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Luka Borscak




Location: Croatia
Joined: 11 Jun 2007
Likes: 7 pages

Posts: 2,307

PostPosted: Tue 07 Dec, 2010 10:33 am    Post subject: How tight should a basket be?         Reply with quote

I'm having a new baskethilt made and I would like to know how close the bars or ribbons of the basket should be to your fingers, how much empty space should be between your hand and the basket. And how far up the hand should rearguard come to without restricting your wrist movements.
Does this picture from Henrik Bjoern Boegh shows the ideal fit, or is this basket a bit too tight for him? He says in a review that it is a bit tight, but restrictive tight or not, I don't know. Henrik, feel free to post your comments if you see this. Wink
http://www.myArmoury.com/images/reviews/madp_ribbon1.jpg
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Nathaniel Jeffries




Location: STL
Joined: 30 Jun 2009

Posts: 4

PostPosted: Tue 07 Dec, 2010 11:47 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

That's just a bit tight for my taste for three reasons.

1. I may or may not be wearing a glove when I fight. Add a glove to that picture and I think the basket pictured would be too tight.

2. My grip changes as I fight. Sometimes very quickly. There's just not enough room to shift in there and not get hung up. I'm not sure I could snap cut with a basket that small.

3. If part of my skin or hand were squished or pushed outside the guards and bars in a fight then it can be attacked. Obviously this is a bad thing.

I think basket size is a personal choice. Take Cold Steels basket hilted sword for instance. I have one. It's a fun cutter and I don't feel bad about getting it dirty or clipping the pell with a bad swing. But the basket is huge. I can fit both of my hands in it comfortably at the same time. And because of it's size its a bit awkward to swing. It tends to clip my wrist. My Armour Class and Hanwei's fit me very well without any alteration. I recently had Darkwood re-hilt a saber onto a basket for me. While I did not ask Scott to allow for the difference in technique, he built a perfectly sized basket for the difference in grip with a saber. Again all of this is personal choice. You need enough room to work in the manner you want to. No more, no less.
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Jonathan Hopkins




PostPosted: Tue 07 Dec, 2010 12:31 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I have an antique English dragoon's basket hilt c.1750. Here are measurements of its hilt and photos of the sword in hand to illustrate the size of the basket:

Hilt:
6 ¼” long
Basket:
4 ½” long
4 ¼” wide
3” deep (not including quillon)
Bars are between 3/16” and ¼” wide and are approximately 1/8” thick
Reins Ring:
2 ¾” long
1 9/16” wide
Quillon:
1”
Pommel:
1 ¾” long
1 9/16” wide at base
1” wide at center
5/8” wide at terminus
Grip:
4 3/16” long







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Craig Shackleton




Location: Ottawa, Canada
Joined: 20 Apr 2004
Likes: 1 page

Posts: 307

PostPosted: Tue 07 Dec, 2010 12:34 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

For me, that basket also looks a bit tight, but not too bad. For my tastes, it looks like the real issue is that the grip is too short. Of course, this also makes the basket tighter lengthwise, which is the main place I think I would need more room.

It is also a little hard to tell from the picture, but that's my impression.

That said, I don't mind having the basket touch the back of my hand in some grip positions. It's probably not ideal form, but sometimes in a high guard on the left, I actually let the basket rest against the back of my hand as a counter-lever to bear some of the weight of the blade.

On the other hand, having a tight basket can be painful if your opponent uses certain grappling or disarm techniques that apply leverage at that same angle.

Ottawa Swordplay
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Henrik Bjoern Boegh




Location: Agder, Norway
Joined: 03 Mar 2004

Posts: 386

PostPosted: Tue 07 Dec, 2010 7:21 pm    Post subject: Re: How tight should a basket be?         Reply with quote

Luka Borscak wrote:
I'm having a new baskethilt made and I would like to know how close the bars or ribbons of the basket should be to your fingers, how much empty space should be between your hand and the basket. And how far up the hand should rearguard come to without restricting your wrist movements.
Does this picture from Henrik Bjoern Boegh shows the ideal fit, or is this basket a bit too tight for him? He says in a review that it is a bit tight, but restrictive tight or not, I don't know. Henrik, feel free to post your comments if you see this. Wink
http://www.myArmoury.com/images/reviews/madp_ribbon1.jpg

Hi Luka,

The basket in it self isn't too tight as none of the bars touch my hand. The knuckle guards are bent slightly upwards towards the blade so it allows the hand to make use of the upper part of the handle.
It is a bit too tight on the lower end (towards the pommel) though, as the muscles of my hand has grown since I ordered it Razz
The basket doesn't allow a saber grip since (keeping the thumb on the back of the handle) it's tight, but then it is made for the old style of fencing (which as far as I've understood it has a hammer grip) rather than the regimental one. I have used it to sparr with applying the techniques of the regimental highland broadsword style yet holding it with a hammer grip and it felt well up for the job.
So, it is restrictive if you intend on holding it as you would a saber but not if you hold it as a hammer.

Cheers,
Henrik

Constant and true.
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Luka Borscak




Location: Croatia
Joined: 11 Jun 2007
Likes: 7 pages

Posts: 2,307

PostPosted: Wed 08 Dec, 2010 3:07 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thank you all, gentleman. I think I might get the basket to fit me a bit tight when wearing glove, so that it will be a little bit more comfy when used without a glove, but not too big...
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