MAN-AT-ARMS 5th Century Migration Era Sword Kingdom of Arms
Jun 2, 2024 13:14:01 GMT
Post by Barahir on Jun 2, 2024 13:14:01 GMT
Introduction (Who I am again)
A 48-year-old Canadian, I have been collecting swords for about 20 years. I own all sorts of weapons… ranging from movie replicas, historical replicas, fantasy weapons and a mix of all of these at the same time! I am by no means a weapons expert, nor a historian, nor a time traveler who thinks I know everything (like some folks on internet), nor a good reviewer. I'm just a fan who likes to add shiny steel items to his armory. If you are also a member of the SBG group on Facebook, you can also find me there under the name of Philippe Goulet (the guy who love Scandinavian/Viking/Saxon style swords). I am launching here to present this interesting sword which had piqued my curiosity. The Kingdom of Arms 5th Century Migration Era Sword from their Man-At-Arms line.
Full Disclosure
This is not my first Kingdom of Arms sword. I already had 2 swords from their regular line (10th Century Viking Sword and The Swedish Saga Hjalmarr Viking Sword). Both reviews of these swords can be found on SBG. On the other hand, this is my first sword from their economy Man-At-Arms line. This collection is for tighter budgets and this is reflected in the price (currently at 299$ USD on their website). Then, knowing my great interest in Viking swords, Clyde Hollis (owner of Kingdom of Arms) sent me this sword so that I could also review it. We concluded that I would do an honest review. I wasn't asked anything specific. Thanks again for your trust CIyde. I therefore have no affiliation with Kingdom of Arms or Bruce Brookhart and I am in no way an expert in weapons, as mentioned in my introduction. So, let's start.
(don’t forget to watch the video of this sword to see more images following the link at the end of this review)
If you want to buy this sword now, its here :
kingdomofarms.com/collections/man-at-arms-collection/products/migration-era-sword
kingdomofarms.com/collections/man-at-arms-collection/products/migration-era-sword
Manufacturer Overview
Note: I have done business with Clyde Hollis/Kingdom of Arms in the past, and the customer and after-sales service is, in my opinion, excellent.
Clyde Hollis has been working in the sword industry for several years. He has owned several brands and Kingdom of Arms is his most recent company. Among other things, he does business with Bruce Brookhart for the design of several of his swords.
Bruce Brookhart, a leading authority in our hobby, has done extensive research on edged weapons over the past 50 years. During that period, he worked with Hank Reinhart for over 17 years and consulted with Ewart Oakeshott for about 10 years until shortly before his passing. During his career, Mr. Brookhart has made hundreds of prototypes of historical swords from museums, private collections and also his own fantasy designs. All the weapons in the MAN-AT-ARMS series come from the mind of Bruce Brookhart.
Bruce and Clyde created the MAN-AT-ARM Collection together. Its a new economy line of well designed historical medieval or renaissance swords and daggers. Their goal was to supply good quality at low prices with today’s high import cost. This line supply unsharpened swords with C60 carbon steel and good scabbard, from a quality forge in India.
Historical Overview
First, this sword is not a specific replica of a historical find. This migration sword was a popular type used during the European history (circa 4th to 7th centuries AD), particularly among the Germanic tribes.
The Migration Period, also known as de Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the western roman empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-roman kingdoms.
So this sword takes inspiration from that area. Swords were somewhat rare during these times, they were very valuable and only the wealthy or the best warriors would have them. This is probably why the relics are rarer.
Initial Impressions
The box traveled from Tennessee in the USA to Quebec Canada in a week or so, with FedEx. The sword arrives in a somewhat large box and it has a crushed corner. I'm a little worried that the contents will be damaged. Luckily it was double boxed and the contents were intact. The sword and scabbard are individually wrapped in paper and plastic and attached in the box by pin wires. The blade was well greased. The grease had left several stains on the blade which did not come off with WD40. I used AUTOSOL (Steel Cleaning) paste and now I have a nice plain blade finish instead of marbled 😊. All removed, what stands out to me is how light this blade is! After a quick glance, he doesn't seem to have any problems with either the sword or the scabbard. I'm ready to start the review.
