Longsword by Jan Motycka a.k.a. Red Gur
Dec 28, 2008 22:59:59 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2008 22:59:59 GMT
This is my first attempt to review a sword, so please do not hit me hard if I do something wrong. And please excuse me for my not-so-good English. Oh, and sorry for poor picture quality, too . I unfortunately took pictures only after using the sword for training, so please do not pay attention to all these scratches and nicks.
I was thinking about buying a good longsword blunt for armored fighting for quite a long time. Main criteria for my purchase were:
1) Handling. It had to handle like a sword. Crowbars are much cheaper you know, so if I wanted something that handled like a crowbar I would just go and buy one.
2) Durability. I wanted something durable. Not a Hanwei practical where everything starts rattling after 2 minutes of sparring.
3) Weight. I needed a sword for armored fighting. Something more suited for war then for civilian self-defense or judical duel. A blade capable of both cutting and thrusting. A blade heavy enough to crush weaker armor and sturdy enough to withstand abuse of battle. But not overly heavy.
4) Price. I did not want to spend a fortune on Albion or A&A.
After gathering information I decided to order a sword from Jan Motycka (sword-gur.com). I was lucky because he had one longsword in stock (otherwise I would have to wait for 4 months to get my sword). Communication with Jan took several weeks (he does not speak English very well and answers e-mails approximately once a week, and I had quite a few questions about the sword before ordering it). But finally I made my order and soon received the sword. It cost me 201 Euro including shipping. The sword came packed in a cardboard box. Nothing special. Simple, but good package.
Specs:
Blade: 90 cm
Grip (w/o pommel): 18.5 cm
Overall: 117 cm
Guard Height: 20 cm
POB: 10 cm from base of guard
COP: a spot approx. 59 centimeters from base of guard
Weight: approx. 1.7 kg (sorry, cannot measure precisely)
THE BLADE
The blade is 90 cm long. Width is 4.4 cm at base tapering to 2.3 cm at the tip. Gradual distal taper from 5.2 mm to 3.3 mm. The blade flexes well, but is relatively stiff. One should be VERY careful when thrusting with it. A narrow fuller runs about 2/3 of the blade length. The fuller starts under the crossguard and smoothly fades at the end. Sides of fuller are straight, no waviness. The remainder of the blade is almost flat in cross section. The blade has an attractive smooth satin finish. However there were a few minor scratches in the fuller. They looked as if somebody took an awl and scratched the sword on purpose. But hey, it is a practice weapon, so who cares about the scratches?!
THE HILT
Simple, but beautiful. And rock solid.
Straight crossguard of type 1 by Oakeshott. Same satin finish as on blade. A small nick as if somebody occasionally hit something with the crossguard. Removed in 10 seconds by scratching the guard with back of a knife blade. And again, I had a dozen of nicks on crossguard after the very first training session, so who cares about that one nick?!
Waisted grip wrapped with a strip of relatively thick leather. Handle is reinforced by a steel ring at the lower end (where it meets the crossguard). The grip is a little bit too wide and flat at this end, but not too much. The leather is also a little slippery. Leather over cord would have been better, but the current thick leather wrap is much more durable, which is important when fighting in mitten gauntlets.
Pear shaped pommel is also simple but beautiful. It is obviously turned, but same smooth finish can be achieved by sanding such pommel by hand (unlike wheel pommels found for example on Valiant Armoury practical line). And it is BIG. I would prefer a smaller and lighter one. But this is my personal preference and of course it would change the balance of the sword. The pommel is a weapon in its own right. I would not like to receive a morschlag with that, no matter what helmet I had.
THE SCABBARD
For that money-no scabbard.
HANDLING
The sword is too heavy to be used as a one hander (well, at least for a person of my size, and I weigh only 64 kg), but one does not need to hold it with both hands all the time. In two hands it is fast. It is well balanced and can be stopped in mid-swing easily. It may be challenging to perform some traditional longsword techniques (here I have to admit that I am not an expert and so these techniques are challenging for me with any sword), but hey, it is a war sword. Something intended to be used on a battlefield. And it is not overly heavy and can be used for unarmored fighting too, it would just probably be a little slower then lighter swords.
I tried it against Hanwei practical longsword, and it performed very well. I did not feel any disadvantage in speed, though this sword is approximately 350 g heavier then Hanwei one. The blade got scratched all over, but not a single deep nick. Steel seems to be a little harder than on Hanwei practical.
CUTTING
It is a blunt, he-he.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
I like this sword! Time will show how it will withstand constant use (and occasional abuse), but according to my current experience it is an excellent value for the money. Those who want to practice traditional longsword techniques for unarmored combat probably need something lighter, but for reenactment/stage combat this sword is simply perfect. And still performs quite well in unarmored combat.
