My collection of Renaissance and Medieval Arms

It has been a few years since I have posted my collection. I didn't take pictures of all my sharps, just two. It's a lot to go through and I want to take my time with that to take good photos of those outside. However I did have time to photograph all my steel practice swords and two of my sharp messers. I will start this off in categories and there is some cross over between my HEMA and Armored BOTN style swords. Both long swords on my HEMA list would be fine for Armored steel combat.

Top to Bottom:

Viktor B HEMA Long sword with pear pommel purchased from Wooden Swords and it has a Darkwood rubber long sword blunt and a leather over cord grip with two risers done by me. Very good sword, handles well and has thick edges. Flex is just enough, could easily be used for HEMA or armored combat.

Pavel Moc Viollet De Luxe purchased from Outfit4events and it has a Darkwood rubber long sword blunt and a leather over cord grip with two risers done by me. If you look closely you can see the wear on the grip, the Viktor has some to. That's from chaffing from my steel gauntlets for HEMA. The edge is a little thin at about 1.8mm but, it holds up okay. The blade is well forged. It is a bit heavy at 3 3/4 pounds roughly. My local HEMA group does let me use it but, I do need to be careful about how hard I swing it. It would probably work for armored combat but, the edges are not 3mm thick. Blade is well tempered but, I'd be worried about the 1.8mm edges getting too chewed up in time. I'll still use it though in my group when I get a chance to fight in Armor again in Adrian Empire. Though it is a bit heavy the long grip does give you a lot of leverage.

Darkwood Pappenheimer with double fuller 36 inch spada blade.

I had this hilt for years, recently put the 36 inch spada blade on it. It originally had a practice Rapier blade, then a bated Rapier blade, then the 38 spada which is now on the Clam Shell rapier just below it. I love Darkwood, yes they do cost more than the more budget friendly options but, for the high quality you get it is worth it. The only other company I can think of for the money that does as good of a job is Castille Armory. This sword hilt has served me for years and the new spada blade is holding up well. It did get bent recently in sparring but, cold bending it back fixed it. I did the leather wrap on the handle. Blade has a rubber arrow blunt on top of a bullet casing.

Castille Armory Clam Shell with Darkwood 38 spada blade and Darkwood Pommel

This was originally a Castille Armory Economy line Clam Shell rapier. I liked the hilt set but, never cared for their economy rapier blade. The blade they give you is good but, I prefer wider heavier rapier blades as they take more of a beating and are less likely to get pushed around when parrying. I put the blade that was on here on a custom basket hilt that I sold. I bought a Deepeka Sinclair saber and mounted the Castille Armory blade on it. I wasn't happy with it and sold it to someone else in my local HEMA group. The blade that is now on it is a 38 Darkwood Spada blade that has seen years of abuse and is still holding up phenomenally. The wider blade is heavier noticeably but still handles well, and it is far less likely to take a set. Sets can still happen like on my 36 inch Darkwood blade though it was easy to unbend. Now you may notice some 1/4 inch steel bars. I use these rapiers against side swords and long swords. The shell bent. I bought 1/4 inch weldable steel from Home Depot and cut and shaped the bars to form. I then brought the whole Rapier to a professional welder a town over to me and he arc welded them solidly on there. I also used mapi gas to bend the ends of the quillons slightly. Yes the hilt should be polished more but, I have enough sword and armor projects to do! It's a training weapon and it works well. I also did the leather wrap on this handle. Blade has a rubber arrow blunt on top of a bullet casing.

