LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jul 2, 2012 4:13:10 GMT
Fair enough--and you are indeed right that, just as with any other arrow, one should still know whether the spine is sufficient!
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jul 2, 2012 2:00:51 GMT
Uh, actually untrue. Fiberglass arrows have been made in all spines, and if they are "weak" somebody should tell AMS that all their fishing arrows are so. They actually were quite common up to the mid-70s or so. The problem with fiberglass is that it's heavy (which is why fiberglass arrows never went out of fashion in bowfishing, where trajectory isn't much of an issue).
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 30, 2012 21:56:30 GMT
EXCELLENT!!! Now that, folks, is how it's done!
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 28, 2012 23:24:53 GMT
Sorry, jhart--that's the biggest stretch of a rationalization I've heard in a while. (I'm the one you're responding to.) And the spuriousness of your argument is indicated by the fact that, yes, in each case having a supervisor come in reversed the decision.
The waster was actually ZIP-TIED TO MY BALDRIC ALREADY. They were miffed that they couldn't zip-tie the hilt to the scabbard. Of course not, because, well, there is no separate hilt and scabbard--that it couldn't be "drawn." They were trying to draw the damn thing--I'm dead serious--to figure out how where to tie it to prevent that. And upset that they couldn't. Which is really ridiculous when the idea is to prevent something from being drawn.
Eh. As I said, I can have whatever fun I was to have just as easily costumed without arms, or in street clothes. When games are inane, just don't play the game.
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 27, 2012 22:15:05 GMT
Ha, you think you guys have problems with the inanity out there. I feel you, but you've got to get a load of what I keep running into these past five or six years. I've had two things I've tended to do in costume, just for my own peace of mind about not being hassled and not having to worry about anything happening to a sword that's expensive or I like: wearing one of my old all-black polypro wasters, or wearing a decent looking empty scabbard. You'd think that would work, right? No. I've been hassled at the gate repeatedly, especially about the waster, which from a distance looks like a blade in a scabbard which is exactly the idea. But of course it's one single piece of plastic. So it can't be peace-bonded because it can't be drawn. Well, at times at places as diverse as the Las Vegas Ren fair, the MN Ren Fest, and CONvergence I've been denied entrance because they can't peace-bond my frigging waster. And had to argue the need to see a higher-up to overrule the person at the gate every time it happens. The empty scabbard causes fewer problems, but does get totally confused looks and probably a half-minute of delay as they look me over like I must be up to something suspicious. Yup. Nothing else obviously on my body, no way in hell to hide a non-bonded sword--but I must be up to something to smuggle one in, right? Sheesh. Seriously, though, I wasn't much of a costume guy as it was, so I just started attending as a "mundane." My weapons are for use, not for dress-up any more. But I do sometimes get bummed that I can't show off things I've customized or made. These recent developments have me bummed in particular. I have both a godendag and a plançon a picot I was making myself and I was considering dressing up again somehow to show them off somewhere. So much for that.
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 23, 2012 16:31:42 GMT
Keep in mind the option of a baldric. Was rarely the most fashionable form of carrying the sword--but never went out of use over the course of, well, a few millennia! (Got one I love nearly a decade ago that's the most effective and comfortable thing in the world and haven't agonized over sword belts since.)
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 16, 2012 23:53:21 GMT
Hmm. Probably had a hundred or so models of various styles and makers--but not anywhere near that at one time. Like some others, I tend to rotate stock, and while I might have peaked about five years ago at about three dozen at a time, I'm really shooting for the discipline of no more than a dozen at a time that I regularly use. In that, it's become a mixed blessing that I've stabilized with a certain number of "low" end pieces that I find just fine, and have a hard time parting with.
Albion Sovereign Atrim EN series Swedish bastard sword (stay tuned, I might actually put this one up for sale) A&A Cavalier Gen2 Henry V, grip redone Windlass German Falchion Windlass Long Kindjal (their single-edged Qaddara style) Windlass Horsehead Falcata Windlass Qama, rehilted Windlass Arbedo, grip rewrap Hanwei Dark Sentinel, added pommel and crossguard Hanwei Dark Sentinel, rehilted Hanwei Stirling style baskethilt backsword CS Grosse Messer CS Shamshir, rehilted CS 1796, rehilted (in a somewhat Polish-Hungarian style)
I'm not really counting knives, polearms and the like here, nor "swords" I've been making from farm implements like scythes or a hayknife (more on the latter soon--it came out amazingly well and cuts as good as any sword I have.)
