[Austin D.G. Hill]

hello,
i have been reading on this forum for a couple of years now. a while ago i found a thread that has made me wonder about the edge durability of albions. i have seen the iron barrel test on you tube and the sword flexing one too. its just that for a sword that can shrug off a heavy blow to a barrel some of these accidents seem a little strange as to the way they held up. here is the link to these accidents that i read about. http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...18e3c39777
please do not misinterpret this as me thinking albions to be bad. i love them and think they are definitely worth the money you pay. i am just wondering in few words EXACTLY this, if these swords can hold up to striking a barrel, then why do they get so badly nicked inn these scenarios?

[Adam Bodorics]

I didn't read the whole thread, but from the first page, it seems that all of those incidents involved forces stressing the edge from sideways. That's not something fine edges like. A somewhat exaggerated parallel would be this test: take a strip of cardboard, put it dead 90°on a surface, and gently push down. Now tilt it to 80°, and apply the same pressure. You'll see that in the latter case, much more deformation occurs for the same force. Another thing - quite some knives can cut a nail in half, but can be chipped by bone in a bad cut.
From what I've read and seen, Albions withstand heavy use quite well, intentional or unintentional abuse, not so well. Just like as a high-powered precision rifle can withstand huge amounts of pressure while firing, but dropping it on a stone may damage it to be unusable.

[Jeremy V. Krause]

I think they are durable enough- certainly for facing the mediums for which the historic sword is meant, and they are certainly more durable than the historic examples.

It could be that more "performance" oriented swords have more durable edges I don't know. Tinker states that his edges are 55 on the Rockwell scale which is harder than Albions and A&A examples.

I have a Barta sword and I wouldn't be surprised if the edge is less durable than my Albions, however I still believe it is more than durable enough for what it is designed to do.