Gus has signed off and we have all 4 practical swords in stock.

http://www.valiant-armoury.com/practical.html

Hi Sonny:

I'm very excited about these Practicals, hoping that these will be suitable for stage combat. Coupla questions:

1. These come with a leather covered wood scabbard, right? Do the scabbards and grip come in black only?
2. How thick are the edges/point? Are they rounded over, or more square?
3. Is the tang threaded, and therefore dismountable for inspection? If so, how does the pommel attach? Since it's a wheel pommel, I'm concerned that the pommel maintains its proper alignment.
4. Do you have more pictures of all of the above -- the scabbard, the edges, close-ups of the hilt, photos of the tang + shoulders + threading, etc etc?
5. More info please on the type of steel, hardness, etc. Is the grip leather over wood, leather over cord, what?

Thanks a lot! And best of luck with both this new line, as well as the Christian Fletcher/Gus Trim Signature line ... they both look great, and I'm glad to see that you're taking Valiant Armoury in this new direction.

Ted

I am also curious as to the nature of the blunted swords.

Are they truly blunt, or are they merely unsharpened?

Would they be suitable for blunt steel on steel contact in a Western Martial Arts setting with blunt swords from other manufacturers(Pavel Moc, Albion, Arms and Armor, etc)?

I posted the same question over at Sword Forum (except the part regarding the leather color, which I forgot to ask about), and Gus gave this reply:

1. Yes

2. Depends. I have two of the blunt longswords here, and the one that "passed muster", has a .06 inch edge {1.5mm} pretty much throughout. The one that I "improved" has an .04 inch {1mm} edge at the cross, 1.5mm at the 2/3 point, and 2mm at the point. The edge is pretty square, but hard. I tested these with what I have here in the shop, and they tested about 52rc. Edge held up fine banging against AT blunts... one AT blunt with a rounded .03 edge, the Valiant sword cut into. Another with 1.5mm edge, both blades wound up with marks on the edge, but not really any deep dents.

I am a bit surprised at the quality of the heat treat. I expected about 45 to 48, which would be pretty good for a sword in this price range, and would fall into the average range for swords in this price range. But the blades are harder, and still pretty resiliant. Who says you can't make a good blade of 1060?

3. Yes. The pommel attaches like at AT. In otherwords, the wheel pommels are keyed in by the tang. It looks like a 6mm allthread piece is welded on, rather than grinding the end of the tang round and threading like I do, but its done real well. Threads are metric, tang nut needs a large screw driver to remove.

4. I'll see what I can do about photos later tonite, probably wouldn't hurt if someone reminded me as I've become awful absent minded.....

5. The steel is 1060, and the 8 samples I have here {2 of each model} are pretty consistent. Low 50s rc, and pretty resiliant. I haven't seen much of the "current" stuff out there, but of the stuff available 2 years ago, I'd say for the price these will be hard to beat on a durability basis.

Theoretically, 5160 and 6150 are superior to 1060 for a sword steel. However, the heat treat is more important than the steel choice, and the heat treat is impressive. It probably doesn't hurt that these are forged.

I haven't cut into one of the handles to actually check. But it sure looks and feels like leather over cord over wood. Remind me to check this later today too.......

I received my “Atrim” Practical Arming Sword yesterday Shipping from US to Sweden in 4 days;-)
Bought the sword from SBG.
Nice and quick response from Paul Southren

The sword itself is a quite nice sword, and feels light and agile in hand.
The grips looks and feels nice.

I was impressed by the scabbard very nice work for that price;-) Nicely stitched leadher over wood core.

With this first look review I am very pleased with my purchase.

Regards Peter T

I was able to handle the two sharp versions today (arming and longsword), as well as the arming sword blunt, and I was very pleased. I'd like to echo Peter's sentiments about feeling light and agile. The craftsmanship is also excellent for this price range. All in all, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better sword for the money.

Hopefully one of the esteemed veterans of these forums will grace us with a review of these swords sometime soon. :D

Dave,
I was wondering what the specs are on the longsword you handled were? The website at Valiant says they may
vary. Maybe I have missed reading them. I'm very interested and considering one for what would be my first
sharp sword purchase.

Ken

hey guys! these are awesome swords for the price! but im a lil confused. are they actully made by Gus?

Here are the measurements I was able to get today:

Arming sword Blunt: Blade length- 30.75 inches, Overall Length: 38 inches

Arming Sword Sharp: Blade- 31.5, OA- 38.25

Longsword Blunt: Blade- 34.75, OA- 45.5

Longsword Sharp: Blade- 36.25, OA- 45.5

The longsword blunt measurements seem pretty much on par with Gus's post, so we can probably assume they're all pretty standardized despite being handforged.

Thank you for the measurments, another question, what measurements do most of you prefer in a
longsword and why?

Ken

Hi Gus (or Sonny):

Any pictures yet of the various components (close-ups of hilt, edges, point), scabbard, grip construction, etc?

I realize that these are hand-made, and so the measurements will differ slightly, but even some baseline specs would be very useful ... what would be an acceptable range for you in each category (that are currently listed but blank at the Valiant Armoury site), before you had to send it back?

Thanks again,

Ted

wait wait wait...

In confused....
How do you get this:
[ Linked Image ]

from this
[ Linked Image ]

or was the CF proto for something else?
not really looking much alike....
or did i miss something?

The practical longsword in the first picture is from a more basic line inspired by Gus's personal designs. The second picture is a prototype of a sword that will be part of a completely different line-up called the "Signature Collection". The signature collection is based on collaborations between Gus and Christian and is due out later this year according to the Valiant Armoury website.