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Post by purifyweirdsoul on Jul 12, 2015 4:13:19 GMT
So, I've been trying to find out what the best version I could buy of this sword is. Looking like the India-made Universal version is the only one, but I wanted to check with you guys to see if anyone knew anything more. kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=USS122&name=Scottish+Highlander+Officer%27s+SwordI believe the Military Heritage version is the same. Pooley Sword's version: pooleysword.com/en/Highland_Broadsword...I think this one is the same, as well? Same Indian company, I mean. There's no information on this site about the sword's steel or its price, so I'm not sure. WKC's is stainless steel, which...I don't know how I feel about. I'm used to high carbon swords with edges, but if the quality is actually significantly better than the other versions, I'll definitely consider it. www.wkc-solingen.de/newshop/highland.htmlLet me know if you guys know anything!
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Jul 12, 2015 8:27:23 GMT
The Universal has a levee blade. The Pooley has a somewhat broader blade. WKC is way overpriced and with that stainless blade I would let it go. All three are Dress swords. If you are looking for something you can use, I would go for the Hanwei basket hilt or the Cold Steel. I do not know whether they are still being made though. If you are after a sword to hang on the wall, I would go after the Universal. I got their Navy Officers Dress sword and it is well made. Pooley and WKC are in the same price bracket, so way over the top, while Universal gets you well made stuff at a good price. What was it with Pooley having their blades made in China or India? Somewhere there was talk of that. I forgot. So, If you want Dress, go Universal. If you want a weapon go Hanwei or CS. Hope you get what you want.
Cheers.
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Post by purifyweirdsoul on Jul 13, 2015 23:51:41 GMT
Right, thank you. I actually know a bit about the Hanwei/Cold Steel offerings, I have a Hanwei sidesword myself. I mostly liked the aesthetic of the polished basket and blue ribbon lining. I haven't seen that elsewhere. I've been around Sword Forum off and on since 2003, so I've seen probably 95% of what's out there.
I know that the CS broadsword has a good reputation around SBG and I may end up with that, though I'm not really a fan of how they seem to put knife edges/secondary grinds on their swords. I'm also aware they're a good bit heavier than most traditional examples. One thing I would like to ask that I've been wondering about, actually: which is the preferred blade style? I've noticed over the years that they apparently dropped the diamond cross section design and started doing a hexagonal blade instead. I'm pretty sure I would prefer the original--are they still sold? That's the picture used on some sites, but I'm not sure what I would get.
Hanwei's stuff is a possibility, too, though I do already have one of their swords and kind of want to try something different. I may very well just grab one of these and try to replicate the look of the officer's sword somehow.
Again though, thanks for the reply. I do prefer my swords be plausible for use, though use is quite unlikely...just kind of a true sword for the sake of being a accurate/pure example of what it should be.
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Jul 14, 2015 18:57:27 GMT
You could, if you are handy, get the Universal for the basket, the liner and the ribbons and then put a Hanwei Tinker blade on it. That would give you something really unique. I put a Jian blade on a Windlass Scottish Cutlass: sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/40592/scotsman-goes-native and that was fun to do.
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Post by purifyweirdsoul on Jul 16, 2015 18:47:04 GMT
That looks great. Congrats on a job well done. It's actually crossed my mind before how I thought a hamon might look good on some European swords. I wouldn't have imagined a basket hilt for that, but what you have there definitely works. I live in a city apartment and my vision isn't the best, so I don't think I'll be able to do so much haha. Oh yeah, and going back to your earlier point of how Pooley was having swords made in India/China, I'm pretty sure they're importing top quality stuff from the Windlass factory. I say that because...: www.windlasssword.com/collections/military-swords/products/highland-broadsword-with-scabbardIdentical stock images and pretty much the same ad copy...also what I assume to be Pooley's price, i.e. kinda ridiculous. For $1500, probably not buying something mass produced in somewheresville, India.
