Ok, I see a lot of Good and Bad reviews of Darksword Armoury. I know NOTHING about this company, EXCEPT this:

http://www.darksword-armory.com/armor.html

The very top piece of armour in Darkswords' on-line catalogue "1703 Gothic Armor
16th C. German
Detroit Institute of Arts"

Is origionally made by "Three Brothers" who used to be K+K Art in the Czech republick! What the heck is this?!?! Is Darksword trying to sell a knock-off on three brothers? Or are they importing?

Three brothers: http://us.armouronline.com/home/products/brea...303_gothic

Now, Three Brothers state this as Circa 1450 while Darksword state 1500s "Maximillian" type. I know this is NOT Maximillian type which also makes me wonder what is going on!

Any thoughts?

Darksword has it dated to late and the Czech firm has it to early . This set is typical of the "high gothic" German form of the late 1480's and 1490's. The pics on both sites do look 'bout identicle though . Darksword has been pushing this set on e-bay for several months now . Don't have the foggiest as to wheather they made it or thier retailing .

The armour from Darksword on ebay is not the same as the Czech-made armour. The picture on Darkswords' website is the exact same picture of the Czechs' armour; i.e. that is a stolen image, if they are not an authorized retailer.

The ebay armour is of a much poorer fabrication. Ther are no tooling cut-outs as in the Czech armour and there are no pauldrons on the ebay listing. The lowest pannel on the faulds at the Crotch is very poorly cut out and looks to be quite sharp. I know I wouldnt want to be without an armoured cod-piece if wearing the ebay listed piece. The backplate looks very loose and also very sharp. I dont see any rolled edges at all; the "Twised cord" lining is just hammered onto the edge of the plate! The "Gorget" does not appear to be riveted to the breastplate at all either.

Look at their other listings, they are also selling "time share", looks like a bunch of crooks to me.

I have e-mailed Three Brothers to find out if they have authorized any of this. The e-bay listing says the armour there is by Darksword armourers; no doubt that junk on ebay IS by them! That is horrible! False advertising at the highest level when comparing ebay to their website showing the Czech product and claiming it as their own! These kinds of things absolutely sicken me.

Repulsed,

I point blank asked Darksword armoury about this connection. Here is the reply:

"Thank you for your email and your link.

This is the first time that I see the Three brothers version. It is very
nice. We are not familiar with the "Three brothers" and have never seen any
of their products. From the looks of it however, it seems like the details
on their version is more accentuated. The main difference between our
version and their is the gauge thickness. We make our armors from 16g steel
as opposed to their 18 and 20 g steel which is very thin. Our version also
comes with a backplate. Their version is only for the breastplate.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you,

Eyal Azerad
Darksword Armory
www.darksword-armory.com"

I wonder how can Darksword have never seen it before? It's "Three Brothers" picture Darksword is using! Three brothers starts at 1.5mm, which is 16 guage and goes up to 2.0mm or more if you want them too. They never use 20gauge. Finally, in Czech, fighting and reenacting in armour is long since established and I think they know what they are doing and know what is safe and what is not. They would not make a suit for combat that isnt safe for combat.

Listen, Im sorry if this is beyond the scope of these boards and I hope the moderators here do not mind; but I think people need to know what is going on! I dont want to see any of you get ripped off.

P.O.ed,

Hey, I appreciate the content of your posts regarding Darksword, but not your method. Please calm down. You're only talking about armour and swords. We have to maintain perspective and discuss this stuff rationally. Just lay out the facts and let people discuss it and come to their own conclusion. You're more than welcome to express your opinion and conclusion, as well, but please do it in a more professional manner.

You are absolutely Right, Nathan. I have edited it a little bit to tone down the huffiness. I hope that is a little more factual and less "aaargh!" on my part. :)

Again, apologies,

Well done :)

This was posted on the Armour Archives recently about a bad experience with a Darksword Helmet.

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewto...649#463649

He did only pay $75, though.

Yeah, I was thinking "$25 for a bevor? Sign me up!" But looking at the plating around the chest area, it looks like it will impale you! $25 for a cheap bevor; $500 for a hospital visit. I will be doing a LOT of business through Illusion Armory in Pheonix. [url] http://members.cox.net/illusionarmoring/ [/url]Fantastic prices, fantastic stuff!

Born in the US, living in my own little world,