Quality Side Swords and other weapons?

[James Brazas]

We were talking in our group about where to go to buy wasters, blunts, and sharp swords of various varieties. Obviously, Albion is certainly the favored brand for everything they make. So for arming swords, longswords, messers, falchions, etc., Albion is generally the way to go.

Yet what about side swords? As of this moment, Albion does not make side swords or sidesword blunts. Does anyone know what would be a good company for sideswords and particularly what sidesword models are the best?

Hanwei makes a sidesword that's supposed to be decent, but it's only in the $150-$250 range so I sincerely doubt it's in the same category as an Albion.

It also might be nice to have a quality rondel dagger or maybe even a main gauche for sword-and-dagger fighting. Does anyone know what would be a good place to go to for that?

Also, what about polearms? Obviously, any well-treated hickory staff would do for quarterstaff, but what about spear or pollaxe? I hear Arms and Armour's spears and pollaxes are good. Is that true?

Finally, what about rapiers? I'm personally not a big fan of the rapier myself, but it's a big part of the art and I'll probably study it eventually. What would you do for wasters, blunts, and sharps for rapiers?

[Alex Bourdas]

You might try Darkwood Armory, they do rapier, sidesword and dagger trainers. Never bought anything from them myself, but I've heard good stuff about them.

[Stacy Clifford]

The Hanwei Practical Sidesword is in the process of being redesigned. The current blade is not that bad, but it looks more like a short rapier than a cutting sword (it is much stiffer than their actual rapier blades though). The problem we had with them in Houston is that nearly all of us who got one either bent or broke the side rings in just six months, doing mostly thrusting play at that. If they could fix that and give it a more sword-shaped blade, as I hear the new design is supposed to have, then it would be a very serviceable training weapon.

As for rapier, since nobody yet makes steel ones we've been happy with yet, New Sterling Arms has a new "tuck" waster JC had them design for that purpose. I've handled one but haven't gotten to try it out yet. Looks promising.

[James Brazas]

It sounds like 'til Hanwei's newer version is out, that Darkwood Armoury would be the best bet.

They seem to have a lot of options for their blades, which is nice, but I'm not clear what the differences are. For their sidesword, they offer "spada" and "sidesword" versions. Does anyone know what the difference is?

Also, what does everyone think of these blades?

http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/index.php ... cts_id=170

http://www.armor.com/rapier164.html

Would they be good for sidesword? Would they handle well and accurately? I doubt either is quite Albion quality, but I'll take the closest I can get.

[Ben Floyd]

A little bit of thread necro...

How about these from A&A? They're based on Meyer's woodcuts.

[Alex Bourdas]

Oooh, I like those. Can't seem them on the A+A site though.

[Stacy Clifford]

The pictures look nice, but some of A&A's training blades appear to be much more floppy than we like in ARMA. I'd be happy to judge each model on its own merits, but if the A&A Side Sword Trainer is any guide on price, nobody I know wants to spring $600 on it without being able to handle one first.

[Steven Reich]

The pictures look nice, but some of A&A's training blades appear to be much more floppy than we like in ARMA. I'd be happy to judge each model on its own merits, but if the A&A Side Sword Trainer is any guide on price, nobody I know wants to spring $600 on it without being able to handle one first.

Assuming that the rectangular blade in this photo is the same as the rectangular blade on the sidesword trainer (i.e. the sidesword blade, not the rapier blade), it is not at all floppy. In fact it is quite stiff--I own two of the sidesword trainers, so I'm talking from firsthand experience.

However, I understand wanting to handle one before spending $600 on it. I always want to handle a sword before spending money on it because I have specific ideas of what I want out of something in that price range.

Steve

[Stacy Clifford]

Assuming that the rectangular blade in this photo is the same as the rectangular blade on the sidesword trainer (i.e. the sidesword blade, not the rapier blade), it is not at all floppy. In fact it is quite stiff--I own two of the sidesword trainers, so I'm talking from firsthand experience.

That's good to hear. I was thinking mainly of some of the A&A longswords we've seen in various videos that bent too much on impact for our taste, but I would expect a shorter blade to be a bit stiffer. There are plenty of companies that make some products we like and some we don't, that's just life. I hope I do get to try one out eventually.

[Jaron Bernstein]

The Hanwei Practical Sidesword is in the process of being redesigned. The current blade is not that bad, but it looks more like a short rapier than a cutting sword (it is much stiffer than their actual rapier blades though). The problem we had with them in Houston is that nearly all of us who got one either bent or broke the side rings in just six months, doing mostly thrusting play at that. If they could fix that and give it a more sword-shaped blade, as I hear the new design is supposed to have, then it would be a very serviceable training weapon.

As for rapier, since nobody yet makes steel ones we've been happy with yet, New Sterling Arms has a new "tuck" waster JC had them design for that purpose. I've handled one but haven't gotten to try it out yet. Looks promising.

We have two NSA wooden rapier tucks. They are superb as rapier simulators. I would not cut with them due to the blade delicacy, but they are agile and stiff pokers.

[Jaron Bernstein]

Albion does make a great sharp C&T sword: http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/alb ... an-xix.htm

[Randall Pleasant]

Albion does make a great sharp C&T sword: http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/alb ... an-xix.htm

Jaron

Do you own one of these? I would like to hear more about them.

[Steven Reich]

Albion does make a great sharp C&T sword: http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/alb ... an-xix.htm

That's a really nice sword (I got to handle one a few years ago), but I would hesitate to practice any hard blade-on-blade actions with it with the stock blade and I definitely wouldn't use it for free-play.

Steve

[Ben Floyd]

I have their messer trainer. The blade looks to be about the same. It's in no way overly flexible. It's very stiff, i.e. hard to bend by hand.

edit: Good guess on the price. It's $610. It is a custom order. That's why it's not on the website.

[Jaron Bernstein]

I indeed do own a Doge. It is a great C&T sword. It has blade presence and the edge geometry to cut well, but the point agility to thrust equally well. All the stuff on the grip and pommel give a variety of options (fingering the ricasso for better point control, a knucklebow to punch and pommel just made to strike with). It is however, a sharp, and can't really be used for more than flourishing and test cutting for that reason. I am still waiting for someone to make a good steel C&T and rapier blunt.