Pretty happy with what's here though, and I'm seriously embracing a form of minimalism as a lifestyle. Nothing against trying out new swords, which I'll always gladly do, but I haven't found there's much truly new under the sun in a while. So unless I part with something (like the Atrim Swedish, painful as it is, because I rather want a Thorpe or the like) my deal with myself is that nothing new comes in until something goes out.
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 10, 2012 6:02:16 GMT
This is another of those discussions that we're all guilty of thinking about a lot--including me--but one that also comes to make me sigh, because the very act of engaging in thinking about it too much misses the point.
To illustrate, I'll take two martial artists of note of the past few decades: boxer George Foreman and MMA fighter Roy Nelson. Both are very accomplished fighters. Yet both are, well, fat and slow. Now that characterization is more than a little deceptive; both are/were in excellent cardiovascular condition, and much, much faster than we or their opponents often think. But, they were still slower. Slow enough that they "shouldn't," by all rights, have succeeded as they did. (I really enjoyed Nelson's latest KO by the way--"Pee Wee" Herman is not my favorite fighter.)
But what Nelson has, and Foreman had in his "fat and slow" comeback years, was composure and impeccable timing. And timing, while it requires speed and power and conditioning reasonable enough to be competitively in the ballpark with an adversary, is the real key--regardless of the weapon.
I've mentioned before a history prof and WMA-er friend's phrase "the two-by-four rule," which is that almost any rigid object around two to four feet long and two to four pounds is a weapon to be completely wary of in another person's hands, and confident of in your own. That's why Musashi could kick ass with a whittled oar. The distinction between blunt force trauma on one end of the spectrum and a clean incision on the other (and then of course there's puncture) might make a huge difference in our romantic imaginations--but to the body receiving it it often makes little to no difference at all.
Of course, in the real world how confident one can be of being in the ballpark with speed/power/conditioning and then having the edge in timing is ... dicey. When I look at a person walking down the street, can I tell if he's a chubby wannabe or a George Foreman or Roy Nelson? No. In weaponed fighting in particular, you take your life very much into jeopardy with every challenge--and countless men in history have met with nasty surprises.
So we like to engage in--as I've also said--an "RPG mentality." Trying to reason out, and ferret out, "who would win?" scenarios. Even when we give lip service to "it's the man and not the weapon," we still tend to treat it like an RPG situation, just a more complex one: IF we factor in armor and IF we factor in build and IF we factor in terrain and IF (etc. etc.) ... what would happen?"
The truth? You don't know until it happens. All you or an enemy has to be is in the ballpark, in competitive range of each other, and all bets are off. Long sword or short, axe or club or flail or spear--anyone with great timing (and sometimes a little luck) can take anyone else out in melee range. And, throughout history, has.
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 6, 2012 7:38:36 GMT
Another good lead--thanks! Which led me to it apparently being called a kaiser blade or sling blade too: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_bladeWhich not only makes the movie title make so much more sense (I admit to not having seen it yet)--the movie reference punctuates it's capability as a weapon. (As if the billhook shape weren't enough to surmise it.)
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 5, 2012 23:36:08 GMT
Aha--many thanks, Mark. With the proper term I can see some like it are still being made and available. Plus an antique one will be easier to find. Either way makes it much easier when I'm in the mood to get one.
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 5, 2012 23:07:58 GMT
Damn, might have been made as a farm tool but this would be perfect as a billhook weapon. I wish I weren't dedicated to not accumulating more for a while. Someday I'll have to either find another one or make one made--and in the latter case it won't have the patina and allure of weathering of this one. If someone else here picks it up--and I hope someone does--share your impressions! Vintage ~ Pickaroon Hookaroon ~ Axe Sickle Hook Farm Woods Old Tool Scythe www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Pickaro ... 1160wt_698
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 5, 2012 18:04:15 GMT
So, just curious--does anyone else want to list a sword (or two or three) that they get the feeling is roundly disparaged, but you simply love? Mind you, I'm not necessarily talking about "underrated." My CS Shamshir for instance or Hanwei Dark Sentinels I have a higher opinion of than most, but I wouldn't say either model is too badly criticized. (And I'm talking individual models, not makers.) (Also, though I can't control it, would politely ask that we not respond to anyone here with more criticisms. Yes, yes, we know that most of you/us hate what someone says they like here--that's the reason for this thread! ) So, what "ugly orphan(s)" do you have? Explain why you like them if you wish, or just mention which they are. Me? CS Grosse Messer Windlass Arbedo. (Yeah, one is more solid than necessary and feels a bit like an axe, the other the opposite and a bit whippy and machete like. But man, both cut like a m*#$#^%#@&$r.)
