard from the knife. Not much of a problem there. The problem is that condensation forms between the leather and blade and I am expecting the same on the sword. The scabbard is well made and holds the sword securely.
Here is a short video of it cutting as I didn’t feel up to more. I am afraid the video does not do justice to the sword as I do not have full use of my left hand and is throws things off.
This arrived at 4.2 lb. making it twice as heavy as any of my other swords and took getting use to. It is also closer the original’s 4.5 lb than KoA’s listed 3 lb 14 oz. I am use to oriental swords, and working tools that can double as a weapon which are fast and docile. The Bastard is not as fast, not to be mistaken as slow, nor docile. This is a copy of a more or less European battle field weapon around the turn of the 16th century and I am use to civilian defence weapons used against no or a little armour. While not as fast there is no doubt that it will plough through an opponent’s defences better than anything else I have. And by the same token will make it more difficult for an opponent to crash through. I find that it doesn’t cut, or maybe I should say, slice through targets as well as most of my other swords, but will cut. What it lacks here is more than made up by blunt trauma. Imagine slinging a 2½ ft., 4¼ lb. steel bar and rocking someone’s world. Now imagine with a sharp edge.
I should point out that I am right handed and injured my left giving me somewhat of a handicap. There was a dislocation and two fingers still remain taped. The bandages should come off in a week but I will need more time to get complete movement and strength back. So for the most part I am using this hand and half sword as a one hand sword, but not completely. Once I get the full use of my hand no doubt the performance will increase.
I found that it is manageable with one hand although the thought proved to be somewhat overly optimistic when I tried cutting bottles with one hand. It made a mess of them but failed to completely halve them. Things picked up with two hands, or what I am using as two.
I like the lines and one of the selling points was its oversize quillion. I thought that they gave it character. They are more impressive in KoA’s photo than real life. Hanging on the wall the quillion arms seem proportionally too large, but this is strictly a subjective opinion. In practice I find when doing a series of consecutive #1 and #2 swings, aka as figure 8s, the quillion arm hits my forearm. Not a big problem because I can adjust for this. The quillion block does give me a good sense of security with its length and double rings. The quillion arms measure 11½”.
I mistook the darkened metal in the photo for being blued. It has received some type of oxidation processing giving it a colour that I can best describe as greyish for a lack of a better description. I find the colour pleasing. That on the sword has a sheen while that on the scabbard is matte.
The pommel is peened. My preference is threaded. KoA listed the grip as being questionably short and I rightly assumed that the difference was made up in the pommel’s design. I can comfortably grasp it with my two size 8 hands, but there is no room to spare.
I haven’t been able to give it a fair cutting test because of the mending hand but thrusts are another story. I wish the point was more pointed, at least as much as the original in Wallace’s Collection, and prefer more. I am speaking from a cosmetic standpoint as I will never have an opportunity to pierce a steel breastplate although having a sharper point in general would not hurt. On more practical softer targets the present point performs admirably. The toughest target so far has been a plastic jug protect by 4 ply of clothe that measures .185” when tightly compressed. That is thicker than my gambeson. With one hand the sword passes completely through with ease. With two hands it is like the target wasn’t there. That 4.2 lb mass has the momentum of a Mack truck. And I should say that sword makes the nastiest, biggest hole than my other swords. The blade has a hexagon cross section that smoothly transitions to lenticular about 11” from the point. I had 19” of the blade, which is stiff, sharpened. The sword is well made, tight, and shows good marksmanship.
As for the scabbard it is leather with a couple of metal fittings. Inside at the throat there are two leather(?) inserts, one on each side. This is the same set up they used on my D-Guard Bowie knife. This made a good tight fit but over the years, while still holding the knife rattle free, has loosened to the point that in a vertical down position gravity separates the scabbard from the knife. Not much of a problem there. The problem is that condensation forms between the leather and blade and I am expecting the same on the sword. The scabbard is well made and holds the sword securely.
Here is a short video of it cutting as I didn’t feel up to more. I am afraid the video does not do justice to the sword as I do not have full use of my left hand and is throws things off.