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Post by jasonlb136 on Jan 14, 2018 4:57:54 GMT
Hello, I just signed up today with the forum. I'm not exactly sure why I decided to look into sword collecting over the past few months, but I found this website and have been reading a lot lately. I'm a fantasy/medieval nerd and always fantasizes about owning a fully functional, combat-ready sword/dagger matchhing combo just for kicks. First I must say how impressed I am by this community's informative website. Thanks for putting it together!
I've been doing a lot of research into the various companies promoted on this website. I am not necessarily one for historical accuracy of swords, and when I stumbled upon Dark Sword Armory I was like, "Yeah, these guys have some awesome designs!" But further research has revealed to me that they have a bad reputation for weak handles and welded-on tangs. I've verified this with multiple sources from multiple websites and it kind of makes me sad. I really like their designs, but am not willing to risk my money on them. Does anyone know of good fantasy (medieval, not oriental) sword makers who make battle-ready weapons? I've read nothing but praise about Albion on this site and in the community, but their designs just don't really speak to me. With their prices, I'm pretty turned off. If I'm going to pay that kind of money, I want a design that I absolutely love. I like the look of valiant armory swords, but they just don't seem to be "fantasy-enough" for me. Also, I'm kind of confused about the differences between their production lines.
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stormmaster
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Post by stormmaster on Jan 14, 2018 5:15:45 GMT
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AndiTheBarvarian
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jan 14, 2018 5:38:08 GMT
Hello Jason and welcome to the forum. Windlass/MLR makes so many different swords, some of them in the fantasy area. Worth a look.
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stormmaster
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Post by stormmaster on Jan 14, 2018 5:43:16 GMT
Hello Jason and welcome to the forum. Windlass/MLR makes so many different swords, some of them in the fantasy area. Worth a look. yeah windlass is great for lower end fantasy swords, their blacksword and raptor are great, theres tons more on their website and they even have the conan atlantean sword www.museumreplicas.com/blackswordwww.museumreplicas.com/raptor-sword
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Post by jasonlb136 on Jan 14, 2018 6:20:42 GMT
Wow thanks for the quick replies! I'm not exactly sure what my budget will be. I want a goal to work for first, and I've really taken to heart what a lot of people on this forum have said and that is to save up for a good quality sword rather than buying a bunch of cheaper swords. I had stumbled across windlass earlier and many of them looked like wall-ornaments to me. Anyone have any experience with them practically? Their "the sword Excalibur" looks very nice! I'm absolutely in love with fableblades and bronzebyjerfferson. I hadn't seen those sites before, thanks for the links!! Christian fletcher does beautiful work as well, I will have to look through all his stuff. I had stumbled across lonelywolfforge and longship armory, but I couldn't figure out what the prices were. Thanks for the ballpark.
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stormmaster
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Post by stormmaster on Jan 14, 2018 6:27:49 GMT
Wow thanks for the quick replies! I'm not exactly sure what my budget will be. I want a goal to work for first, and I've really taken to heart what a lot of people on this forum have said and that is to save up for a good quality sword rather than buying a bunch of cheaper swords. I had stumbled across windlass earlier and many of them looked like wall-ornaments to me. Anyone have any experience with them practically? Their "the sword Excalibur" looks very nice! I'm absolutely in love with fableblades and bronzebyjerfferson. I hadn't seen those sites before, thanks for the links!! Christian fletcher does beautiful work as well, I will have to look through all his stuff. I had stumbled across lonelywolfforge and longship armory, but I couldn't figure out what the prices were. Thanks for the ballpark. the excalibur sword from windlass is a bit clunky because of the huge hilt pieces, the blacksword and raptor are very decent and all 3 are functional, they will all cut bottles and tatami mats, and what not, but dont try to chop down a tree or anything dumb like that and they will be good fun for years to come as even high quality swords wont last long through that. Lonelywolfforge and longship are customs only as well as Jeffery and Fableblades so they will quote you after you discuss with them what you are looking for, more complex things will cost more and more simple things will cost less
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Post by jasonlb136 on Jan 14, 2018 7:37:50 GMT
When you say clunky, do you mean loose and rattling? The black sword is beautiful. I'm not a fan of swords that are sharp on only one side of the blade, though, so I'll probably pass on the raptor.
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stormmaster
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Post by stormmaster on Jan 14, 2018 7:57:34 GMT
When you say clunky, do you mean loose and rattling? The black sword is beautiful. I'm not a fan of swords that are sharp on only one side of the blade, though, so I'll probably pass on the raptor. no it wont be loose or rattly but will feel heavy, this is not a real problem if u just want a functional sword that will look nice and you can chop up bottles from time to time, theres a couple more fantasy swords that look good, like the sword of avalon which is not too extreme and the durandal which is full on 100% fantasy and even the conan atlantean, out of these three i like the atlantean the most aesthetically but i like the avalon the most functionally www.museumreplicas.com/sword-of-avalonwww.museumreplicas.com/durandal-the-sword-of-rolandwww.museumreplicas.com/the-atlantean-sword
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Post by jasonlb136 on Jan 14, 2018 9:07:23 GMT
Do you own these swords? How do you know one is better functionally? I imagine after looking through swords for years you eventually get an eye for that sort of thing? Not second guessing at all, sorry if it comes across that way. Just wondering what metrics you are using to determine that one is more functional than another. I'm a newbie!
