I'm looking into buying a pair of French fighting knives for use in stage combat. I'm a little wary as they are made by Windlass Steelcrafts and I've heard some pretty negative reviews about some of their products over the years. I was wondering if anyone here had purchased one and could tell me anything about it. I'd be especially interested to know how well it is likely to hold up under stage combat conditions and how much (if any) modification would need to be done to it to make it safe.

http://www.by-the-sword.com/acatalog/Daggers_Page_4.html

Another weapon I'm considering purchasing and would like feedback on is also by Windlass, the bar mace. Again if anyone has one I'd love to hear about it. In this case I'm most interested in the balance and whether or not the weight is prohibitive.

http://tudorshoppe.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc...ode=600652

Thanks in advance.

Dustin-

I'm also a big Mace fan, and when I saw that one come out I was quick to think long and hard about it. Its pretty basic, but thats what makes it all the more cool to me. Do we know if its based on any actual original example?

Windlass claims it's based on a piece found in the Thames (much like one of their other maces) but I haven't seen a photo of an original, nor have I seen a similar piece made by any other smith. I think a lot of the appeal for me comes from the fact that it doesn't have the large unwieldy head of most maces. I am in fact much more inclined toward bladed weapons than blunt as far as stage combat goes, but this one caught my eye. If the weight is balanced well enough it could probably be used like a baton, or in the style of Irish stick fighting.

There is a near identical mace pictured in Armi Bianche Italiane, so it is based on a historic example. I know at least one original was made out of bronze. I dont know much more than that. It is cool though...

Please see attached pics:

The drawings / illustrations are from the book "The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms & Weapons" Edited by Leonid Tarassuk & Claude Blair.


Unfortunatetly there is no specific information about the maces shown in the drawing.


The other pic I found on an Italian website several years ago, unfortunately I no longer have the web address, but I think the website no longer exists.
Can anyone translate the writing?


Can anyone post a pic of the one from "Armi Bianche Italiane" and the one found in the Thames River as Windlass Claim?

Does anyone have any other pics or information on this type of mace? If so please post.

Thanks

Danny Grigg

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