DSA 100-Years War Sword
Sept 26, 2008 19:29:12 GMT
Post by septofclansinclair on Sept 26, 2008 19:29:12 GMT
Review of Darksword Armoury’s 100-Year War Sword
By Daniel S. Dacombe of Manitoba, Canada
Introduction
When DSA started showing teasers of their new swords for this year, there were a few that caught my eye. But at first, the 100-Year War Sword wasn’t one of them. Since I already own their Norman sword, I was pretty sure that this one was more of the same. But I kept getting dragged back to it, and the little differences – the brown/red leather handle, the unique guard – kept drawing me back. I am a big fan of unique looking longswords; I call them “hero swords,” since they remind me of the swords in movies carried by the main characters. Those swords always look pretty unique, and this one was starting to grow on me. So I made the decision, and it swiftly came through the mail to me. I didn’t know it at the time, but this sword was going to really change the way I thought of DSA’s fit and finish on their new blades.
Arrival
The sword came wrapped in plastic and paper, and delivered gently by Canada Post. After seeing no bends or broken corners on the box, I was relieved to think that there had been no shipping damage. And when I opened up the box and pulled the sword out, I was pleasantly surprised to have a DSA t-shirt come falling out. I guess being a repeat customer has its perks!
The sword itself started from the get-go to exceed my expectations. Though the scabbard was the usual DSA fare, the sword seemed at first glance to be an updated version of the Norman. But it handled differently – between the two of them, I would have said that the War Sword was lighter, even though it is an ounce heavier according to the website. This is a trend I’ve noticed lately – compared to models from even a year ago, DSA’s swords are continuing to improve in handling, moving far away from the “sharpened crowbar” end of the production sword spectrum.
Statistics:
Blade: 27 3/4”
Guard: 8 1/4”
Handle: 4 1/2"
Pommel: 2”
POB: 5 1/4"
COP: 19”
The Blade
The blade of the 100-Year War sword is single-fullered and double edged, as you can tell from the pictures. The fit and finish is a bit better than I was expecting, though. There are still hammer/grind marks on the blade, but it has a fairly low amount of surface scratches – which you don’t usually see at this price point. The fuller, while slightly uneven (I actually have seen few fullers in this price point that are totally even) is attractive and serves to balance out the sword. The geometry seems quite good to my eye as well, and probably helps with the balance. I haven’t sharpened it, but the edge looks *slightly* thinner than the edge of my Norman sword, so I anticipate that it might be easier to sharpen some of the others I’ve had.
The Grip
This is probably my favourite part of the sword. The brown/red leather, stitched together in the back tight just like the other DSA swords I’ve handled, is very, very nice. It looks much higher end than any other handle I’ve got, and gets huge points for fit and finish from me. Great job on this, and good choice of colour. At 4.5” long, it’s plenty of room for a hand my size, but like always when buying a sword you should make sure that your hand and the handle will be a good mate.
The Pommel
Standard DSA-wheel pommel, with a nut underneath (which if you’re going to do a screw-on pommel, that’s the only way to do it). I’d really like to see a DSA sword with a peened pommel, just out of curiosity.
The Guard
Rain-guard type, style 10 according to Oakeshott - www.myarmoury.com/feature_oakeshott4.html. Really interesting design here! And not one that I’ve seen in this price point before, though Windlass probably had a sword like it on the market for about 20 minutes at one point. The unique looking lines draw the attention to the guard instead of being “boring” as I find alot of standard longsword guards are. My only complaint with this is that when I tried to wrap a finger over the guard (as I tend to do when using a double-edged sword), the sharp edges of the guard are quite uncomfortable. I tried it with thick leather gloves and that made it a bit better, but the shape is all wrong for that kind of grip. That being said, this isn’t a criticism! I don’t think that this sword is intended to be gripped that way, so this isn’t a design flaw as much as it is a necessary limitation imposed by the design (you can’t wrap a finger on basket hilts, either, but no one complains about those, do they?). It is a habit of mine, and not appropriate for every sword. If this is your preferred way of handling a sword, then as long as you have a good set of gloves this shouldn’t pose *too* much of a problem. If you use a normal hammer or handshake grip, then you’ve got nothing to worry about.
