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Post by reelbigfan on Feb 12, 2021 0:41:09 GMT
Hello everyone! Brand new to the SBG forums, and sword collecting/historical fencing in general. Currently my interests are in Italian longsword and Bolognese side sword. Although at the moment I am limited to solo training, I hope to join a local HEMA club once I move a bit closer to it and I'm vaccinated. In the mean time I was looking into a waster/practice sword that I can use to work on basic drills without worrying too much that I'm going to cause serious injury to myself or anyone (or thing) around me. My two sharps are real fun for backyard cutting (I've got a Hanwei Tinker Longsword and the Windlass Munich Townguard for anyone curious) but I'm not very comfortable (and I think with good reason) swinging them around in any meaningful way indoors.
I've looked into a couple synthetic wasters already, but I'm not sure what to go with and I would really appreciate some more opinions on what's out there and what people think. Just for clarification, at the moment I'm looking for a decent/good quality synthetic practice longsword that is reasonably well weighted/balanced that I could potentially use for light sparring on the off chance the opportunity arises in the near future. I'm really looking for something that is more budget friendly though, so I don't expect anything that's going to be of outstanding quality.
So far the two main ones I've looked at are the "Red Dragon Armoury Synthetic Sparring Longsword", the "Cold Steel Hand and a Half Training Sword". The RDA sword seems to get a fair bit of praise from what I've seen and seems like it would be a solid choice. I'm really leaning towards this option at the moment. I have seen the Cold Steel mentioned around the internet a few time and from what I can tell it's a bit of a mix bag of opinions, with some people really disliking the rigidness and balance/weight and others seeming to argue that it is one of the better wasters on the market. Since the Cold Steel sword is about half the price of the RDA on Amazon, it does make it a tempting purchase.
If anyone has experience with these two practice swords and can offer their advice I would greatly appreciate it. Also, any other recommendations or information on what else is available for someone on the west coast in the U.S. would be really helpful. Thanks in advance for any responses.
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Post by yojirex on Feb 17, 2021 17:55:02 GMT
Maybe look at the Musha swordline, or the Musashi swordline. Both are on the very cheap side and not overly pretty, but on the upside are sturdily built.
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Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Feb 17, 2021 19:00:28 GMT
Maybe look at the Musha swordline, or the Musashi swordline. Both are on the very cheap side and not overly pretty, but on the upside are sturdily built. That'd be good advice if OP was looking for a katana.
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Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Feb 17, 2021 19:01:22 GMT
I have handled a few Red Dragon trainers and a Cold Steel bokken. Get the Red Dragon unless you want something strictly for pell work.
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Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Feb 17, 2021 19:03:22 GMT
And check out purpleheart armory.
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Post by reelbigfan on Feb 17, 2021 22:01:30 GMT
Thanks for the replies! I do have some interest in Japanese swordmanship/swords (particularly the tachi) so I'll be sure to have a look at the Musha/Musashi lines at some point as you suggested Yojirex.
Adventure'sBlade I appreciate your input on the RDA vs Cold Steel wasters. After a bit more research I was starting to come to the conclusion the Cold Steel would probably only be good for some very basic drills.
I've also come across the Blackfencer line in my research on wasters and was curious if you had any experience with them? I don't mind paying the the difference between the Blackfencers and the RDAs if the former is a significantly better item. I'm particularly curious about the "sharp simulators". Thanks again for the advice, as it's much appreciated!
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Post by Kane Shen on Feb 18, 2021 3:03:50 GMT
Hello everyone! Brand new to the SBG forums, and sword collecting/historical fencing in general. Currently my interests are in Italian longsword and Bolognese side sword. Although at the moment I am limited to solo training, I hope to join a local HEMA club once I move a bit closer to it and I'm vaccinated. In the mean time I was looking into a waster/practice sword that I can use to work on basic drills without worrying too much that I'm going to cause serious injury to myself or anyone (or thing) around me. My two sharps are real fun for backyard cutting (I've got a Hanwei Tinker Longsword and the Windlass Munich Townguard for anyone curious) but I'm not very comfortable (and I think with good reason) swinging them around in any meaningful way indoors. I've looked into a couple synthetic wasters already, but I'm not sure what to go with and I would really appreciate some more opinions on what's out there and what people think. Just for clarification, at the moment I'm looking for a decent/good quality synthetic practice longsword that is reasonably well weighted/balanced that I could potentially use for light sparring on the off chance the opportunity arises in the near future. I'm really looking for something that is more budget friendly though, so I don't expect anything that's going to be of outstanding quality. So far the two main ones I've looked at are the "Red Dragon Armoury Synthetic Sparring Longsword", the "Cold Steel Hand and a Half Training Sword". The RDA sword seems to get a fair bit of praise from what I've seen and seems like it would be a solid choice. I'm really leaning towards this option at the moment. I have seen the Cold Steel mentioned around the internet a few time and from what I can tell it's a bit of a mix bag of opinions, with some people really disliking the rigidness and balance/weight and others seeming to argue that it is one of the better wasters on the market. Since the Cold Steel sword is about half the price of the RDA on Amazon, it does make it a tempting purchase. If anyone has experience with these two practice swords and can offer their advice I would greatly appreciate it. Also, any other recommendations or information on what else is available for someone on the west coast in the U.S. would be really helpful. Thanks in advance for any responses. Welcome to this fine forum and this fine hobby! If you want to train forms for cutting, which is an excellent idea BTW, don't use synthetic ones and wooden ones (those are fine for starters to train techniques), use a steel feder or blunt. I recommend the ones made by Viktor Berbekucz--sturdy, affordable and well-balanced. A good simulator for the swords you will use to cut with. You can buy them at Purpleheart Armoury: www.woodenswords.com/category_s/2070.htmThey also have a wide selection of synth and wooden trainers, as well as longswords dedicated for cutting practices.
