I met with Chad, Ed, and Doug yesterday to kill some produce since the weather was reasonable and there was a new toy (the Earl) for show and tell. When we planned this, on short notice, we thought dozens, if not hundreds, of pumpkins would die by the sword. Amazingly after three hours of pumpkin hunting in the great Cincy metro area, we only found eleven of them.

Never the less, the elven we found were put to the sword, literally.

We also stumbled onto some unlucky pool noodles running riot in the streets, they were quickly put to the sword, and order was resored in the queen city. They are a public menace.

So....the way I'll do things is start with some photos and brief notes about them, then I'll discuss my Earl impressions. It may take some time for this all to come together though. Hopefully some of the other folks that played with the Earl can drop by and leave some observations as well. There will be an official review of the sword as a feature at this site (Chad did the photos yesterday, now we have to work out the writting). I will not post an extensive list of stats in this thread, first because I don't have them yet and it's going to take a while for me to get them togeter, second because they will be in the review.

Here come the photos.

Poor image quality is a credit to my mad camera skill.

---

 Attachment: 79.3 KB

Regent and Earl. Note furniture differences. More here than just the guard changing. Earl grip appears to be tweaked to align more aesthetically with the new pommel.

 Attachment: 64.36 KB

Regent and Earl side by side. Although not in this shot we had two more Regents on hand yesterday.

 Attachment: 90.25 KB

Regent on top, Earl on bottom. Note tip changes. Good stuff I think.

I liked the Earl overall. It's a really nice sword, even though I don't usually go for the later scent-stopper types. :) I have a good number of pictures from yesterday, but not all include the Earl. Maybe I'll start a thread in the OT forum so we don't get too side-tracked.

These photos are submiitted as proof that Albion swords can destroy pumpkin and noodles, at least, without breaking a sweat. I think a Chen, a Highland Armoury, and a few A&A pieces drew pumpkin blood as well. We didn't break out the whole arsenal.

---

 Attachment: 46.99 KB

Pumpkin guts on the Earl blade.

 Attachment: 55.05 KB

Sword porn shot!

 Attachment: 57.15 KB

Ed killing a pumpkin. It never did a thing to him. He just coldly walked up and offed its orange head.

 Attachment: 59.58 KB

Then he goes and stabs another one with his Talhoffer. He was just crazy out there! :-)

 Attachment: 50.88 KB

Doug scared this pumkin right off the cutting stand when he charged it with the Halberd!

 Attachment: 60.13 KB

This pumkin...well, it just sat there and died.

 Attachment: 57.01 KB

Here we see Doug about to kill another pumpkin. In just a fraction of a second, it will explode as the halbard hits it (the pumkin really did appear to explode). I didn't get the action shot, or the after shot. :-(

Getting pictures of action, pumkin guts in the air and pool noodle chunks tumbling to the earth, is really hard for me. At least with my digital camera. Motion seems to confuse it sometimes, so timing (giving the camera a head start) can be tricky.

---

 Attachment: 59.77 KB

Chad gets ready to kill an odd looking pumkin (maybe a squash?) with the Earl. I don't have a comparison shot of a Regent, and the lighting in this shot probably plays into things, but note the prominance of the hollow grind on this one.

 Attachment: 57.49 KB

Then Chad killed his funky pumpkin.

 Attachment: 56.92 KB

Then Chad killed it some more. Pumpkin pieces fly everywhere in this one.

 Attachment: 57.12 KB

Here Chad shows no mercy. None at all.

 Attachment: 53.43 KB

Finally in the midst of a terrible rage, Chad chops up an innocent noodle that had been minding its own business. Look at that chunk fly!!

I really like this sword.

In fact I'm not sure if I cut with anything else yesterday, and if I didn't, that would be a first. The Earl is a bit lighter than the Regent, or at least lighter than most of the one’s I had access to yesterday (there was variation among the samples). Because of this I can work it with a single hand very slightly better, but not well enough to use it primarily as a single hander. With one hand I find that I really amplify my many mistakes. For me this is really a longsword, but for a more athletic or a more experienced user (it wouldn't take much in either category), I suspect it might do just fine in one handed use.