Castille Armory Schiavona

Besides the rubber arrow blunt on top of a bullet casing on the end of the blade, this Schiavona is exactly how I received it from Castille Armory. I did have to glue a tooth pick and file it inside the wood grip as there was a slight creak to make it perfect. When I ordered this I was torn between Castille's and Darkwood Schiavona. Castille offered a brass pommel option which I wanted since it would match my Del Tin Schiavona. They also told me they could put a welded thumb ring on the hilt which they did. What I didn't know they would do, and I don't mind, is they brazed the end of the basket to the brass pommel. It looks a little rough up close but, it does keep everything taught. If it were peened I don't think it would be necessary but, because it does have a threaded pommel nut I agree with the decision. Without the brazing the pommel would spin under use as the nut slowly came loose. It is a 34 inch standard side sword blade. If I could do it again I probably would have gone with their standard broadsword blade. The side sword blade is good but, it was a bit narrower than I thought and a bit too light. I think their broad sword blade would be still fencing safe for HEMA and give it a bit more blade heft to feel like a more cut orient sword. The side sword blade was still a good choice though.

From top to bottom:

Wulfund Longsword bought from Kult of Athena. When I got it I didn't realize it had no wood core for its grip. The sword was solidly constructed. The cross guard is brass brazed on the back and the pommel is not only peened but, it is also brazed on the bottom side. I took off the two layers of leather originally on there and cut out grip slabs on my band saw using red oak. I then rounded the slabs by hand. I then thoroughly wrapped the wood slabs in epoxy and artificial senu cord. I put two risers on there and a leather grip. Haven't used it yet. The blade is heavy at 4 1/4 pounds but, it is balanced close to the hilt and the long guard and pear pommel make it easy to maneuver. It's much too stiff and heavy for HEMA though. I have not fought with this yet.

Rudolf Krutský Burgund sword bought from Outfit4events. Rudolf only sells swords through this vendor as far as I know. It is a bit heavy at 3 1/2 pounds, however most of that weight is in the pommel so you really don't feel it as the balance is very close to the hilt. For the very little money I paid for it I am highly impressed. Yes it is heavy but the fittings are well made, blade well tempered, peen is solid, and the handling for the weight and price is good. Also about construction when I replaced the leather grip I saw the grip construction. The tang is super wide, cross guard seems to either be tack welded or peened with steel widgets to keep it locked in there. The edge concerns me though for its purpose for stage combat. I haven't not fought with this yet but the edge is about 2 mm thick at the base and goes down to about 1.6 mm thick near the tip. I'll have to see how it does. If it doesn't hold up well I may sharpen it and use it for test cutting. If the forge put a thinner guard and pommel on there dropping the weight six ounces or so, it would be an amazing arming sword.

Fabri Armorum Polish/ Cossack Saber bought directly from Fabri. I love this saber. It did originally have a chain hilt connecting the guard to the pommel. Sounded like a good idea in theory, lasted one bout before the links fell apart. I filled the hole in the guard where the chain connected with a rivet and cut off the connecting end on the pommel. I redid the grip with leather over very thick cord and put a 1/8th inch rivet through cross guard and tang to keep it from rattling. Fabri makes awesome blades. However every Fabri, with some exception, the guards eventually rattle because they do not braze, weld, or back peen them. Plus being a Eastern European Saber the langets were often riveted through the tang. It has seen a lot of use and is holding up exceptionally well for two years of use.

Fabri Armorum Hungarian Saber bought from Kult of Athena. Pretty much same as the other saber. I have owned this one much longer though, five to six years. I redid the grip with leather over cord and put a large 3/16ths brass rivet through the langet to secure it. It's taken a lot of abuse and shows little wear. It's amazing for what it is. The guard did bend and I had to hammer it back, bout it. On both these sabers the leather frayed and got messed up because of my steel gauntlets but, I glued new leather patches on the grip to tidy them up.

