Good Friends,

I'm wondering how many of you have experience with Revival.us - I recently bought Medieval Sword and Shield from them, as getting a more detailed study on arming swords is quite important for me; the price also appeared to be right. It's two weeks in, though, and my book is still not being read... because it's not appeared at my doorstep!

It is possible I'm being overly-hasty, and it may show up on the doorstep tomorrow. It's just that, lately, I've been quite disappointed when it comes to getting answers from some of the webstores I've been frequenting or ordering/attempting to order from. This includes Revival at the moment - I'm hoping a bit of feedback can shove off that sentiment, however...

If you've ordered books from these people, or any other products for that matter, how did it go? Was the service prompt for stock goods (like books), or were you waiting for a few weeks after payment to get the stuff though your door? I'd really love to know.

I had experience with Revival.us years ago and I never had a problem with them but I know some others did.

The interpretation of the book you bought is out dated. Here is a better interpretation on 1:33
http://www.freelanceacademypress.com/swordandshielddvd.aspx

And here is another sword and buckler DVD.
http://www.freelanceacademypress.com/swordbucklermesserdvd.aspx

I appreciate the input, and I do have a mind to make a purchasing mission at Freelance Academy Press at some point, but I have no interest in DVDs at the moment. As per out-dated goes, the fundamental thing for me is to have a usable reference to I.33 in my library - I've read pretty decent things about Medieval Sword & Shield previously, and I think it should do fine as a starting point for study.

I've heard "out-dated" thrown around a few times with regard to the older reproduction manuals, but until some effective explanation is offered for why the book is out-dated, the comment really doesn't do me any good. It would be like calling Secrets of Medieval German Swordsmanship outdated; I could call some parts outdated - for instance, the interpretation of the schrankhut is strange, and arguably wrong in terms of working application. This is, however, really a minor footnote of the text, and does not serve to illustrate why the core concepts of Liechtenaur's system are so effective and why the old master emphasized adhering so strongly to them. The rest of Secrets does that part very well, and also offers a complete translation of Ringeck's original manuscript. Again, a little more input would be appreciated.

Speaking of the schrankhut (as an aside), here is a better illustration of how one may end up in such a position:

https://youtu.be/Ckouxaz0T50?t=1m15s

^This is what the margins of a book are for - scrawling in your own notes and observations. Out-dated no longer!

The book came in today - actually, I am inclined to believe it was sent out when it was because I left a voice message for Mr. Adkins. I'll need to send a follow-up email as a thank you - the chaps at Revival made it right, and made it quick!

...I really look forward to scouring through the book, but that's another topic. :D