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stormmaster
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Post by stormmaster on Jan 14, 2018 9:28:03 GMT
Do you own these swords? How do you know one is better functionally? I imagine after looking through swords for years you eventually get an eye for that sort of thing? Not second guessing at all, sorry if it comes across that way. Just wondering what metrics you are using to determine that one is more functional than another. I'm a newbie! well its all based on weight and distal taper and point of balance and a bunch of other things, theoretically all are functional carbon steel but the atlantean is 8 pounds which is heavier then a great sword for a relatively short sword, so yes u can cut stuff with it but in real combat you would get tired out very quickly but in the modern age this does not matter much, the excalibur has massively oversized fittings and this screws up the feel of the sword and makes it unbalanced and unwieldy, making it likely to feel like it wants to leave your hand with ever swing. At 2 pounds the avalon is about the right weight and length and so forth with reasonably sized pommel and guard and so it should handle the best and be the most "functional".
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AndiTheBarvarian
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jan 14, 2018 9:47:28 GMT
Yeah, functional means usually the sword can do what swords were made for, fighting, cutting (not trees) etc. without breaking. Fantasy swords often are heavier than historical correct replica swords due to bigger blades and heavy fittings. I have the MRL Atlantean, the Raptor and some other Windlass more historical swords and I think the Atlantean can stand "sword tasks" but it's much too heavy to fight with, simply too slow, so less functional. Not functional are sword like objects (slo) that are only meant for display and can even break by swinging them. Better functional means usually more agile and fast due to the overall weight and mass distribution. Some of this can be seen in the stats without having it in the hands.
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Post by jasonlb136 on Jan 14, 2018 10:05:19 GMT
I can definitely understand why the 8lb sword would be too heavy to use. That's like the weight of a crowbar! Again, I'm just trying to understand how the metrics here are being measured (so I don't have to ask here every time I drool over a pretty, shiny blade). Looking at the Avalon, it's 2lbs, 14oz at 37 inches long, 30 inch blade length, at 2 1/4 inches wide. The excalibur is only 6 oz heavier, at 3lbs, 4oz. But it is also 6 inches longer at 43 inches long, 32 inch blade length and 2 1/2 inches wide. I would expect more weight from the longer blade, and am surprised it's not more. From the pictures, I can't tell what the type of blade edge taper either has, though length wise though both seem to me to come to a point as comparatively gradually. I also can't tell where the center of balance would be. Maybe one of you could help me out with that? What exactly is the difference about the fittings between these two that make one more unwieldy than another? Also, is this why historical swords are more popular than fantasy swords? Because they tend to be more practically built?
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jan 14, 2018 10:34:56 GMT
Both swords have no oversized guards (edit: ok, in the review video the Excalibur has a bit) and the specifications don't look bad. More can't be said without handling them personally or finding a review.
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stormmaster
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Post by stormmaster on Jan 14, 2018 10:46:55 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2018 12:03:18 GMT
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Post by Faldarin on Jan 14, 2018 17:42:56 GMT
Hey, Jason - yeah, if you are not willing to go high end custom - your options for fantasy swords are pretty much Dark Sword Armory, Windlass, or getting a H/T customized. I haven't seen a review yet of the fantasy leafblades from VA - and they're pushing the higher end of pricing. To let you know about Windlass - I own the Blacksword and the Raptor, both are quite excellent. That Excalibur review I hadn't seen yet, so I definitely will check it out. Also, is this why historical swords are more popular than fantasy swords? Because they tend to be more practically built? Yes, and sort of. Functional historical swords are sold more prolifically than fantasy swords, because they're generally easier to make functional ones. Fantasy swords generally have much more complex fittings, strange blade shapes, or both. Easy to cut out of stainless, but harder to make something that would functionally survive use. So between the 'more practically built' and 'much easier to make' points - that is why you see far more functional historical swords on the market than functional fantasy swords.
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Post by pellius on Jan 14, 2018 17:45:22 GMT
One nice thing about antiques or reproductions built to historical specs is that they function and perform well when used within their respective historical martial arts systems.
This is especially true of so-called living sword arts traditions, such as JSA, FMA and CMA.
In "resurrected" sword arts such as HEMA, using an historical spec'ed weapon helps in interpreting historical texts.
They also have a certain credibility as actual weapons because they presumably functioned within some actual combat environment.
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Post by pgandy on Jan 14, 2018 19:35:32 GMT
Welcome Jason. I cannot talk much about fantasy swords as I am not into those preferring swords along historical lines. My thinking is that those swords were designed at a time swords were in use and are more functional than something dreamed up by some modern day dreamer making something because it appeals to the eye. Can’t say about Windlass’ fantasy swords but other than that Windlass will give you a good sword for your money, some are better than others of course. I have six Windlass swords and am satisfied with all. I also have a couple of their knives including a D-Guard Bowie which could argumentatively be considered as a short sword.
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Post by jasonlb136 on Jan 15, 2018 0:09:38 GMT
I watched that video, thanks for providing it! It definitely answered my question concerning the Excalibur's functionality. Although it sure looks pretty, Im going to pass on it. So I know this is a really broad question, but how do you tell the difference between a bare minimum functional sword--essentially a beater--and a combat-tuned sword with proper harmonics and vibration nodes just from the internet? I suppose that there are videos, but sifting through subjective opinions is already proving daunting for myself, the uninitiated. Thanks for the sword review links! I will have to look through them when I have time.
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stormmaster
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Post by stormmaster on Jan 15, 2018 0:26:04 GMT
windlass is good for beaters, but u really cant tell 100% for sure how it will handle until you hold the sword, so just look for reviews and see other peoples opinions
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