The Scabbard
Uh... if you’ve seen one DSA scabbard, you’ve seen them all. It’s something to carry the sword around in. I remember some talk being floated around a few months back about DSA potentially creating new scabbards with support systems or belts or something of that nature. I’m just wondering if that’s still on the table at all, because these swords are really much better quality than the scabbards are. On the other hand, this is one DSA sword that I think looks good enough to get one of DBK Custom’s new scabbards...
Handling
I’m a big fan of swords that are quite light in the hand. The downside of that is, those swords aren’t as good at chopping – the lower the POB, the less authority the sword will have in a cut. This sword is not in any danger of that. 5 1/4" is a good POB, not too far out, not too far in. I usually prefer 4.5”, just because I’m not a really big dude, but even though it feels like a solid chopper I didn’t feel any strain in my arm. I couldn’t swing it all day, but it did feel very smooth and flowed well from guard to cut. I’d love to get this sharpened and wreck all kinds of havoc on cutting targets, because I have a feeling that it would just laugh at everything I put in front of it.
Conclusions & Scoring
My last review of a DSA sword was positive, but not glowing. My double review of Musashi’s Presentational katanas was a bit on the negative side too. So it seems that I go through phases where I get to review swords that I like, and then other swords that come in a bit on the low side. I hope that this is the start of another period of time where I have the opportunity to review some other really good swords. The Darksword Armoury’s 100-Year War Sword is, and I don’t say this lightly, the best-executed sword that I’ve seen from their forge to date. Not too heavy like some models, surprisingly well finished for ANY sub-300 sword, and with a unique look that sets it apart from the other standard longswords on the market right now.
Even the Historical Accuracy is a step up. The design is call the “100-Year War” sword, and according to some more knowledgeable individuals than me, the design would look somewhat at home in that period. Perhaps not this specific combination of blade and guard in a historical artefact model, but after consulting those friendly collectors who know more than me, they recommended the Historical Accuracy score that it received.
So with some pleasant surprise I can recommend this to anyone who is looking for a unique one-handed European sword – this one is a winner.
Historical Accuracy: 4/5
Handling: 4
Structural integrity: 4.5/5
Fit and Finish: 4.25/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Total: 4.4/5 – Excellent
Darksword Armoury’s 100-Year War Sword – Very Highly Recommended
By Daniel S. Dacombe of Manitoba, Canada
Introduction
When DSA started showing teasers of their new swords for this year, there were a few that caught my eye. But at first, the 100-Year War Sword wasn’t one of them. Since I already own their Norman sword, I was pretty sure that this one was more of the same. But I kept getting dragged back to it, and the little differences – the brown/red leather handle, the unique guard – kept drawing me back. I am a big fan of unique looking longswords; I call them “hero swords,” since they remind me of the swords in movies carried by the main characters. Those swords always look pretty unique, and this one was starting to grow on me. So I made the decision, and it swiftly came through the mail to me. I didn’t know it at the time, but this sword was going to really change the way I thought of DSA’s fit and finish on their new blades.
Arrival
The sword came wrapped in plastic and paper, and delivered gently by Canada Post. After seeing no bends or broken corners on the box, I was relieved to think that there had been no shipping damage. And when I opened up the box and pulled the sword out, I was pleasantly surprised to have a DSA t-shirt come falling out. I guess being a repeat customer has its perks!
The sword itself started from the get-go to exceed my expectations. Though the scabbard was the usual DSA fare, the sword seemed at first glance to be an updated version of the Norman. But it handled differently – between the two of them, I would have said that the War Sword was lighter, even though it is an ounce heavier according to the website. This is a trend I’ve noticed lately – compared to models from even a year ago, DSA’s swords are continuing to improve in handling, moving far away from the “sharpened crowbar” end of the production sword spectrum.
Statistics:
Blade: 27 3/4”
Guard: 8 1/4”
Handle: 4 1/2"
Pommel: 2”
POB: 5 1/4"
COP: 19”
The Blade
The blade of the 100-Year War sword is single-fullered and double edged, as you can tell from the pictures. The fit and finish is a bit better than I was expecting, though. There are still hammer/grind marks on the blade, but it has a fairly low amount of surface scratches – which you don’t usually see at this price point. The fuller, while slightly uneven (I actually have seen few fullers in this price point that are totally even) is attractive and serves to balance out the sword. The geometry seems quite good to my eye as well, and probably helps with the balance. I haven’t sharpened it, but the edge looks *slightly* thinner than the edge of my Norman sword, so I anticipate that it might be easier to sharpen some of the others I’ve had.