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Jul 16, 2015 21:16:49 GMT
Thanks for the compliments. If you can live without blue ribbons, both the Hanwei Scottish Backsword and the Broadsword are for sale at KOA and for a good price. I like them both, though they are on the light side. Well build, no doubt about that and the baskets have the right size for my hands, though on mine I removed the liners. The liner material gave me the creeps. It is a shame the Hanwei Mortuary is gone, but their Cromwell is still up. According to various people the Cromwell is the best of the bunch. A real, well build sword with some heft and getting that fake Japanning and gild off is quite easy. Something that just popped up: the basket size. Both Weapon Edge and Universal have too large baskets it is said. The same is said about the old Cold Steel, but I have it and I think that basket is okay for me. It is some meme, I think, like Windlass is whippy. I mean, I can imagine basket hilts to have a wide range of sizes, like the hands that have to fit in them. If I were you I would not consider the Windlass Eglinton. It looks nice, but up close it is not. A real bummer that was. I did a review of the thing. Maybe you should have a look and sort out the other Hanweis too.
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Post by purifyweirdsoul on Jul 21, 2015 1:25:37 GMT
I saw your Eglinton review a few days ago, actually, when I was searching around. Would be nice if that Sword Rapier was still made or possibly improved upon, I think it was you that reviewed it as well? Seems like that era really was the golden age for Windlass stuff, I remember a sword called the Towton from around that time was highly thought of as well. I've thought about the Cromwell in the past, too, haha. That and the Mortuary do appeal to me a bit. Honestly, what I would want more than anything is Christian Fletcher's Venetian Sidesword, which is not quite a basket, but a beautiful sword nonetheless: www.christianfletcher.com/photo-galleries/renaissance/venetian-sidesword---13.htmlI like schiavonae, too, but there's not really a sweet spot in those for me either. I still have a bit more sword research to do before I come to a decision, but that's fine, haven't done that in a while and the search is perhaps the most fun part. Oh, speaking of baskets and Cold Steel and such, how about that "horseman's" hilt sword they did a while back and quickly discontinued? It was essneitally a schiavona, though with what looked like a bit too much metal.
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Post by Afoo on Jul 21, 2015 3:52:08 GMT
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Post by purifyweirdsoul on Jul 21, 2015 16:59:35 GMT
Wow, I've never heard of Danelli. Is he new in the business? Some of that looks really good to me. A sidesword schiavona? Really cool. The prices are actually considerably cheaper than what I expect CF's prices still are, the sword I linked probably being something like at least $1300. I don't even know if he still takes custom orders since his site doesn't specifically mention it and I've sent e-mails before with no response...and I'm guessing he still uses AT or Albion blades? No idea. I may post to his Facebook page to ask some questions. Haha, yeah I was scoping out Del Tins before as well. That first one you linked as well as the somewhat odd-looking cherubim models are the closest fits for me. I am looking at a lot of Italian designs, so an Italian maker does sound appropriate at least. The only answer may be to buy everything.
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Jul 21, 2015 17:01:31 GMT
I just reviewed two Schiavona from Arma Epona, vendor Wulflund: sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/45200/wulflund-schiavona-schiavina-cavalry-version . Since they do Scottish basket hilts too, it might be worthwhile to give them a look. For the price they have very nice stuff. The Cold Steel Horseman is a Schiavona but with a regular sword pommel. It was well made by Windlass, like all or most of their products. Cold Steels specks are a step up from the Windlass standard. Just that little bit better put toghether I find. The basket of the Horseman is not too large at all. Another meme or hype. Were that basket smaller I guess 50% of the people would not be able to fit their hand in it. There are a bunch of nitwitts at a site I will not name, because that is ,, Verboten "" here, who think that what they see in old paintings has anything to do with reality. Or what they see in old weapons books is the supreme standard the sword world must adhere to, or else. What they see is just the tip of the iceberg in the case of the books and poetical licence in the other. So, the Horseman basket went through the wringer as being too big, which it aint. Where they were right is that most baskets on production swords, with the Eglinton as supreme example, are stamped and formed from way too thin steel plate. That is also the case with the Sword Rapier, but the darn thing is so very nice I got over that real quick. The strange thing is that both Hanweis and Cold Steels Scottish basket hilts are made from a tiny bit thicker stock and it shows. They look much better, stronger. And you are right: Searching and sniffing IS most of the fun.