Historical Accuracy: 4.5
Fit and Finish: 5/5 (for a training sword)
Handling: 4.5/5 (I would like it to be 100-150 grams lighter )
Structural Integrity: 5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
OVERALL: 5/5
I was thinking about buying a good longsword blunt for armored fighting for quite a long time. Main criteria for my purchase were:
1) Handling. It had to handle like a sword. Crowbars are much cheaper you know, so if I wanted something that handled like a crowbar I would just go and buy one.
2) Durability. I wanted something durable. Not a Hanwei practical where everything starts rattling after 2 minutes of sparring.
3) Weight. I needed a sword for armored fighting. Something more suited for war then for civilian self-defense or judical duel. A blade capable of both cutting and thrusting. A blade heavy enough to crush weaker armor and sturdy enough to withstand abuse of battle. But not overly heavy.
4) Price. I did not want to spend a fortune on Albion or A&A.
After gathering information I decided to order a sword from Jan Motycka (sword-gur.com). I was lucky because he had one longsword in stock (otherwise I would have to wait for 4 months to get my sword). Communication with Jan took several weeks (he does not speak English very well and answers e-mails approximately once a week, and I had quite a few questions about the sword before ordering it). But finally I made my order and soon received the sword. It cost me 201 Euro including shipping. The sword came packed in a cardboard box. Nothing special. Simple, but good package.
Specs:
Blade: 90 cm
Grip (w/o pommel): 18.5 cm
Overall: 117 cm
Guard Height: 20 cm
POB: 10 cm from base of guard
COP: a spot approx. 59 centimeters from base of guard
Weight: approx. 1.7 kg (sorry, cannot measure precisely)
THE BLADE
The blade is 90 cm long. Width is 4.4 cm at base tapering to 2.3 cm at the tip. Gradual distal taper from 5.2 mm to 3.3 mm. The blade flexes well, but is relatively stiff. One should be VERY careful when thrusting with it. A narrow fuller runs about 2/3 of the blade length. The fuller starts under the crossguard and smoothly fades at the end. Sides of fuller are straight, no waviness. The remainder of the blade is almost flat in cross section. The blade has an attractive smooth satin finish. However there were a few minor scratches in the fuller. They looked as if somebody took an awl and scratched the sword on purpose. But hey, it is a practice weapon, so who cares about the scratches?!
THE HILT
Simple, but beautiful. And rock solid.
Straight crossguard of type 1 by Oakeshott. Same satin finish as on blade. A small nick as if somebody occasionally hit something with the crossguard. Removed in 10 seconds by scratching the guard with back of a knife blade. And again, I had a dozen of nicks on crossguard after the very first training session, so who cares about that one nick?!
Waisted grip wrapped with a strip of relatively thick leather. Handle is reinforced by a steel ring at the lower end (where it meets the crossguard). The grip is a little bit too wide and flat at this end, but not too much. The leather is also a little slippery. Leather over cord would have been better, but the current thick leather wrap is much more durable, which is important when fighting in mitten gauntlets.
Pear shaped pommel is also simple but beautiful. It is obviously turned, but same smooth finish can be achieved by sanding such pommel by hand (unlike wheel pommels found for example on Valiant Armoury practical line). And it is BIG. I would prefer a smaller and lighter one. But this is my personal preference and of course it would change the balance of the sword. The pommel is a weapon in its own right. I would not like to receive a morschlag with that, no matter what helmet I had.
THE SCABBARD
For that money-no scabbard.
HANDLING
The sword is too heavy to be used as a one hander (well, at least for a person of my size, and I weigh only 64 kg), but one does not need to hold it with both hands all the time. In two hands it is fast. It is well balanced and can be stopped in mid-swing easily. It may be challenging to perform some traditional longsword techniques (here I have to admit that I am not an expert and so these techniques are challenging for me with any sword), but hey, it is a war sword. Something intended to be used on a battlefield. And it is not overly heavy and can be used for unarmored fighting too, it would just probably be a little slower then lighter swords.
I tried it against Hanwei practical longsword, and it performed very well. I did not feel any disadvantage in speed, though this sword is approximately 350 g heavier then Hanwei one. The blade got scratched all over, but not a single deep nick. Steel seems to be a little harder than on Hanwei practical.
CUTTING
It is a blunt, he-he.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
I like this sword! Time will show how it will withstand constant use (and occasional abuse), but according to my current experience it is an excellent value for the money. Those who want to practice traditional longsword techniques for unarmored combat probably need something lighter, but for reenactment/stage combat this sword is simply perfect. And still performs quite well in unarmored combat.
Historical Accuracy: 4.5
Fit and Finish: 5/5 (for a training sword)
Handling: 4.5/5 (I would like it to be 100-150 grams lighter )
Structural Integrity: 5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
OVERALL: 5/5