The box traveled from Tennessee in the USA to Quebec Canada in a week or so, with FedEx. The sword arrives in a somewhat large box and it has a crushed corner. I'm a little worried that the contents will be damaged. Luckily it was double boxed and the contents were intact. The sword and scabbard are individually wrapped in paper and plastic and attached in the box by pin wires. The blade was well greased. The grease had left several stains on the blade which did not come off with WD40. I used AUTOSOL (Steel Cleaning) paste and now I have a nice plain blade finish instead of marbled 😊. All removed, what stands out to me is how light this blade is! After a quick glance, he doesn't seem to have any problems with either the sword or the scabbard. I'm ready to start the review.
Manufacturer Statistics vs Actual Statistics
Blade Length: 30.25’’ vs 30’’
Overall Length: 36’’ vs 35.75”
Handle: 5.5’’ vs 5.5’’
Grip Length: 4’’ vs 4’’
Weight: 1.75 lb vs 1.09 lb (!)
Edge : Unsharpened vs Unsharpened
Pommel : Threaded vs Peaned
Width : undisclosed vs 40mm (1.57’’)
Distal Taper: undisclosed vs 3.8mm -3 .3mm - 2.6mm
P.O.B.: 6.5’’ Below Hilt vs 7.0’’ Below Hilt
COMPONENTS
The Blade
The blade is made of C60 carbon steel according to Kingdom of Arms website. Since I'm not a metallurgy expert, I can't verify if this is really what Kingdom of Arms used in their Indian forge. However, according to my research, I know the C60 steel is very similar to 1060 carbon steel. Its a basic medium (technically high) carbon steel. Roughly, C60 is a high carbon steel that offers excellent mechanical properties, toughness, and wear resistance. It is widely used in the manufacturing industry for high-stress components and cutting tools. Its resistance to corrosion and oxidation also make it suitable for use in harsh environments.
In order to lighten and help a blade perform, it is often said that there must be a distal taper. Distal tapering refers to a blade's cross-section thinning from its base to its tip. Very interesting to find a Distal Tapering on this blade (3.8mm at the near the guard, 3.3mm in the middle and 2.6mm at 2 inches from the tip). The blade of this sword comes unsharpened from the manufacturer. The fact that the swords in this line are sold blunt is not unrelated to the fact that they wanted to keep the prices as low as possible, while not neglecting the quality of the sword itself. What becomes interesting here is that on the Kingdom of Arms website, all the steps to guide the consumer in sharpening a blade themselves are mentioned. So you are free to try it.
We immediately see that this blade was made by hand and not by a machine. The fuller is a little wavy and looking at the profile of the blade, you can also see forging marks. The fuller ends 1.5 inches from the tip on one side and unfortunately 1.25 inches on the other side. It's not really visible to the naked eye and you need a tape to notice it. Despite all these little flaws of the ''handmade blade'', it is straight and still very beautiful. There are no waves on the blade profile. Very correct blade.
The length of the blade is about 30'' (just as announced). When you play with the sword a bit, you find the blade a bit whippy but not that bad. Almost normal considering the length of the blade vs the width and the Distal Tapering.
When we hit a hard object or simply our knee (with the flat of the blade or course!) at the point of percussion, we hear no rattling. Everything is in place. Then a good flex to this blade, bent it in both directions and it went back to true. It should also be noted that Kingdom of Arms swords do not have brand's marks on their blade. Im not against maker's mark when its well made. A personal aesthetic choice! I would have thought that it was also to save on costs but in any case, it's true that none of their products are marked.
The Handle
As everything is simple with this sword, given the nature of the period in which it is based, we don't see any excessive decoration here. I would say that it is a hilt “decorated in its simplicity”! Metal pieces reminiscent of a declared rustic finish.
Everything is well-aligned and solid. The length of the grip seemed perfect at 4’’, as listed by the website where this sword is for sale (and remeasured by me). The hilt fit nicely to the blade. Virtually no excessive Gap. As mentioned above, everything seems solid and no rattling.
