Hi, I love big swords, a lot. I also find the type Xxxa blade to be appealing and perfect for chopping. Does anyone know of a well made huge Zweihander, greatsword etc preferably with a type xxx blade and a sharpened ricasso that I can put on my wish list. Right now I'm looking the windlass heroes warsword, hanwei lowlander, claymore armoury lowlander. Also my favorite sword so far is the great sword of war. Also on a side note, are their hems techniques that incorporate a powerful push pull strike with a pulling action? Like a powerful swing from roof guard then immediately pulling hard to cause extra hemmoraging?

Oakeshotts typology stopped at 22 so I'm not sure what you mean by type 30, did you mean 20 and 20a? (XX or XXa)

Ricasso refers to the un sharpened base of a blade, if it were sharp, it would no longer be a riccaso.

Two handed swords are mostly used in continuous arcs, I haven't seen a strike like you describe. It would be an inefficient use use of energy to arrest the downward motion of a sword in order to draw it back during a cut.

Here is a Montante Flourish
https://vimeo.com/117672551

Finley,

With a truly massive war sword the most important thing is to maintain good control of the weapon, and if you want to cut well, to commit to hewing along one particular line. The sword doesn't need help in the form of a pulling motion to cut more effectively. What it needs is for the wielder to strike cleanly with good edge placement. There is a "oneness" of motion needed to make a maximally effective cut that requires body motion, the line of the strike, and edge alignment of the blade all traveling in the same way at the same time. Pulling the blade will actually inhibit how deeply you hew when you hit.

Oh I meant the xiiiia. Also what is the point of not having a ricasso? Wouldn't it just reduce versatility to not have one?

Dunno if this one is "great" enough for your taste. But definitely a high quality sword.

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=...ker+Sword+

Are you thinking of an XVIIIe?

http://www.myArmoury.com/feature_spotxviii.html


http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=20008

So, a XIIIa -

How much do you want to spend?

If you want to spend more than $1000.00, go for an Albion - http://www.albion-swords.com/ -

If $300.00 or less, maybe the Tinker Great Sword of War - http://kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=SH2424 -

Something in between those prices - The Valiant Custom Sword Shop - http://www.customswordshoppe.com/

Maybe something from Arms and Armor - www.arms-n-armor.com

Thanks I think I might get the tinker and start saving up for the claymore armoury greatsword! I like that there are no quillons or a ricasso on there 75 incher. Not sure why but quillons don't really look good to me. Plus you can still grip up on a sword w/o a ricasso as long as your hand doesn't slide. What's everyones expiereince with the tinker greatsword?

Finley,

I'm wondering what you mean when you say "no quillons". Typically, "quillons" is used as a synonym for a "cross guard", meaning that every intact medieval war sword should have quillons. Also, I wasn't too clear when you referred to the 75 incher sword. None of the swords that I could see in the links had a greater total length than 60 inches, unless I missed one. I would be surprised if there were 75 inch long swords made historically for use in battle; at that length, I would expect a parade or bearing sword.

I mean the sloping spikes on some zweihande that can be used to catch blades. And here http://www.claymore-armoury.co.uk/scottish_sw..._b_4.html.

Those protruding spikes are normally termed "langets" and not "quillons".

Langets are the strips of metal below an ax head that strengthen the join. I believe the strips of metal protruding out onto the flats of a claymore (two handed) are also langets. The points that stick out are parrying hooks.

That Lowlander is a beauty! But 9 pounds! :eek: I'd need to step up my workouts (and be 6 inches taller) to wield that thing!

My mistake; thanks for the clarification, Matt.

The Kult of Athena sword ain't that bad for the price (the weight is reasonable for the small size), but 1095 steel is a problem. Too brittle without some odd heat treating!

Harder steel will generally cut better, right? Because of less flex when cutting. So this 1095 would be killer on soft targets?

Cutting swords typically have a good deal of flex, lest they break catching in a bone. A stiffer blade is better for stabbing, especially with an acute point to focus the force of the thrust. In this case, we're talking about the steel being too brittle, which isn't the same thing as saying it's stiff. Brittle steel will break.

Exactly. Stiffness is determined be blade geometry, so you can make a flexible sword out of overly brittle steel, and you wouldn't know it till you hit a hard target and chunk out a piece of the edge or break the sword.

Anyone know if the hanwei lowlander 48 inch blade counts the ricasso, or If it's all blade?