[Pauli Vennervirta]

Lately I have been training Fiores longsword. I have decided, that sooner or later I need a longsword of my own. I have tried several and the criteria would be:

- overall lenght guite long, about 130 cm/51 inches (I am about 190 cm myself)
- not too heavy, allthough that also depends on the balance
- long handle, about 30 cm
- downturned quillons, like in Pavel Moc Durer
- scent stopper/fishtail pommel would be preferred
- blunt, a good, durable training sword.

Any suggestions? Price is also a small issue, but lets see what you suggest.

[Felix R.]

Have a look at the Albion Liechtenaur. Some of your points don´t fit. But it is a really good piece you will have a lot of fun with.

[JG Elmslie]

normally, I'd swear by Armourclass, from Glasgow for practice/training kit.... their "off-the-shelf" stuff is not the best-finished kit out there, but it is easily the most durable for regular practice that I've ever encountered.

however for longsword, their standard hilts are only up to 28cm long, including pommel...

that said, they've said in the past to me that they could make longer hilts for commissioned bits I'm plotting to manufacture (because of course, having one or two custom-made longswords is'nt enough, is it? ) so I'd suggest sending them an email and seeing if they could do the job. I know they recently were doing a scent-stopper hilt based off one of the castillon hoard for a client, so they could do the work, certainly.

if you do, the only negative comment I (and most of the people I know tend to agree on this) about their products is that the production time is a bit slow. Worth the wait though.



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[Bill Grandy]

I would recommend contacting Arms and Armor and ask them about making a custom version of thier Fechterspiel training longsword. The sword, as-is, is a wonderful training tool, and Arms and Armor often does custom work (for a higher price, of course). I suspect they could make you a training sword that would be exactly what you want, if you're willing to go that route.

[Risto Rautiainen]

You could also contact Red Gur and ask if he would do a custom sword for you. Just specify what you need and he'll do it probably under the price of an Albion. The problem being he's not that fast in his e-mail replies and some of the messages disappear and that you really need to specify what you want. And you might have to wait for it for at least 3 to 5 months.

There are some of his swords at the salle so you could check if you like the bendy type and wide blades he uses on his blunt trainers. You could also request him to make the blade a bit convex at the base, to reduce the weight on such a long sword.

If nothing else you can ask him for a price and time estimate and that costs nothing.

I got a custom sharp from him, and boy am I pleased with it.

Edit: In EU you don't have to pay the toll so it's cheaper that way, but considering the exchange rate of USD, now's probably the best time to order from the US.

[Antonio Lamadrid]

[Pauli Vennervirta]

Thanks for all suggestions. Both A&A and Albion are high on my list, but pricey. I give also some value to fast delivery, therefore Albion Europe is an option and because I dont have to pay customs for that (located in Denmark).

I have also asked some information from Darkwood, since they also have longswords and I am very pleased with their rapier. Pavel Moc is also an option.

For cheaper alternative there is Hanwei Tinker line. Does anyone have an opinion on that longsword, the blunt version? I heard they had some cases of tang breaking.

[Pauli Vennervirta]

I settled on the Pavel Moc. I tried several different swords while training and the long handle, serious presence, balance and the overall quality was convincing.

Funny how the sword just whispered to me on the wall. I just was drawn to it. A&A Zogho and Fechterspiel are good training tools, but I required different aesthetics. So the Durer is my choise. I got a good deal from my teacher.

Thanks anyway for all this information, maybe someone else will benefit of this discussion.