The grip is concave in shape and ensures a good grip on the sword. This is a piece of wood (probably Indian teak wood) covered in red painted leather. There are 3 raisers in the middle. The leather is glued and not sewn. There is a small gap visible where the two ends meet, but nothing scary.
The Guard
The guard measures 3.0'' wide and holds the hand well. These are 2 metal plates which sandwich a piece of wood, all held in place by 2 rivets. It is straight and the rivets are small enough to not make the sword's handling uncomfortable for the hand. As mentioned above, there is no excessive gap between the guard and the blade. Very good fit.
The Pommel
The pommel is approximately the same size as the guard (2.75 inches wide). 2 metal plates which hold and sandwich a piece of wood. The small cap of the pommel is riveted to the top plate and the peen rests on it.
Its advertised on the website as threaded pommel but to me its clearly peened. This peen will ensures a good secure attachment, which makes the sword fully functional. Everything is well-fixed and solid. The peen could look bit small at 7mm, which could make fear as for the solidity of this even after few hits on dead branches. But everything held well. I don't think Kingdom of Arms would have swords forged in any Indian forge
The Scabbard
As I am not an expert or historian, I assume the scabbard is historically correct. After all, wasn't it designed by Bruce Brookhart?
Who am I to contradict a man of this caliber. Then, the scabbard seems historically correct. A simple scabbard, nothing flamboyant, but quality and well made. This is what was sought here. It is made of a wood core, wrapped in leather. It seems very solid. Simple and not overly decorated, it does the job nonetheless. A metal shape protects the end of the scabbard. This one's head is bare. Simple but perfect for a warrior. I like it so much because the many scabbards released by Indian manufacturers usually come with a leather slot separated in two, a rain flap. Historical or not, I don't like it much. This hides the guard and you would think that these scabbards were made to fit all the blades! A wooden belt loop is also attached to the scabbard and stained the same color. The whole thing is adorned with leather cords at each end.
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The sword goes in well and comes out well, enough tight. But the blade is loose inside and you can definitely hear it bouncing in the scabbard when you shake the scabbard. But the blade does not fall when you turn the scabbard upside down. A piece of felt serves the slot inside on the edge. This may annoy some collectors but it is not something that bothers me a lot. Another special mention on my personal tastes, I would have liked to find a belt on the scabbard. I like to have a belt wrapped around the scabbard when my swords are on display. But again, I understand that perhaps the final price would not have been the same. So overall, good matching scabbard for this blade.
Handlings
Honestly, without doing a destruction test, I still tried to knock wood and the sword handled well. I nicked the soft wood easily (remember its not a sharpened sword) and there was no rolling or warping of the blade. I know that many collectors like to see water bottles waltzing into pieces in the air, but it's often only the sharpening of the blade that we analyze in these cases, which can be very different from blade to blade, and this for the same model. Also, I treat my swords like works of art, and I don't see the point in unnecessary destruction tests, so I went lightly. There are other ways to analyze the handling of swords than trying to destroy them. That's my personal opinion. Now concerning this 5th century migration era sword, I can however tell you that this sword is very comfortable to handle, very light (1.09 lb). Very fun to swing.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Overall, I love this sword. The Quality/Control is better than I would have imagined for a 300$ sword from a economy line and Kingdom of Arms have a great Customer Service. Very comfortable to handle and very very light too. A little whippy but look very solid. Quite normal for a blade of this dimention. The scabbard is simple but quite unique and well made. Beautiful small Migration Era sword. Replica swords from this period are still quite rare, especially around $300. Its certainly not a perfect sword, but overall very nice and interesting. It's not a ceremonial sword, it's the sword of a warrior ! Simplicity at its best! Those who know me know that I prefer big Viking swords but Im happy to own this piece in my collection. It’s a rare unique design sword very fun to play with. A very good fit in your collection if you also like to collect different types of weapons from different periods of history (this is why my own collection is so large). Im giving 4 stars out of five for this sword.
(don’t forget to watch the video of this sword to see more images following the link )
If you want to buy this sword now, its here : kingdomofarms.com/collections/man-at-arms-collection/products/migration-era-sword
If you want to see this sword in images, its here :
If you want to take a tour of my collection, its here :