Viktor B Lange Messer bought directly from Viktor B. This is slightly custom. I wanted his 4mm blade but, I despise those large steel pommels often seen on re-enactment messers and saw his HEMA version had an all wood grip with a steel grip frame. With some coxing and email messages I got him to agree to commissioning me a 4mm messer blade with an all wood grip with a steel grip frame. I have not fought with this yet but, I really like this messer. The turn around was 2 1/2 to 3 week from the day I started the email conversation to arriving at my home. Very impressed with their forge and will highly recommend. The messer is a bit heavy, I think 3 pounds I need to weigh it and it is blade heavy. Point of balance is I believe 6 inches or so but, it's a lange messer! I can't wait to use this for armored combat. The blade and fittings are super tight and well put together. I can't believe this was about $214 shipped to the US for this level of quality.

Fabri Armorum Slim Lange Messer bought from Outfit4events. This is not how the blade came to me, I need to stress this. This lange messer is highly customed by myself and the same local welder who welded the bars on my Castille/ Darkwood clam shell rapier. I owned this lange messer for six to seven years. The blade has seen a lot of abuse. I originally shortened the ugly steel pommel, my friend cut new deer antler grips for it. I wasn't full happy with it. The cross guard would rattle and the weapon was easy to loose in your hand because of the shortened pommel. The blade was amazing, held up to countless abuse. I decided to take the risk and re-hilt it the way I wanted it. I narrowed the cross guard, cut off the original fake nagel. Now it has a real nagel going through the cross guard and tang that is peened on the reverse side. However the 1/8th inch bar stock I used was too thin for sparring. I tested it knocking it against a hammer and it bent so easily. The local welder I mentioned a town over took a look at it. He spent a day building up arc welds all around the nagel to the point it was very stout. It was a mess when I got it back as it needed a lot of grinding and polishing but, he made it fight worthy. After polishing the nagel, guard, and getting rid of the nicks from the years of abuse on the blade I cut off the pommel all together. The tang goes about half way into the wood grip. I wasn't sure how I wanted to do it. I was originally going to have there be either a 1/8 inch brass or steel grip frame brazed or welded to the cross guard and put buffalo horn slabs on the top and bottom. Thinking about how much money I put into this project already and how much that would cost I tossed out that idea and bought some 3/8th red oak boards from home depot. I cut them to shape on my band saw and used chisels, Dremmel, files, and sand paper to fit it. It is glued with epoxy and has three brass rivets securing it. Despite having less counter balance than before it handles better because the wood grip fits my hand perfectly with or without a steel gauntlet. Point of balance is 5 inches about and it is extremely lively. I wish Fabri would make their messer like this from their forge. Blade is excellent but, I can't stand those ugly hunk of steel pommels they braze on them.

Rudolf Krutský Gilles bought from Outfit4events. This is the same make as the Burgund sword. The finish was worse on this one but, the blade was just as solid. However the edges on this blade are much thicker about 2.2mm on average or thicker the whole way down. I re-polished the blade and ground down the diamond cross section at the end flattening it to give the sword distal taper and bring the point of balance further back. This one is lighter at 3 pounds 3 ounces but has a forward point of balance around 5 to 6 inches. It is closer to 3 pounds now since I reground the end of the blade. I also redid the leather grip with leather over cord with a strategically placed central riser. The riser sits between the four fingers of your hand locking it into your fist when you use it. Haven't used this sword in armored bout yet but, I am looking forward to it. It is very well built as a budget sword, extremely tough and cleaned up well once polished. Fuller is not great, wavy and uneven, but again it is a budget sword.

Sharp Swords and Live weapons

These are only two of my ten or so sharp swords. I will some day get around to doing a full album for them but, I have these to show off for now.

Left to Right

Cold Steel Polish Mace from Kult of Athena. I really should have put this mace with the Armored Combat group but, it was overwhelming as is. This mace has been used for bouts in yield combat which is why it is all beat up. It is a bit short for me and I didn't end up like using this mace. It's not the mace's fault, maces just aren't for me. However I have a friend in my group who loved this mace so much he wanted to 'marry' it. No really he said that lol! He had fun bashing it against people's helmets like playing the drums. It is a great mace regardless of it being inexpensive.