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Post by Afoo on Jul 21, 2015 18:24:30 GMT
Wow, I've never heard of Danelli. Is he new in the business? Some of that looks really good to me. A sidesword schiavona? Really cool. The prices are actually considerably cheaper than what I expect CF's prices still are, the sword I linked probably being something like at least $1300. I don't even know if he still takes custom orders since his site doesn't specifically mention it and I've sent e-mails before with no response...and I'm guessing he still uses AT or Albion blades? No idea. I may post to his Facebook page to ask some questions. [...] Yeah, I stumbled upon them a while ago while searching for a side sword. From the looks of it they take custom orders (I believe the page I linked you to is a collection of past custom orders). I have never dealt with them before since my budget is much too small, but I like drooling over their stuff from time to time. If you do get one, do let us know how it goes - I am very curious.
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Jul 21, 2015 19:31:53 GMT
I had a look at Danelli too. Very nice. Point to consider: In Italy sharp swords are prohibited. Looking at the blades I see the blade tips are not profiled yet. I do not know how this applies to export, but I think you should sort that out in the event you would go the Danelli route. It might save you a lot of work. If KOA has them too, than there should not be a problem. They have a good sharpening service.
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Post by Afoo on Jul 21, 2015 20:01:22 GMT
Danelli is based in the UK. Not sure if they have the same restrictions
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2015 22:04:08 GMT
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Post by purifyweirdsoul on Jul 23, 2015 13:14:03 GMT
Thanks for the links, edelweiss. That's about what I had gathered from my own research.
So, I was e-mailing KOA about the original sword in question, but the support just pasted back to me the "battle ready" spiel from the site, and did later say that similar swords have been sharpened and used for cutting. The person didn't know why I was calling them "dress swords". I don't know what to think about all that, but I went ahead and ordered one. We'll see how it goes ;p
I may very well get a Danelli sword later, though. Wulflund looks interesting as well, though I don't see any domestic retailer options for anything with a basket yet.
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Post by StevenJ on Jul 24, 2015 3:12:52 GMT
Darkwood makes basket hilts, though their blades are blunt. You could buy their hilt and mount a sword separately.
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Post by Afoo on Jul 24, 2015 3:47:39 GMT
Wulflund also has basket hilts, though more expensive for us on this side of the pond
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Jul 25, 2015 6:18:46 GMT
There is one domestic vendor: G. G. Godwin. Communication is terrible. I ordered a basket hilt and a small sword months ago, just out of curiosity. Last email told me there were problems with blades they ordered. Dave Kelly has the info on them. Without that I would not have gone there. Also, there is a rather positive review of their small sword on MyArmoury. It is not totally clear whether their blades are ,,working'' blades. I think yes and Godwin just follows the advice of their lawyer. Think the blades come from India or China and are hilted by a third party in the US. Last week I emailed to say I want my money back. This order has been in the running for 6 months now. Still haven't heard from them, which is nothing out of the ordinary. Seems they are constantly moving around in the re enactment scene. Ask Dave. He knows more.
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Post by purifyweirdsoul on Aug 13, 2015 12:57:52 GMT
Just to give an update, I did receive this sword and I can say that I'm happy with it. It may not be the most lively of weapons, but is a sword nonetheless. The felt insert is a bit rough (texture-wise) and was wrapped in an annoying amount of plastic (some of which may still be lingering around the pommel), but the aesthetics are pretty much what I was looking for.
Thanks again.
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Post by Afoo on Aug 16, 2015 23:38:42 GMT
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