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 4, 2012 18:41:47 GMT
By and by, I took one of my scythe swords out on the porch the other day and took it to a cantaloupe. I usually don't cut fruit since, unlike meat, it tends to fall apart when it hits the tarp, but this melon was ridiculously cheap.
Anyway, this scythe sword already was a perfect exemplar of what I've mentioned before about keeping min mind that bottle cutting (and tatami) seems never to give "false positives" but does give a lot of "false negatives." That is, I've never encountered a sword that will cut a bottle but not cut meat and bone--but there are more than a few that will bat bottles but will cut right through flesh.
I already knew the latter was true about this blade, from trying it on meat. But what I wasn't at all prepared for was just how effortlessly the scythe sword went through the melon! Don't underestimate this kind of weapon.
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 4, 2012 18:35:11 GMT
It certainly is a nice looking blade in profile, I'll say that much.
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 4, 2012 18:33:13 GMT
Well, on the negative side, the idea I've been doing a lot of these past three years or so isn't exactly original. On a big plus side, I haven't exactly been very crazy! :lol: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythe_sword
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 2, 2012 14:29:56 GMT
I have to speak well of the Gen2 Henry V. Can't speak for other models, which I'm leery of, but this one is wonderful.
Mine's a little dodgy in cutting, but that's because I got it through By the Sword and I think they were lax in listing it as sharpened--and as a testament to loving the aesthetics the way they are and not not wanting to risk messing them up, I just use it against targets like aluminum cans and soft plastic like milk jugs. There's only one other swords I've done that with (a Qaddara-style Windlass single-edged kindjal.) For me to not either sharpen something or dump it off in such a case means it pleases me a lot, and I rest secure it would cut fiercely if I really wanted it to.
And as much as I love Arms & Armor and what I have from them, in all honesty I actually like the guard and pommel of the Gen2 better aesthetically.
& I'd only get the A&A in custom form because the hollow-ground blade makes or breaks the historical connection, so I have to say here that at a third the cost or less the Gen2 is an excellent bargain.
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Jun 2, 2012 14:17:52 GMT
I own both--and love both!!
*I'd* go Shamshir first, if I HAD to choose. But it really depends on what you're looking for.
The GM is a heavy battlefield weapon. In fact it'd be one of my first choices in that case. Some people think of it as a novelty item, but I think that mentality is cracked. It is NOT that different from any other high-end sword of this weight, and more importantly, if some warriors chose a battle axe with the same or greater weight and further out POB, the raw fact is the GM is a perfectly viable choice. It'll destroy whatever it hits. But like any sword of this weight it'll hit slower. If that's what you're identifying with, the techniques of a man in armor in a battlefield situation, as you DEMOLISH things in backyard cutting--go for it! The GM is challenging and loads of fun.
The Shamshir cuts as good as anything I have, and my rehilted one is my absolute favorite sword. But for all its cutting prowess it's a "finesse" weapon. Fast and handy, but the sort of thing where you're visualizing walking around in civilian life, or as light cavalry on horseback, or using as a backup weapon.
That's what I say. Quality on both in outstanding, value for the money is great. But what does your "inner warrior" personality feel more like these days?
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on May 31, 2012 0:04:51 GMT
Speaking of axes at a great price that would make a great combination crossbow/musket rest and weapon: www.kultofathena.com/product.asp ... garian+Axe (Had my eye on this one many, many years.)
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on May 30, 2012 19:31:24 GMT
I recommend the crossbow--and in particular the Barnett Jackal, a very excellent model in your price range. (And I see both your choices kind of go together, in an odd way. I and a lot of other crossbow shooters swear by a shooting stick--and in history a good berdiche style axe would fit, doing double duty in that role and as a hand to hand weapon. Certainly musketeers in Eastern Europe used it for that. )
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Apr 24, 2012 0:14:20 GMT
I've come to love using a tab. If you make one I recommend going hair-on though, you'll appreciate the smoothness.
Three under is a wonderful draw and many people prefer it. My own preference is two under but not split--going without any finger pressure on top. But same principle: avoiding pinching the arrow inadvertently drastically improves my shot.
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