With two hands, to me, The Earl is the bomb. The curve of the guard seems to give me greater range of motion, and the pommel does not bite me the way the Regent does when I swing gripping its pommel. The Earl cuts at least as well as the Regent, at least it cuts the targets we had on hand as well as the Regent. That said I noticed that I could perform tip cuts much better with the Earl than I have ever been able to with the Regent. Really not sure if its a me thing or a sword thing. I also feel like I have better control of the Earl than I do of the Regent, overall. Once again, I’m not sure if it’s a user thing or a sword thing.

Regarding the pommel specifically...

...its something I asked Albion about very soon after I received my Regent, which I think, may be the first one. I loved it. Wanting more of that hollow grind, I asked Albion if they would also consider doing a Regent blade and cross with a scent stopper pommel for me as a one off or anything. The Regent might have been in production for a week at that time but they agreed to consider the request internally. For a while nothing seemed to come of it, there was so much happening at the time, then the Earl seemed to arise almost as if to answer my request.

Anyway, I like to grip the pommel when I play with my swords. This causes me distracting hand discomfort when swinging the Regent. Please note that an easy solution to the problem when using the Regent is not to grip the pommel, which does not seem to adversely affect anything. Gripping the pommel is just my mechanical preference, which may or may not be the right way to do things. Becasue of this, I think the Earl is easier to use. That said, I still do better wearing gloves with the Earl; for me gloves are mandatory with the Regent, they are optional with the Earl. I work a desk job, so my hands are not robust. If you have tough hands I do not think you will not need gloves with the Earl.

Some random thoughts.

The Regent has a much more Gothic feel to it than the Earl does (to me).

On the other hand, I'm beginning to see the Earl as a somewhat more elegant blade. There are less lines and angles, but the funiture has a flow to it, an understated elegance. I find this very pleasing.

Although the Earl is a very different sword than the Svante, but if reminds me of the Svante. A fighting piece that does not need bling to prove its worth.

I'm not talented at it, but I find I can move the Earl very comfortably through wards (as my ability allows). The sword is very controllable, especially with two hands.

The Regent costs more, which implies that its more expensive for whatever reason to produce, but in some way I'm sarting to think the Earl may be the more complex design of the two. I'd be curios to hear what the people assembling Regents and Earl think about working with each model during production.

One speculative word about the reason the Regent is more expensive - fishtailpommel. I don't know abot the guard as the Earl looks at least as tricky in that respect.

Joe,
I posted my pics in this thread. Fun stuff. :)

It was fun at that.

I just reviewed some additional detailed shots of the Earl and will tell you all that it's perhaps now my favorite sword currently in production in the Next Generation line-up. I love the Regent, too, and it may have been dethroned simply because the Earl is the new kid on the block, but the lines of this new sword are beautiful to my eye.

Joe Fults wrote:

I think there is more going on with the Earl pommel than meets the eye at first glance. The facets are not flat, each is hollowed. Each ridge is also gently rounded. Has to be some work in all of that.

I did not see that in the original photos but I do now and it makes all the difference. That, combined with the graceful s-curved cross, something that has always caught my attention, compliment the blade so well.

Well, it's really hard for me to pick favorites, so I'll just say that I want it and leave it at that.

It was neat to compare the Earl and Regent side-by-side, though between the two I think I prefer the latter. I'd say the two were equal in terms of blade presence, but I've always enjoyed the Regent's overall balance. Was it just me, or was the Earl slightly blade-heavy?

I'd like to thank you all for this. Now this sword is at the top of my short list. I can't wait till the blade show!!!!!!

this is a good example of how much of this is subjective and an issue of user perception. I think the Earl is quicker than the Regent. I don't know if Chad and Ted like to grip the pommel as much as I do though.

If only mud could be so clear.

Does anyone have any information of how an S curve effects the function of the cross?