Gday guys

Ok I have finally got all the legal’s sorted for owing a sword in Victoria, Australia and am ready to place my order. I’m ordering through www.roninswords.com.au who is the only Albion retailer in Australia that I know of, going through a dealer seems to be the best way to import a sword as you have to fill in police & customs reports otherwise.

I’m hoping to place my order later tonight but STILL! haven’t made up my mind which sword I’m going to get.

I hope you don’t mind but ive got another question for the forum, which I guess might sound a bit odd but I’m hoping it will help me make up my mind…

The Question:

Of the following Albion swords;

The Crecy

The Baron

The Knight

The Oakeshott

Which would be the “one” sword that you would take into battle? Assume that you may be up against a mix of adversaries with a mix of medieval weapons but with limited to light to no armor (assume very limited to no plate armor)

I really love all 4 of these swords and haven’t really read anything negative about any of then, I’m sure I will be delighted with any of them.

Thanks in advance guys, the last thread I started on my choice gave me some really helpful advice and I’m hoping this will get me over the line.

Cheers

Paul

Hey Paul. So, how tall are you? I'm short, so the Knight is a more logical choice for me. I have a Laird (same type blade), and it's most likely what I would carry in such a situation.
Good luck with this, William

You've picked good choices all around. The Crecy is a very versatile sword designed around the transitional period, so it is designed to take on opponents who have at least some plate armor. Not that it couldn't handle light armor, but you might be better off going with something specifically designed to combat lighter armor types.

The Crecy seems the most versatile and usable one or twohanded equally well.

The Baron is definitely a War sword and a bit more hefty for blunt trauma.

I would consider the other two but only with a shield as they are one handers.

Hard choice but I think I would go for the Crecy.

Much as I love the Oakeshott, with the parameters that you've set up, I choose the Crecy, the all-around cut and thrust sword.

For the scenario I would have to say the Crecy.

There is an argument for the fact that later stiffer blades are actually better for cutting real targets, including those with lighter armour or unarmoured than swords with lenticular blade geometry such as the type XII & XIIa.


Edit note: see Michaels comments below, it was some extensive testing by him that opened my eyes to the role blade stiffness plays in cutting ability.

The Crecy: one of the best cutting swords on the market. Stiff and has an excellent point. Can easily be used one handed but excels in two. Handle is a bit short for my tastes but still very useable.

The Baron: big, heavy, cuts tatami very well but does not do so well against textile armor. Thin near the COP and more prone to bending than Crecy. Not really useable one handed. Lots of presence and personality.

The Knight: nice all around single hand sword. Cuts well.

The Oakeshott: no experience with it

If I was in the market for one of these it would be the Crecy hands down.

Hope this helps.

I'm a huge fan of the Crecy, which is our school's sharp.

That being said, my own personal sharp is the Sempach...


This was last weekend, a great double cut I did against tatami with the Crecy:

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But even the Crecy is hindered by cloth armour at times. I broke the tatami nearly completely thru, but did not cut thru the cloth armour.

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I, too, vote for the Crecy. Both for reasons Mike mentioned (since he's speaking from experience using mine)...

Michael Edelson wrote:

The Crecy: one of the best cutting swords on the market. Stiff and has an excellent point. Can easily be used one handed but excels in two. Handle is a bit short for my tastes but still very useable.

...plus it's also the sword I use on a daily basis for practice, and thus have become quite familiar with it.

The beauty of the Crecy would be that when a cut will not suffice a thrust from it should be able to penetrate most materials that can be thrust through.

At around 3 pounds and with a resonably close POB single handed use should be possible, although not in such an efficient manner as a sword that is designed soley for single handed use.

With regards to the difference between the Knight and the Oakeshott the Knight is a very quick sword in strike and recovery but the Oakeshott is even more nimble.

The Knight "appears" to be more robust, there is more guts to the blade land less self flex, but the Oakeshott has a much more complex profile and from an engineering point of view it may be proved if they were actually tested under the expected conditions demanded upon them that it may be more durable because of this profile

Thanks guys, im actually really surprised at the result, I thought that the baron would have been right up there. I guess im lucky the way its turned out as a close poll would have made it even harder to decide. To be honest I was leaning towards the crecy and this has given me a lot of comfort. Its now Sunday night so im going to paypal my order tomorrow in my lunch break.

I really what you thank you all for taking the time to give me such great considered advice, I was really agonizing over the decision and now I feel quite comfortable.

Now for the waiting game ;) and in the meantime ive got to decide on the scabbard from DBK Custom.

Paul

You won't be sorry with the Crecy. Take care of it, learn to cut properly, and it will last forever.

The crecy is really an all rounder sword so it is what I would like as a general sword for a mix of adversaries. The baron is a specialized bit and the other two are one handers only.