Hi,
I'm working with a high school that's doing Scaramouche. I need to find some smallswords that are usable for stage combat. Due to a limited budget, I'm looking for something that isn't necessarily a perfect replica (like the beautiful $400.+ models I covet myself) but something that's strong and usable, and looks close enough to pass for a small sword.
Any manufacturers out there have an "econo" model for school use?
thanks,
freiritter
you may contact my direct message link as well

try this place - http://www.zenwarriorarmory.com/catalog.php?category=70 -

It depends how inexpensive you mean when you say "econo"

also - www.americanfencers.com

Hi Roger,
Thanks. The Warrior ones are more what would work. I have one of the old Armoury ones. Like many of those I've used at various theatre schools, the knuckle guards snap off them very easily, and they tarnish so quickly. The steel type from Zen looks pretty reasonable. I'll need to find the right blade, as a foil blade won't do for stage.
thanks for the quick reply,
cheers,
John

The blade you need to use is a musketeer blade (AKA double-wide epee)

You may want to rent intead of buy - try this guy - http://www.fightdesigner.com/

The trouble with most rentals is that the swords are cheap with pot metal hilts that tend to break as you mentioned.

If you go with Zen Warrior, i would recommend building a sword yourself from pieces. Here is a photo of a smallsword i put together with their parts, with the exception of the grip, which i made. Their "Denny Graves" quillon/knucklebow/pas d'ane is a good piece, but it requires a little work to be comfortable. It comes with a very square and sharp cornered ricasso, which i found uncomfortable. A bit of work with a dremmel and a 1" slack belt sander made it much better in the hand.....

For the price it looks more like a "real" smallsword than most, and won't break like the American Fencers' manganese bronze ones. I believe all ZWA hilt parts are stainless steel.

Another alternative in the sub-$200 range is Rogue Steel: http://www.roguesteel.com/smallswords.html
I've only handled his broadswords, which were simple but clean and well put together.

Jesse

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Roger,
I have a quick question. Would any of the blades at Zen Warrior Armoury be able to take an edge at all? Or are they more like epee blades for fencing with a triangular cross section? I'm looking for something like a thrusting bade that could hold an edge if desired, and I really like the look and price of their weapons. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any pictures of their blades, so I'm at a loss here. Maybe something with a flattened diamond cross section?

The blade on this one looks nice, but I don't know which one it is. http://www.zenwarriorarmory.com/catalog.php?i...egory%3D70

I would check out KOA. they have a selection of stage combat weapons, and they are known for their customer service. I'm sure you could call and ask about the quality of any of the products you see and they would be glad to answer you honestly.

http://kultofathena.com/swords-stage.htm

http://kultofathena.com/product~item~SH2279~n...+Sword.htm

http://kultofathena.com/product~item~SH2325~n...+Sword.htm

Schlager might actually work, I'm not looking for something to cut with, just something that looks more accurate and could have an edge, or at least could look like it had an edge. I'm in the market now and I might just add one of these weapons to my collection. Thanks for the information!