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Post by reelbigfan on Feb 18, 2021 18:14:50 GMT
Welcome to this fine forum and this fine hobby! If you want to train forms for cutting, which is an excellent idea BTW, don't use synthetic ones and wooden ones (those are fine for starters to train techniques), use a steel feder or blunt. I recommend the ones made by Viktor Berbekucz--sturdy, affordable and well-balanced. A good simulator for the swords you will use to cut with. You can buy them at Purpleheart Armoury: www.woodenswords.com/category_s/2070.htmThey also have a wide selection of synth and wooden trainers, as well as longswords dedicated for cutting practices. Thanks for the recommendation. A steel feder is already on my ever growing list of things I need lol. Right now they are a tad out of my budget range (trying to save up for a house, so I'm trying not to splurge too much!) which is one of the main reasons I'm looking for synthetics. I'm basically a complete beginner so something a little safer to use while I work on getting down basic footwork and my form is important to me. Would you still recommend a steel feder over a synthetic waster for those purposes?
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Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Feb 18, 2021 18:30:30 GMT
You can practice footwork and cutting motions with a broomstick, let alone a feder. Once you start playing with a partner the equipment starts to really matter.
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Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Feb 18, 2021 18:32:32 GMT
Buy this DVD, get a stick, watch, imitate, have fun. Learn more when you join a club.
Oh, right. You want Italian. I don't know a DVD for that.
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Post by reelbigfan on Feb 18, 2021 18:56:41 GMT
You can practice footwork and cutting motions with a broomstick, let alone a feder. Once you start playing with a partner the equipment starts to really matter. Funnily enough this is pretty close to what I've been doing. I've got a dowel I use as a stand in for side sword and an old bokken I dug up that seems to do a good enough job simulating a longsword, at least for my purposes. Its absolutely made a difference in my backyard cutting performance. Thanks for the video btw. I'll be checking it out after work. Edit: Don't worry about it being German longsword. I would imagine learning from other styles outside your main focus can only work in your favor, so I'm still very interested in checking it out.
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Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Feb 18, 2021 19:24:50 GMT
You can practice footwork and cutting motions with a broomstick, let alone a feder. Once you start playing with a partner the equipment starts to really matter. Funnily enough this is pretty close to what I've been doing. I've got a dowel I use as a stand in for side sword and an old bokken I dug up that seems to do a good enough job simulating a longsword, at least for my purposes. Its absolutely made a difference in my backyard cutting performance. Thanks for the video btw. I'll be checking it out after work. Edit: Don't worry about it being German longsword. I would imagine learning from other styles outside your main focus can only work in your favor, so I'm still very interested in checking it out. All of the Agilitas DVDs are great. I think you can do digital purchase/download.
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Post by Kane Shen on Feb 18, 2021 20:56:44 GMT
Welcome to this fine forum and this fine hobby! If you want to train forms for cutting, which is an excellent idea BTW, don't use synthetic ones and wooden ones (those are fine for starters to train techniques), use a steel feder or blunt. I recommend the ones made by Viktor Berbekucz--sturdy, affordable and well-balanced. A good simulator for the swords you will use to cut with. You can buy them at Purpleheart Armoury: www.woodenswords.com/category_s/2070.htmThey also have a wide selection of synth and wooden trainers, as well as longswords dedicated for cutting practices. Thanks for the recommendation. A steel feder is already on my ever growing list of things I need lol. Right now they are a tad out of my budget range (trying to save up for a house, so I'm trying not to splurge too much!) which is one of the main reasons I'm looking for synthetics. I'm basically a complete beginner so something a little safer to use while I work on getting down basic footwork and my form is important to me. Would you still recommend a steel feder over a synthetic waster for those purposes? The steel technique feders are priced at $200 each, and they last for a long time. However, you don't have to use it. Synth or wooden ones are fine, particularly if you are training stances and footwork. I can practice footwork empty-handed, holding an imaginary sword, when I'm watching TV or something, but I'm already well acquainted with it. If you need to train for cutting, a steel feder is ideal (you can train with sharp swords, I had done that for months before I bought my first feder, but obviously feders are much much safer, even compared to blunt swords), as you really need to feel how the sword tracks and the inertia of the blade. How to go over different cuts with optimized motions. Synth and wooden ones (even the best among them) are trickier, as they are quite thick and the weight is never realistic compared to swords with steel blades.
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