SBG Fantasy Sword Prototype: Castir Review
Jul 31, 2018 11:51:45 GMT
Post by sevicler on Jul 31, 2018 11:51:45 GMT
Hey guys.
The past few weeks haven't been kind to me, but those were also the weeks when the Castir finally arrived. Though I neglected to mention this to anyone, I'll now review the sword I've won.
Introduction
The Castir is one of the first 4 winners of SBG’s Fantasy Sword Design Competition, as hosted by our generous host Paul Southren over a year ago. I had submitted 10 designs, and though I liked some of them better than the Castir I was honestly surprised when this one won and they did not. Especially because the design that won was a greyscale pencil sketch of the sword rather than a full color detailed image.
And while the forging and eventual delivery of the sword took much longer than I thought it would be, I finally received the sword a year and 20 days after it won the competition.
The Castir is mostly inspired by the world-famous Kogarasu-Maru Katana, a National treasure of Japan; not because I think that the Kogarasu-Maru Katana is beautiful, but rather because I think that it is absolutely ugly and that I can probably doodle a better design than that sword.
The other 3 swords I was inspired by was the Middle Eastern Shamshir, the Dacian Falx, and the Thracian Rhomphaia. If one is careful, they will see design elements from all four swords within the Castir. I’ll leave which element is taken from which sword for the readers to decide.
Now then, the Specs:
• Full length with scabbard: 108cm/42.5” inch
• Without scabbard: 40”(101.6cm),
• Blade Length: 28″ (71.2cm),
• Handle Length: 12″ (30.48cm),
• Weight: 2.54lbs (1154g)
• Point of Balance: 6” from handle (15.24cm).
• Thickness: 3.2mm at base to around 2mm at the tip (note: caliper is broken so I had to use a ruler).
The Castir came in a huge cardboard box when it arrived.
There is a sword somewhere within this sea of marshmallow pellets
It was further wrapped within layers upon layers of plastic food packaging (plastic wrap).
However, I noticed something odd: even with all the marshmallow pellets, the sword was still loose inside the package.
So I began unwrapping the plastic, and hoping that there was no damage. Sadly, there was some damage to the sword at the tip:
You can see that it is somewhat bent
The acute tip is also chipped, minor as it may be
I cannot blame anything but shipping services for the damage. However, I do recommend a much tighter package when the commercial version of this sword is shipped.
Paul also raised some concerns with the black paint used in the Castir and the Aleutian Gladius. He said in an email that the paint flakes off easily and has in fact caused delays with 3 of the designs.
I am glad to say I have no flake issues with the Castir. The paint adheres to the handle and stays there.
A few more pretty images:
At certain angles, the blade seems a lot shorter than it actually is
Soon after the unpackaging, I took the Castir and made a few practice swings. I am not a practitioner of Iaito/Kendo/HEMA, but even a novice like me will know whether or not a sword is agile enough to be used.
Believe me when I say the Castir wants to dance and sing in the wind. Held in two hands, the weight of the sword all but disappears even before you began swinging. Once you do, you don’t want to stop.
I can only imagine cutting stuff with it. Too bad I can’t do it since I’m not planning on sharpening the blade anytime soon.
Although I will say that you can’t really practice quick-drawing with the Castir thanks to the design of the scabbard, you can practice non quick-draw movements with it. In fact, a local martial arts practitioner I personally know (the owner of Thai Boxing Bandung, Joko Setiawan) held the Castir and used it like a Katana, a Machete, and an oversized Cavalry Sabre, transitioning between forms, stances and using both edges in mock attacks without skipping a beat. He had this to say:
“If I’m in a battlefield, I want this thing on my side. This is better than a Katana.”
The Castir’s scabbard is made of leather and brass. And it is a tough scabbard that doesn’t pale in comparison with other fantasy designs both from within SBG and without:
It’s also equipped with 2 brass thingies that allows the installation of a suspension system. Very nice. +1
Conclusions
Well, I am glad to say that I’ve created a sword worthy of actual martial arts, unintentional as it may be. However, in email conversations with Paul and within the SBG forums, I have decided on several possible improvements to the Castir’s design:
1. The blade should NOT be differentially hardened to emphasize toughness
2. The false edge of the blade should be sharpened all the way to the base rather than ¾.
3. Packaging needs to be a LOT tighter and tougher
So in essence, the production version would look like this:
To sum up the review in a tl;dr fashion…
PROS:
• Agile as all heck
• Can be used in martial arts
• A katana-esque sword that isn’t a katana
• A magnificently constructed handle and tsukamaki
• Scabbard is AWESOME. (personal opinion)
CONS:
• Differentially hardened (almost forgot to mention: the Hamon is damn-near invisible even though the blade is DH).
• Shipping damage
• The black paint may or may not flake off. Mine did not.
