[Kirill R]

Introduction

This is a quick review of the Valiant Armoury German Longsword. It was acquired around August 2011 so I've had about 7 months or so to get a feel for it.

Quick points:
-The blade is made by Angus Trim
-Leather work by Valiant Armoury using Christian Fletcher designs



Measurements:

Overall length: 47.5"
Blade Length: 36.3"
Blade Thickness: ~4-5mm at guard
Grip Length: 9"
PoB: 4.5”
CoP: ~24-25" from guard
Weight: 2 lbs 8.25oz






Fit and Finish

Sword:
-This sword was hot peened on request
-It feels very solid
-The blade is nicely polished all the way through except at the very base near the guard where small black marks are visible
-Nice satin finish
-Very sharp
-The base of the blade (about 2 inchs from the guard) is left blunt

Scabbard:
Overall the scabbard is asthetically pleasing. It came with a small scratch near the embossed design at the throat. There was a small piece of leather sticking out at the throat of the scabbard interfering with sheathing/drawing of the sword. It was a quick fix to just cut the thin leather piece out. The sword fits snuggly in the scabbard and will not fall out if turned upside down.

Suspension:
Again, it looks nice with the designs. However, the sword sits awkwardly on the hip with this suspension. Even after some time spent adjusting it, unfortunately it still just doesn't want to cooperate. The difference in quality between this and a higher end scabbard maker is very apparent. However, given the price this is reasonable.

Handling and Performance

I've been training in WMA at our school in Montreal for about 2 years. I'm no expert by any means, but I've tried to do the best I could with what I know. I've handled a few Albions (Maestro and next Gen lines only), Atrims and Hanwei swords.

When I first saw the sword I expected it to be quite heavy given it's long blade and massive, thick grip. However, as can be seen from the stats, this sword is astonishingly light for its length! Indeed, this sword feels alive and ultra responsive. Further to the point, the long grip allows for excellent leverage to execute lightning fast strikes or to recover quickly from a swing.

The blade is so maneuverable, it allows for rapid transitions from guards to strikes or just switching between guards. It tempts you to swing it around and around striking alternatively with either true or false edge (Krumphau) - it really is a joy to handle and you'll be rewarded with the "swish" sound as the sword strikes for it's mark. The grip is also quite thick and feels comfortable in hand - although maybe not very historic. The pommel did cut into the hand a bit at first, but I re-adjusted with time and now it is fine.

I should mention the blade is a bit floppy. It tends to bend and flex a little too easily as though it had a weak spine. It performs well enough in thrusting exercises on soft targets, but I think it will not stand up to the task on harder targets due to the spine issue. This doesn't seem to affect cutting too much on lighter targets, but again not ideal for hard targets. My general impression is that this blade is made for softer targets.

Unfortunately, I did not have tatami mats for cutting so I had to improvise. To test the performance, I performed a series of cuts on 4 targets shown here in increasing order of resistance: water bottles, turkey legs, pig legs and beef rib.

Here is how it performed:

Water Bottles

Slices through water bottles effortlessly. A few snapshots:





Turkey

Again, effortless. The bones are quite soft on these.

[Kirill R]

Handling and Performance (Continued...)

Pig

The pig legs were tough. It looked like a bouquet of bones held together by muscle wrapped in a thick skin.







Beef Rib

The bone in this beef rib was very dense. It felt like I was hitting a stone.







Conclusion

I really like this sword primarily due to its superb handling, but also due to a nice design. Overall it is a good package with a solid blade and decent scabbard + belt thrown in.

[JE Sarge]

Thanks for posting, this is an excellent informal review. You did a great job with the cutting, good to see a blade tested in such a practical manner. Not to mention, you could have a bit of a cookout after!

[Lancelot Chan]

Pig leg was a very difficult target. It's light and tough. I'm glad to see someone gives it a try and tell the truth.

And if your sword's edge holds up after hitting pig legs, congratulations! It's among the very few swords in the world that can sustain that impact.

[Kirill R]

[William Swiger]

Nice review. Appreciate you posting it for us.

[Lancelot Chan]

Try cutting a bigger part of the pork leg will help. The bigger pork leg will have just enough weight to resist your cut.

I have cut through a pork leg at the same size with yours. It's doable, but difficult.

Here are the references if you would like to see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMuIpom_H9c
Cut 2 pork legs with 1 strike.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLr39koxjlc
The cut at 1:05 was done with a pork leg sized similar to yours.

[Kirill R]

Thanks William.

Lancelot,

That's a great suggestion. Will try a bigger one next time. I checked out your videos - very cool stuff! Your deva slayer is quite a sword. Indeed at 1:05 the pig leg is of similar size and you cut it right through! Very impressive.

My only limitation when performing these cuts is that I intend to stay within what I was taught, hence I try not to overextend myself and likewise finish my cut in as favorable position as I can in case my opponent strikes back. For example, perhaps you are familiar with the Zornhau - this is the strike I performed on the pig leg. This strike limits the starting position of the blade to no further than your shoulder and you need to finish the strike so that you point ends up being not too far from your opponent (the pig leg in this case). This probably limits the force I can exert.

Here's a pic of the pig leg after a katana strike

[Lancelot Chan]

Yes, I understand. I used to be a German longsword student before switching to Chinese style. If I were using Zornhau, i wouldn't be able to cut through that pork leg either.

[Eric G.]

I love that you actually cut some meat. I feel like I see that pretty seldom.

Thanks for the review.