The title says it all.
I'm looking for a sword that is good looking, with as peened pommel and with good mechanical properties.
I saw on KoA that there is a DarkswordArmoury a good bashing XIIIa, but I read over the forum that there is a lot of contorversity about this maker.
Can anyone recommend me a good armourer for purchasing one?

You can't go wrong with Arms & Armor or Albion Swords. Both higher priced than DSA, but you get what you pay for.

http://www.arms-n-armor.com
http://www.albion-swords.com

Or, purchase a previously owned piece, some excellent deals at myArmoury's 'The Marketplace'.

Jon

This is the Regent. It is 5 or 6 times more expensive but if I had the funds I would absolutely get one.
http://www.myArmoury.com/review_alb_reg.html
It has an exquisite hollow ground blade, and from what I hear, handles like a dream.

I have a Fiore
http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/ne...re-xva.htm
It's an XVa and is a little more thrust oriented. That doesn't mean it won't cut though, the stiffness of these blades make them much better cutters than the shape suggests. It is one stout sword, and is perfect for the levering and half swording found in the fighting treatises. Albion makes several swords from this blade, and the Talhoffer is the closest in appearance to the Regent having a straight cross, and a scent stopper pommel.

Don't overlook the squire line! The 15th century bastard is only a couple hundred more than the two handed gothic, but leaps and bounds better in terms of handling. The shorter wider based blade is supposedly a wicked cutter, when sharpened properly.
http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/sq...astard.htm

While Tried and true isn't currently accepting commissions, you can't go wrong with an Atrim blade. They do use a pommel nut and that might be a deal breaker.
http://triedandtruearmory.com/zc/index.php?ma...ucts_id=46
I have his 1592, and I really love how it handles.

On Black Friday the Black Prince by Arms and Armor will be 15% off. If I didn't have my Fiore, I would be very tempted to pick up a Black Prince for nearly 150.00 bucks off!
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=27364
http://www.arms-n-armor.com/sword034.html

So there you go, those are my top pics and they range from 500.00 to 1500.00 or so. Check out this review on the 15th century Bastard, getting one in the sharpened version would be where I would send you. You get all the Albion knowledge and experience at half the price. http://www.myArmoury.com/review_alb_15th.html

I would skip the 300.00 dollar swords all together, I started with a hanwei tinker longsword sharp, and it's a nice enough piece of training equipment, but it just doesn't say "sword" the way an accurate replica does. When you hold them you immediately feel the difference.

I advise against getting a basher - typically they are badly balanced.

XIIIa's from Albion to look at - Duke, Steward, Count

From A&A - the XIIth century sword (maybe that's a XIIa), the Bohemian Broadsword

ATrim - Gus has made many good XIIIa's but they are now hard to find. The Valiant signature series is a good value - designed by ATrim but made in China - the Savoy and the XIIIa bastard sword - again hard to find.

Another possibility - the Hanwei/Tinker Great Sword of War - designed by Michael Pearce, made in China. This one is cheaper than the others, perhaps not as good quality-wise, but still better than a DSA.

Thanks for the advice, but Albions and such swords are fare beyond my price range. I was thinking about somethin like a "cheap" eastern european maker-like (price range 100-250 euro).

Edit: to give and idea my sword would look like this, but unfortunately they only ship in Russia http://translate.google.it/translate?hl=en&am...CCMQ7gEwAA

Than your only choice is Hanwei Tinker Great Sword of War.

If you can stand to wait I would suggest saving up and getting either the A&A sword or one of the Albions. In the long run you will not regret it and will have something that will last and be balanced properly for it's type.

What about a del tin?

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

Some XIIa/XIIIa Del Tins:

DT2142, DT5143. I particularly like DT5156.

As mentioned,your preffered budget would help alot,
S/H will also probably see you get a nicer sword,
have you checked how far you are from Del Tin,
industry standard for many years,if your within reasonable distance,just the option to go and handle many of the line would be worth a visit,let alone the option of maybe mix and match discussion in person,
alot of choice in quality and price in this type,

Del-Tin are easily damaged in edge-to-edge combat, an they cost too much for the (horrible) porpouse I have for them. I'd concentrate on stage combat. Tinker great sword isn't peened, if not i would have arleady purhased one =).

Well if you block any sword edge to edge, unless it's a stage sword like BKS, you'll destroy it. Try smashing up a sharp sword edge to edge with another sharp and see what happens :wtf:. That's what the 'FLAT' is for. I have a DT 5143 and I love mine, it is superbly balanced and cuts fairly well when sharpened. Seriously what are you going to use this for? Is this for test cutting or stage fighting? I like some Darkswords. Some are very very good for the money others are miss like Windlass. I had owned their 1339 and it does handle well for the money. DSA swords are threaded with a nut retaining the grip and then are peened over. Most are pretty good although some out of their most recent batch apparently had heat treat issues.

I (ashemely) have to do stage combat, so I need something like Jiri Krondak's swords. And in Italy is illegal to keep sharpened swords, as well as importing them. I thought that I can modify the tinker great sword by shortenng the handle and peen the pommel instead of screwing it. But the problem of the sharpened edge still remains...
Del Tins are good, yeah, but only against other del Tins, and my mates aren't absolutely willing to spend that much for a sword.

Than I suggest Viktor Berbekucz. Go to his page and choose what you like. His swords are not easily damaged.

Okay you do know the Tinker Great Sword of War is sharp right the way it comes? As far as I know there is no blunt version of it. If you want a heavier stage sword check out outfit for events.

http://www.outfit4events.com/middle-ages-onea...-8364.html

I think this one would serve you well, it is made in europe, and under 300 euros. Del Tins are made to be historically accurate and they don't make the edges super thick like 3 mm blunt stage swords. If you just want something to beat up, I'd look through out fit for event's website and check it out.

http://www.outfit4events.com/middle-ages-weap...c-1_2.html

A note about DSA, the blades come with a 1.5 mm edge but the tip is sharpened from the forge. You would need to round the tip off like with Windlass.

:D I fight with one of his singlehanders with disc pommel and I'm very satisfied. If it was a sharp I would expect it to be 200gr lighter, but I don't mind that bit of extra weight for stage fighting. It really is excellently heat treated.

Consider the Albion Maestro Epee de Guerre over at Albion Europe. It's more expensive than you would wish, but still under $500.00. It will perform more like a real sword that most other heavy stage combat beater blunts. Here is a review of the other Maestro longsword, the Liechtenaeur

Looking for a decent XIIIa myself.

The Epee de Guerre costs roughly $550. Still considering one.

Does anyone have any experience with http://www.szymonchlebowski.pl?

He makes an XIIIa based on one in Glasgow.

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How about these swords made in Italy?

http://www.aresacademy.it