[William P]

as the title sugests this sword is about asword from CAS hanweis practical line of swords, designed with thick rebated edges for the purpose of safe reenacting.

and i have heard a ew comments that some of the swords in that line are bdly blanced wth oversixzed pommels etc.

my sword is, in particular the hanwei practical norman, a blade i purchased for two reasons 1 it was cheap and available locally at a shop in the inner city, 2 it fit into the later period of the viking era (the twilight of that period but close enough for me) and it wouldnt look totally out of place in a later medieval period reenactment if i decided to join a group from a later period. meaning i wouldnt have to buy a whole new sword, which i would have if i went with the 3 lobe pommel of the viking sword.


http://www.casiberia.com/prod_Detail.aspx?id=SH2326

one thing ive noticed handling better replicas of various norman and viking blades(also rebated) is that mine feels quite clunky in comparison, and those swords often have thinn er blades, and apparently compared to another norman type sword, have closer POB's to the handlemaking them lot less blade heavy which, unless im mistaken most type X and XA and XI blades wernt very blade heavy. being more thin broad slicing blades.

here are sone stats on the sword to give you a mental picture.

blade length 76cm
overall length 91.75cm/ 3 feet long,
POB 14cm/ 5 1/2" from crossguard
weight 1.1kg

blade width 4cm at base tapering to 2.1cm at the tip
blade thickness roughly changes from 2.5mm-2mm below the tip, very little distal taper
pommel, 6.2 wide X 4cm tall X 3cm. thich at the widest point, pommel type is a tea cosy pommel.
and COP is 23cm from the tip. or 53cm from the crossguard


now ive heard that the usual way to bring the POB back towards the handle i hear is to femove material from the end of the blade.

(due to its size, i keep feeling i should grind down at the pommel (having the added effect of making the pommel less wide and thus less likely to dig into my hand when swung.)

so im hoping my first instinct of removing blade material would be the correct way to go?

[Luka Borscak]

Well, this sword sounds quite light, I don't think you could take much mass from it...

[Tom King]

I own the Norman and the single hand as bashers. I've always found the balance to be good enough. the POB is about 6in into the blade but it weighs so little the recovery time is acceptable. for the era you are fighting in, you shouldn't have to modify it. a whole fight should be no more than 3ish strikes and shieldwork. if you're doing sword and buckler combat thats one thing, but with a norman or round shield your sword should be weighted to provide one fast killing strike with moderate rocovery time

[William P]

[Aleksei Sosnovski]

Viking era swords, especially earlier ones, were often heavier and had POB farther from the crossguard than the later arming swords. Hanwei practical norman sword is good enough as it is. Move POB from 6" to 4" from the crossguard and your opponent wearing maille and padded gambeson will not feel anything when you hit him.

[Jimi Edmonds]

I found the Norman [as above] to be heavyer than the prac. Knightly sword, I'd like to try a tinker/hanwei Norman or mediveal practical sword for the lighter weight, though I got blade damage on the knightly so I did this....changed the cross guards around, added oak grips, plus slightly shortning the hilts on both. As a note if you put the norman pommel in the palm of the hand it wont dig into your wrist when you strike [particually downward]. Oh yes as well a few years back I got to have a play with a Manning Imperial viking sword and it was light..oh so light! I also have a 13th C. kettle helm from them, its nice..