[Gabriele A. Pini]

I need to buy a sword for reenactoring and sparring, but being a university student I don't have access to many resources and I don't want to weigh on my parents for this...

I postponed often the actual buing because I don't think it can be part of my persona, a professional soldier of Como in the early 1200, but now with the arrival of the tournament's season I can't delay more. For mock battle sword is the preferable alternative, and I have found some people with whom I can spar, but I can't always use a borrowed sword or one of the "wallhangers" (or trash-hanger) of the company.

So the need for a good, solid arming sword, of good carbon steel, with a blunt edge that can withstand the rigors of battle. I don't search for the look, beyond a historical "minimun" of accuracy. I can even make small works on it (not forging, but some cold grounding I can).

Where would you draw the line? What maker can you propone? If I have to spend 50-60€ more for a better sword I can consider it, but I would very like to restrain the budget.

Tnks to all

P.S.: I know this is a newbie answer, but I really need an advice

[JE Sarge]

For something durable to bash around in a sparring type setting with a minimal safe edge, I'd go with a Hanwei Practical series sword, such as the Viking, Norman, Knightly, or Hand and a Half. These priced in the area of $100USD and tend to take a good beating, not to mention they can be easily replaced if broken beyond repair. I'd begin with one of these and see how you stuck with it before investing in something more expensive.

Here is an overview of their Practical Series products. The prices are a little more on the site below than they would be if you were to purchase local or from an Internet retailed in your area:

http://www.casiberia.com/productsearch.asp?su...=Practical

These are much safer than wallhangers as well as being built to be moderately abused in a somewhat safe manner with proper safety equipment. You won't find anything cheaper than these for your intended use.

[P. Cha]

Okay so since your a re-enactor...does the sword have to look like a sword? The hanwei practical while a good cheap training blunt doesn't look very much like a sword for re-enactments. However since sword that look like swords tend to be on the stiff side and have pinty ends, they make poor sparring weapons. So basically what aspect do you need the sword for since if you need it for both, your just gonna have to get two swords.

[Gabriele A. Pini]

For P. Cha: What means "pinty"? My english is not so good...

I would prefer a sparring weapon: as I said, a sword is not the proper weapons of my persona, so I would use it only in mock battles (for safety reasons) and in sparring (for training). For a parade or in the camp I would use my falchion (a machete grounded and blunted) or a footman warhammer, as a side arm, with the company's bardiches as main weapons.

For JE Sarge:

I also saw the hanwei, but I was a little worried about the blade. What we'll be the next step (in price and in value)?

Tnks for all!

[Luka Borscak]

You should look at the Checzh makers. Good, durable, affordable... And Berbekucz and Swords-Gur also have very good, historical look.
http://www.kovexars.cz/index.php?jazyk=A&platidlo=EUR
http://www.berbekuczviktor.hu/
http://www.sword-gur.com/
http://www.wulflund.com/

[P. Cha]

opps...pointy...I meant pointy and not related to a pint of beer in any shape or form .

The hanwei tinkerline blunts would be a good choice. I have one of the sharps and the HT is excellent on that sword. The edge is horrible...but as this is a blunt, the edge doesn't matter hehe. I'm probably gonna order the blunt version of my sword in the next few months actually as I need a new training sword anyways. Technically, I shouldn't have gotten the sharp one first since my training sword is currently dead :P .

[P. Cha]

[Luka Borscak]

In the past I contacted both Kovex -Arsand Berbekucz and they are all responsive to your needs. If you want more rounded tip, they will make it more rounded. But stiff they are, yes.