The Grip
This is probably my favourite part of the sword. The brown/red leather, stitched together in the back tight just like the other DSA swords I’ve handled, is very, very nice. It looks much higher end than any other handle I’ve got, and gets huge points for fit and finish from me. Great job on this, and good choice of colour. At 4.5” long, it’s plenty of room for a hand my size, but like always when buying a sword you should make sure that your hand and the handle will be a good mate.
The Pommel
Standard DSA-wheel pommel, with a nut underneath (which if you’re going to do a screw-on pommel, that’s the only way to do it). I’d really like to see a DSA sword with a peened pommel, just out of curiosity.
The Guard
Rain-guard type, style 10 according to Oakeshott - www.myarmoury.com/feature_oakeshott4.html. Really interesting design here! And not one that I’ve seen in this price point before, though Windlass probably had a sword like it on the market for about 20 minutes at one point. The unique looking lines draw the attention to the guard instead of being “boring” as I find alot of standard longsword guards are. My only complaint with this is that when I tried to wrap a finger over the guard (as I tend to do when using a double-edged sword), the sharp edges of the guard are quite uncomfortable. I tried it with thick leather gloves and that made it a bit better, but the shape is all wrong for that kind of grip. That being said, this isn’t a criticism! I don’t think that this sword is intended to be gripped that way, so this isn’t a design flaw as much as it is a necessary limitation imposed by the design (you can’t wrap a finger on basket hilts, either, but no one complains about those, do they?). It is a habit of mine, and not appropriate for every sword. If this is your preferred way of handling a sword, then as long as you have a good set of gloves this shouldn’t pose *too* much of a problem. If you use a normal hammer or handshake grip, then you’ve got nothing to worry about.
The Scabbard
Uh... if you’ve seen one DSA scabbard, you’ve seen them all. It’s something to carry the sword around in. I remember some talk being floated around a few months back about DSA potentially creating new scabbards with support systems or belts or something of that nature. I’m just wondering if that’s still on the table at all, because these swords are really much better quality than the scabbards are. On the other hand, this is one DSA sword that I think looks good enough to get one of DBK Custom’s new scabbards...
Handling
I’m a big fan of swords that are quite light in the hand. The downside of that is, those swords aren’t as good at chopping – the lower the POB, the less authority the sword will have in a cut. This sword is not in any danger of that. 5 1/4" is a good POB, not too far out, not too far in. I usually prefer 4.5”, just because I’m not a really big dude, but even though it feels like a solid chopper I didn’t feel any strain in my arm. I couldn’t swing it all day, but it did feel very smooth and flowed well from guard to cut. I’d love to get this sharpened and wreck all kinds of havoc on cutting targets, because I have a feeling that it would just laugh at everything I put in front of it.
Conclusions & Scoring
My last review of a DSA sword was positive, but not glowing. My double review of Musashi’s Presentational katanas was a bit on the negative side too. So it seems that I go through phases where I get to review swords that I like, and then other swords that come in a bit on the low side. I hope that this is the start of another period of time where I have the opportunity to review some other really good swords. The Darksword Armoury’s 100-Year War Sword is, and I don’t say this lightly, the best-executed sword that I’ve seen from their forge to date. Not too heavy like some models, surprisingly well finished for ANY sub-300 sword, and with a unique look that sets it apart from the other standard longswords on the market right now.
Even the Historical Accuracy is a step up. The design is call the “100-Year War” sword, and according to some more knowledgeable individuals than me, the design would look somewhat at home in that period. Perhaps not this specific combination of blade and guard in a historical artefact model, but after consulting those friendly collectors who know more than me, they recommended the Historical Accuracy score that it received.
So with some pleasant surprise I can recommend this to anyone who is looking for a unique one-handed European sword – this one is a winner.
Historical Accuracy: 4/5
Handling: 4
Structural integrity: 4.5/5
Fit and Finish: 4.25/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Total: 4.4/5 – Excellent
Darksword Armoury’s 100-Year War Sword – Very Highly Recommended