Pavel Moc Lange Messer from Outfit4events. I bought this as an un-sharpened lange messer and was torn to use it for armored combat or sharpen it. The edge is pretty thick from about 2.2 mm down to about 1.8 mm and the flex is minimal on it. However in the end I took it too my belt sander and put a good secondary bevel on it. It is so hard to describe this lange messer, it is amazing and perplexing at the same time. You'll see the back side in the last photo. The top side with the nagel has a pommel and a fuller. The reverse side has no pommel and no fuller. The nagel is fake, it is not riveted through the tang however, it is solidly welded to the cross guard and is very stout at the bottom. The nagel is a bit thin at the top but, it is so small that I do not think the leverage would be great enough to bend it without extreme abuse. I think this weapon would hold up to the rigors of stage combat but, works just as well as a live sharp sword too. The hilt is assembled in a way commonly seen with Islamic sabers. It has a steel grip frame welded to the cross guard that the pommel is also welded solidly to. The end of the grip frame is then peened over with five hollow tube brass rivets. The handling of this messer is more like a hilt heavy back sword than the machete like behavior of a lot of messers. It is very balanced between cut and thrust and does both very well. The hilt is long which is annoying but, some people like this and historically there were one handed lange messers with long hilts for hooking techniques. I don't know how to use those techniques but, they are written down in period manuals. I highly recommend this messer, it is as good as Landsknecht Emporium. I won't say better, that isn't true. It's the same quality. Now it is not as historically accurate as Landscknecht but, the quality is good and the price for the messer of 262 euros un-sharpend is on par with a similar Landsknecht. You can order them sharp to for an extra fee if you don't want to sharpen it yourself. The distal tapering is good. Blade is about 4.5 mm thick and it tapers down to about 2.5 mm or so by the tip.

Landsknecht Emporium Gustav bought from a fellow forum user here on SBG. I love this messer, only thing I did to it was polish it with my wire wheel brush on my angle grinder and sand paper. This messer is the exact opposite of the Pavel Moc. This thing is 100% historical in construction. The blade shoulders poke through the cross guard along the true edge, the nagel is real and is peened through the tang and cross guard. The nagel is also very thick and would easily stand up to abuse from blade on blade contact. I am surprised Landsknecht Emporium doesn't sell a blunt version of this for HMB or stage combat, it would be awesome. The blade has three hollow brass rivets through the grip and tang. There is no pommel just a formed piece of about 1/8th inch steel peened over. Blade had some scratches, don't know if that was from the forge or previous owner but, it's so minor I don't care. The blade doesn't appear to have distal tapering which would be a huge problem if it wasn't so short. It actually gets thicker towards the tip ever so slightly where the wide shallow fuller ends. This messer feels like a heavy duty machete. I have cut palm tree branches and water bottles with this as I have with the Pavel Messer. This is the easiest most forgiving bladed weapon I have ever cut with. Granted though this sword is very wide, single edged, sharp, and not too thick making it ideal for cutting. Didn't test thrusting but, with the curved tip I imagine it would be a little tricky as you would have to do a hooking thrust kind of like a saber. It's the exact opposite of the Pavel. The Pavel is a messer well rounded for cut and thrust with good reach with its rather somewhat long blade of just under 29 inches. The Landsknecht Gustav is a short cut oriented machete with a cross guard and nagel that is dirty and up close with poor reach. However the Gustav is very fast even with the wide somewhat thick blade because it is so short and light at just 2 pounds compared to 2.6 pound Pavel Messer.

Windlass War Hammer purchased from Kult of Athena. I had this war hammer for years but, it's mostly been an accessory for me to carry when volunteering or being a patron at Renaissance Fares. I owned it for seven years, not much to write about other than the head is good and the wood on the shaft is decent.

Talhoffer Buckler form Kult of Athena. The ends were originally straight, I hammered them so they curved forward thinking I could use it to trap blades in rapier fencing. That didn't work out but, I still like it.