I will close this review with one more image I almost forgot to upload:
THE HANDLE IS PEENED
The past few weeks haven't been kind to me, but those were also the weeks when the Castir finally arrived. Though I neglected to mention this to anyone, I'll now review the sword I've won.
Your Graces,
I fear that my words may incite discomfort among you. Yet I must state the inconvenient facts nonetheless; we, who have been singularly blessed by the Allfather and Sky-mother, have forgotten the simple power of innovation.
Our enemies have not.
The Escians, who you have branded as savages, are perhaps the greatest example of my point. Like our vaunted Gladius, they have used their national sword, the Castir, for millennia. Yet their evolution have gone beyond aesthetics.
Their newest line of Castirs we’ve managed to obtain after a deadly raid that took the lives of 50 of my men are enhanced by the Art of Runesmith. A way to enhance weapons unknown to our armorers, yet identifiable by trained sight. This is how they are capable of cleaving through our holy armor with ease.
I can do no more than speculate where they have managed to obtain such knowledge, for Runecraft is only practiced in Lhasa by the magic of their Dragon God King, who are not likely to give up their national secrets, and in one other place:
Temple Nimbus. The realm of the Deathless Witch.
Though I pray to the Allfather, Sky-mother, and the Paragon, the Eternal Emperor, I fear that it will not be enough to stop an alliance between Escia and Temple Nimbus to form. As such, I beg of you, Senators of the Empire, to consider my proposal:
We must innovate as well. Formidable as our arms may be, they have not stood as infallible as we thought against enemies that evolve as time flew by.
We have been left behind, rendered blinded and helpless by our laurels and glories of ages past as our foes continually scheme for our destruction.
Greed and denial will seduce any destruction... even our own. As uncomfortable as it may seem to be, we are blind to future consequence... casting our debts on those to come. But what if now, the Deathless Witch sought revenge? We may not be able to stop her. And when we are gone, will you let her decide the future of the entire world?
Furthermore, what if the Oracles were correct once again? What if she becomes the next Deathknight, one that will plunge the world into oblivion? If that happens, I believe with all my heart that not even the Paragon could stop her.
I will await your reply,
Hector Trajann
Legate of Aleutia’s 5th Legion, “The Spears of the Paragon”.
I fear that my words may incite discomfort among you. Yet I must state the inconvenient facts nonetheless; we, who have been singularly blessed by the Allfather and Sky-mother, have forgotten the simple power of innovation.
Our enemies have not.
The Escians, who you have branded as savages, are perhaps the greatest example of my point. Like our vaunted Gladius, they have used their national sword, the Castir, for millennia. Yet their evolution have gone beyond aesthetics.
Their newest line of Castirs we’ve managed to obtain after a deadly raid that took the lives of 50 of my men are enhanced by the Art of Runesmith. A way to enhance weapons unknown to our armorers, yet identifiable by trained sight. This is how they are capable of cleaving through our holy armor with ease.
I can do no more than speculate where they have managed to obtain such knowledge, for Runecraft is only practiced in Lhasa by the magic of their Dragon God King, who are not likely to give up their national secrets, and in one other place:
Temple Nimbus. The realm of the Deathless Witch.
Though I pray to the Allfather, Sky-mother, and the Paragon, the Eternal Emperor, I fear that it will not be enough to stop an alliance between Escia and Temple Nimbus to form. As such, I beg of you, Senators of the Empire, to consider my proposal:
We must innovate as well. Formidable as our arms may be, they have not stood as infallible as we thought against enemies that evolve as time flew by.
We have been left behind, rendered blinded and helpless by our laurels and glories of ages past as our foes continually scheme for our destruction.
Greed and denial will seduce any destruction... even our own. As uncomfortable as it may seem to be, we are blind to future consequence... casting our debts on those to come. But what if now, the Deathless Witch sought revenge? We may not be able to stop her. And when we are gone, will you let her decide the future of the entire world?
Furthermore, what if the Oracles were correct once again? What if she becomes the next Deathknight, one that will plunge the world into oblivion? If that happens, I believe with all my heart that not even the Paragon could stop her.
I will await your reply,
Hector Trajann
Legate of Aleutia’s 5th Legion, “The Spears of the Paragon”.
Introduction
The Castir is one of the first 4 winners of SBG’s Fantasy Sword Design Competition, as hosted by our generous host Paul Southren over a year ago. I had submitted 10 designs, and though I liked some of them better than the Castir I was honestly surprised when this one won and they did not. Especially because the design that won was a greyscale pencil sketch of the sword rather than a full color detailed image.
And while the forging and eventual delivery of the sword took much longer than I thought it would be, I finally received the sword a year and 20 days after it won the competition.
