Ahhh! Now this is the ONE!

There is no telling how many people we let cut this summer with this sword, and that is pretty much what they all said. There is an archetypical sword a lot of people think of when they think "sword", and for a lot of people this one is it. People just saw and had to use it. I have never held a sword that demanded to cut something like this one does, and we cut everything with this sword. Pool noodles. Tons and tons of bottles. Telephone books. Newspapers wrapped around wooden dowels soaked over night. Several accidental hard cuts into a 2x4 cutting stand. Pig arms. A lot of pig arms. This could cut through the thickest part of most pig arms with a two handed cut. What would be light harassing cuts cut into the bone. And it feels better, to me at least, than most other similar swords I have handled, although I admit I am starting to develop a preference for the way ATRIM's feel now. In this case, Gus just took a sword with a great blade presence... an obvious "chopper", and was able to pull enough of that weight around the cross to make relatively lively handling. The way the weight is distributed though makes it surprising for smaller people when they handle it. It has plenty of authority, but is easily wielded. For me, it was about the outer limit that I could use effectively one handed for any length of time.

And as spade-like as the point on this one is, it still easily thrusted through meat but skipped off bone. I believe part of why it thrusts so well is because this one is one of Gus' stiffer swords. It is easily one of the stiffest type XIII I have seen. It is supposed to be part way between his "older" work and the "new" stiff battle swords. If it hadn't unfortunately become a cliché I would call it a battle ready sword. At least this is what that should have meant.

I only have one regret with this sword. Gus said that the one he sent us didn't have the robust anti-armour edge on it and that we could cut anything we wanted to except metal. And we took him up on that.

After everything we did to the sword we didn't leave a mark on it while we were test cutting. However, at the end of a cutting session on 10 pig arms, I was using this sword to chop them up so we could dispose of them. I had laid a telephone book over a wooden banister and was cutting the pig arms up on it with a wrath cut. Really, I should have been using an axe. One of the arms had a place that had been broken right below the shoulder, and had formed a solid ball of bone when it healed about as big as my fist. It was completely solid with no marrow at all. And I cut through it.

This was the only thing we have done so far that did any damage to any of Gus' swords we have been using. It didn't "roll" the edge, or break it off... it did however bend it off line in a "wave". The whole thing is 3/16... maybe a quarter of an inch long. If you lay it on a straight edge you can "just" see light under it, and if you didn't know it was there you wouldn't notice it. And a lot of people didn't. We did this on the first cutting day we used this sword, and over the time we had it we let a lot of people use it and no one ever noticed it. Either from seeing it, or having it interfere with their cutting. As far as I am concerned it was a cosmetic flaw and didn't effect performance at all, Although as I understand it eventually it would work there and fail if not fixed. I'll let Gus explain it better if he wants too.

My bottom line? Like everything we get from Gus this is extremely well made with a marvelous fit and finish. Not flashy. No frills. What I would want if I needed a sword for real. For a sword that was so far off what I like, this one is now among the few I eventually want to own. I love this sword.

As I posted in an earlier post, we lost both the film and the digital pictures for this. I'll try to post screencaps and video soon.

I've got one of those. I agree with David about the quality of this sword. It is a very successful design, managing to combine the authority of a big blade (though not long at 32") with relatively light weight, and surprising maneuverablity. The grip is long enough to fit two hands at 7 inches. Two-handed, this sword really sings.

I don't think the AT1421 is currently on any of the ATrim sword sites, but I bet Gus would make one for you if you wanted it. This model needs to be officially revived.

In case you folks forgot what it looks like

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AT1421 (probably an All Saints picture)

I for one would love to see this up on one of the current Atrim vendor sights. It has beautiful proportions for its type and has always been on my list of "must get someday". There are more than a few type XIIIa's on the market but almost no type XIII's, which I personally like better. Gus, is this a design you are planning to revive?

I have one of these too...it's an amazing cutter and a truly beautiful sword, one that's quickly became one of the favorites in my collection.

All the best,

Christian

I hate to let something lay this long and then bump it up, but...

Hey Gus!

Did you ever find the pics of this thing?