I was just wondering what some of you would recommend as a good beginners longsword, i´m deciding betwen either one of the beautiful swords from Albion Swords or one from Pavel Moc.

Wich one would you say be the best and most priceworthy of these two? Am thinking in lines of how long it will last and the quality of the sword.

Thanks in advance and sorry for my bad english, is to tired at the moment to spell correctly....

Hi, Mathias, and welcome!

In order to better answer your question, it would be useful for us to understand more about what your intent for the sword is. What I mean is, do you plan on simply displaying it, cutting with it, sparring with it, reenacting with it...

I'm not able to give a fair direct comparison between Pavel Moc and Albion, since I have not ever seen a Pavel Moc piece. Reviews from others have generally been favorable, though. Two of his pieces are reviewed in the forum's Reviews section: "Italy Sword" and "Violet 1 1/2 Bastard Sword" and I have heard from others who have handled his pieces before, though I cannot point you to reviews.

Albion, on the other hand, I am quite familiar with. I've handled nearly their entire available line, and own (and regularly handle) 10 different swords from the Next Gen or Museum lines. Again, a large portion of their offerings are reviewed in the forum's Reviews section, and a search on the site for any of the sword names would yield a significant number of hits. Of the semi-production/production swords that I have handled over the years, in the Dark Ages/Medieval arena, Albion is by far the best - my not-so-humble opinion. :D The longswords that I currently own are the Brescia, Regent, Landgraf, and Mercenary. Each of these are excellent examples of their type, well-executed, and quite solid. Each is also quite different from the others. Of these four, the Brescia is my favorite to practice and cut with - there's a strong connection and comfort level I have built with this piece. The Regent is a close second... My primary interest is in the German schools of longsword, and both of these seem to be excellent for this study. I have also used the other two, and have found them to also be very well-suited.... I would not consider sparring with them, would not use them in staged/choreographed combat, though - they're quite appropriately real, with all the inherent dangers. I might consider using the Squire Line pieces or (when they do come out) definitely would use the Maestro Line pieces for that purpose, or would use a waster or padded sparring weapon designed specifically for that purpose.

This is just my opinion, though... I'm sure others will voice theirs.

Thanks for the reply, i should have mentioned that it´s use is gone be for sparring and practice.

I have looked in to the Albion line and i really love the Talhoffer model, but i don´t know if it´s a bit of blasphemy to order it blunted and used in sparring? What do you guys say?

for use, lets see. i totally love my lutel for later time periods. but for earlier you CAN NOT beat a paul binns.

Thanks for you´r input, i really value your advice. I will think it over and talk with my traineer what he thinks.
Will tell you later where the decision whent:)

Personally, for training and bouting, I'd consider A&A's offerings:

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#187 Fechtbuch Sword

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#203 Fechterspiel Sword

Let me say that the fechterspiel is probably the best blunt I've ever used. It's not cheap, but it is absolutely worth every penny. Wide enough edges, tapers enough to have some flex on a thrust, lively in the hand, feels like a realistic sword. I find these better than aluminum wasters for bouting, too, though obviously aluminum is much cheaper.

To beat the topic to death, I too would suggest that you not buy a blunt NextGen. I seem to recall reading somewhere on Albion's website that the NextGen line is designed to be handled sharp, and blunting it isn't enough of a safety precaution, and in addition would change the handling (not sure on the last part). I get the feeling that they offer the blunting option for collectors who don't want the liability of a sharp sword falling and cutting something/one, rather than to make the sword safe for practice.

While I'm at it, I would like to say that I have exactly one Albion sword (the Crecy) at the moment, but my next one will definately be either the Talhoffer of the Thegn.

Edit: Nathan already made my point, so nevermind!

On another note, I realize that Albion has been releasing some killer stuff lately, but lets not forget other quality makers in the wake of the excitement. Promoting competition is a truely good thing for the sword collector, after all.