The Castir is mostly inspired by the world-famous Kogarasu-Maru Katana, a National treasure of Japan; not because I think that the Kogarasu-Maru Katana is beautiful, but rather because I think that it is absolutely ugly and that I can probably doodle a better design than that sword.
The other 3 swords I was inspired by was the Middle Eastern Shamshir, the Dacian Falx, and the Thracian Rhomphaia. If one is careful, they will see design elements from all four swords within the Castir. I’ll leave which element is taken from which sword for the readers to decide.
Now then, the Specs:
• Full length with scabbard: 108cm/42.5” inch
• Without scabbard: 40”(101.6cm),
• Blade Length: 28″ (71.2cm),
• Handle Length: 12″ (30.48cm),
• Weight: 2.54lbs (1154g)
• Point of Balance: 6” from handle (15.24cm).
• Thickness: 3.2mm at base to around 2mm at the tip (note: caliper is broken so I had to use a ruler).
The Castir came in a huge cardboard box when it arrived.
There is a sword somewhere within this sea of marshmallow pellets
It was further wrapped within layers upon layers of plastic food packaging (plastic wrap).
However, I noticed something odd: even with all the marshmallow pellets, the sword was still loose inside the package.
So I began unwrapping the plastic, and hoping that there was no damage. Sadly, there was some damage to the sword at the tip:
You can see that it is somewhat bent
The acute tip is also chipped, minor as it may be
I cannot blame anything but shipping services for the damage. However, I do recommend a much tighter package when the commercial version of this sword is shipped.
QUICK DISCLAIMER: I specifically requested Paul and BCI to ship the Castir unsharpened. This is because I live in Indonesia and Indonesian Customs are pieces of sh really sensitive when it comes to weapons and weapon-like objects. I did not want customs to impound my winning sword. And on another note, BCI went off the wrong set of instructions and forged a Differentially Hardened Castir rather than a Thorough Hardened one. I talked to Paul and he agreed to change the production version to be TH unless the customer specifically requests a DH version, with the waiting time that comes with it.
Paul also raised some concerns with the black paint used in the Castir and the Aleutian Gladius. He said in an email that the paint flakes off easily and has in fact caused delays with 3 of the designs.
I am glad to say I have no flake issues with the Castir. The paint adheres to the handle and stays there.
A few more pretty images:
At certain angles, the blade seems a lot shorter than it actually is
Soon after the unpackaging, I took the Castir and made a few practice swings. I am not a practitioner of Iaito/Kendo/HEMA, but even a novice like me will know whether or not a sword is agile enough to be used.
Believe me when I say the Castir wants to dance and sing in the wind. Held in two hands, the weight of the sword all but disappears even before you began swinging. Once you do, you don’t want to stop.
I can only imagine cutting stuff with it. Too bad I can’t do it since I’m not planning on sharpening the blade anytime soon.
Although I will say that you can’t really practice quick-drawing with the Castir thanks to the design of the scabbard, you can practice non quick-draw movements with it. In fact, a local martial arts practitioner I personally know (the owner of Thai Boxing Bandung, Joko Setiawan) held the Castir and used it like a Katana, a Machete, and an oversized Cavalry Sabre, transitioning between forms, stances and using both edges in mock attacks without skipping a beat. He had this to say:
“If I’m in a battlefield, I want this thing on my side. This is better than a Katana.”
The Castir’s scabbard is made of leather and brass. And it is a tough scabbard that doesn’t pale in comparison with other fantasy designs both from within SBG and without:
It’s also equipped with 2 brass thingies that allows the installation of a suspension system. Very nice. +1
Conclusions
Well, I am glad to say that I’ve created a sword worthy of actual martial arts, unintentional as it may be. However, in email conversations with Paul and within the SBG forums, I have decided on several possible improvements to the Castir’s design:
1. The blade should NOT be differentially hardened to emphasize toughness
2. The false edge of the blade should be sharpened all the way to the base rather than ¾.
3. Packaging needs to be a LOT tighter and tougher
So in essence, the production version would look like this:
To sum up the review in a tl;dr fashion…
PROS:
• Agile as all heck
• Can be used in martial arts
• A katana-esque sword that isn’t a katana
• A magnificently constructed handle and tsukamaki
• Scabbard is AWESOME. (personal opinion)
CONS:
• Differentially hardened (almost forgot to mention: the Hamon is damn-near invisible even though the blade is DH).
• Shipping damage
• The black paint may or may not flake off. Mine did not.
I will close this review with one more image I almost forgot to upload:
THE HANDLE IS PEENED
I wonder if that could be ground out by shortening the blade a little to create a new point. Still a definite beauty to behold, even the scabbard! Just wow
Any comments I make should be lumped into the 'damn that'd be even better IF...' and as we've seen with customizations sometimes not everyone agrees for beauty is in the eye of the Beholder...
