hello,

this is my first time to start a topic so bear with me. i have been looking at Angus Trim's swords recently, specifically the XII arming swords. they are all VERY nice! :) to the point though. i am wanting to get a good arming sword that will last and do all i need it to. i want this to my best sword. my question is which of the XII single hand/arming swords are the most agile and fast? i want this to be a very well balanced and agile sword that i can keep as my main sword.
thank you for your input.

Austin, my best advice to you would be to find some swords in your area and handle them. Local HEMA, WMA, and ARMA groups (not to mention and members here that might be close) should all have examples on hand, and from my experience are happy to help. It's difficult to nail down a "best" sword, because of both personal preferance, and the intended use. Now, type XII swords should all be fairly similar, but blade length, pommel and guard style, and points of balance / percussion are personal choices. For example, I'm a big guy at 6'4" 300lbs, and I can easily wield a larger sword with the balance farther out than my wife at 5'2" would ever want to. There's also the grip material to think about, but I think cord wrapped is pretty standard.

I guess my question to you is, have you handled any Atrim swords yet? Albion? Arms and Armor? Any of them might call to you, and the more of them you swing around, the better. I'll compare it to guns for a minute. Glocks are great guns, both on paper and in the real world, but something about their grip or hand postition makes me hate them. I hadn't even considered my Springfield XD, but once in my hand, I knew it was for me.

Bottom line, go out and swing some swords first!

Austin, you're about an hour away from Kult of Athena, judging by a quick google map search between Elgin and Darien. My advice would be to make the drive up there and handle one of the two arming swords they have in stock (their site has up to date stock lists). Plus, the people there are great and you'd be supporting a local business that we're fortunate to have ;)

i have handled only one atrim a long time ago and remember it was good. i currently own a genuine Masai sword from Africa and a darksword armoury black knight ( at a bit over 3 lbs it is really heavy!). i have never handled an albion or an arms and armor sword though. i am on a very tight budget!

another thing, where would nearby ARMA places be? i have looked for them but haven't had any luck.

after looking in depth a bit, i think i like the XII.5 a good bit more than the others, has anyone ever had experience with it? if so then i would like to know what you think of it.

thanks! :)

yes. the one i am most interested in is this one,
http://triedandtruearmory.com/zc/index.php?ma...ucts_id=26
it is what i will most likely get

do they actually allow you to dry handle swords at kult of athena without buying anything?

Sure they do. You can call them and see what they have on hand for you to handle.