[William Goodwin]

another vote for the CAS/Hanwei practical series. For the money, they are hard to beat. Most all of
our study group uses the practical h&h without a lot of trouble (one had some tempering issues, but thats it) and have held up rather nicely...again for the money. Next step up would be the Hanwei Tinker or Del-Tin. With the exchange rate at present, Armour Class of Scotland is surely another great option to look at.


cheers,

Bill

[JE Sarge]

The next step up, at least over here, would be the Hanwei Tinkers and VA Practicals; as initially mentioned. Of the two, I'd lean more toward the Tinker models because their edge and tips are a little more geared toward WMA activities, whereas the VA ATrim blunts have too thin an edge for me to be comforable with without wearing a fair amount of armor. I've seen people use Del Tins, Darkswords, and Windlasses that are unsharpened (1-2mm edges) for light contact, but the pointy end can make a mess of things fast and throw safety out the window. Even a somewhat rounded tip can still easily penetrate its mark with enough energy behind it during an energetic sparring match or minor slip.

Across the pond, you guys have plenty of good smiths making quality stuff - as mentioned above. You might really want to look at those resources in detail and make some inquiries to see if they can craft something suited to exactly what you want.

Good luck in your search.

[Chuck Russell]

i would say look up Lutel, Armour Class or Paul Binns since you are a reenactor and need the use of a blunt. They are also located in England and the Cheq. All 3 brands can be made to both look like a sword of the period and still have a blunt edge for fighting.

[Gabriele A. Pini]

Tnks for the replies.

I think I will wait to the great gathering of Quattrocastella (22-24 may), my captain say that some of these swordsmith will be here.

[Bill Tsafa]

I don't think you can go any cheaper for a decent blunt then the Hanwei Practical swords. The steel is a little on the soft side. $100 to $130 depending on shipping costs.

If you can spend $200 to $250 I suggest you look at Alchem. The steel is much better then Hanwei.

Here are my blunts:
http://mysite.verizon.net/tsafa1/rapier/alchemlongsword.html

[Reece Nelson]

My Yeomen group use hanwei hand and a half swords and there perfect for reenactors!

There handling is great! There completely blunt and extremely light (meaning better control, especially for free sparing)

As long as you don't swing with full force and pull you're shots they can last a long time. I found the best place to get them for real cheap is here. http://kultofathena.com/product~item~PC2106~n...+Sword.htm

[J.D. Crawford]

If you are looking for early 1200 then the Hanwei/CasIberia single-hand sword looks right for you.
http://www.casiberia.com/product_details.asp?id=SH2046

It's easy enough to recommend something more expensive, but it sounds like this is your budget right now and you have lots of years ahead of you to get something better.

One plus of this line is that they have surprisingly good scabbards. At least the ones I saw had wooden cores that fit very nicely. Often you don't get this on swords that cost quite a bit more.

[Luka Borscak]

Their scabbards are not wooden anymore, but of fiberglass.

[P. Cha]

And the throat piece has some issues currently as it encircles the blade in metal which has a nasty habit of making a screeching sound as you draw.

[J.D. Crawford]

[Tim Seaton]

I have the Tinker /Han long sword blunt and its fantastic ,amazing sparring all around a pleaser to wield,
B-K-S Baltimore Knife and Sword, are amazing reenacting,sparing swords .great balance,and u cant hurt them no matter how hard u beat them
To me one of the best swords for the money
Lutel is another well built and great to spar with well worth the money in every way.

[Gabriele A. Pini]

Yesterday at the fairy of Bellinzona a person asked me an advice about the first sword for his son: there was only a vendor with some "serious" medieval weapons, and they were all hanwei. He buyed the "practical knightly sword", and it was as I expected, not too bad, for its price. The blade is even now a little rovinated from the sparring, but for the rest is as good as you can get without spent a pint of blood, well balanced and with a realistic feeling (meaning, no visibles bolt and no absurd inscription), if not completely historical.

Moreover I have discovered the reality of a saying: "You buy the first sword with the heart, and a little with the ass". On of the first the company buyed some four years ago, with a proud inscription "Excalibur" yesterday was cleaved in half, courtesy of its pig iron structure... Now we plan to ground it in a knife, to display how sword broken sword were "recycled".