Bill, (or anyone who's handled both)

How would you say it compares to the Dane? That has always been on top of my "when I win the lotto" list .

Hi Matthew--

I'm no expert by any means, but I'd say that after handling both side by side, the two fell about what you'd expect:
The Dane is long and rigid, with some 'cutting' feel, but much more of a 'thrusting' feel, either from the ricasso or in halfswording, or just tightly gripped.
The Maximillian feels like it could cut both with closer in draw-style cuts, or with a more sweeping blow, with relatively limited thrust potential (though still some, against soft targets). It also feels more natural for a larger sword, at least to me. The Dane feels like a long sword, but also like a big spike. The Maximillian feels like I could stab or cut or hack or slice at something, and the sword would perform just fine, provided I didn't do anything stupid with it. The Maximillian grip is also flatter, making edge alignment easier than the Dane, generally speaking, but both grips are great.

The Dane feels like it's weight to me, well balanced but all there. The Maximillian I initially guessed at roughly a pound lighter than it is--it even feels that way to me statically.

The real folks can chime in now, I've said my piece.

That's a pretty good comparison.

The Dane is a little more thrusting-oriented, but it can still cut well. Compared to the Maximilian, it's about a half-pound lighter even though it is several inches longer, so it feels a little more agile. But they're in the same overall size class, and are both pretty strictly two-handed swords.

I tend to like my swords a little lighter and a little more "thrusty" in general, so for me the Dane is the one I wanted. But having handled the Maximilian briefly, I certainly like it. It's like the Baron on steroids.

Yeah, I've handled Ed's Dane, and I also feel it's a little more "lively". The balance makes it less oriented for the powerful types of cuts that the Maximillian can do (but that doesn't mean it doesn't do serious cuts), but the thicker and more acute point clearly makes it a superior thruster.

How would you guys guess the last third of the blade would flex if it was blocked while the user is performing a prellhau (flat strike)? For clarity: how much would the tip deflect past the block towards the opponent?

No, I wasn't there. The twins, Glenn and Gary, are from my school. So you know who I'm talking about, Glenn won the dussack. I couldn't go because I'm going to the WWOC in Germany.

Just got my Max today--

the furniture is tumbled, and is a slightly darker, smoky metal. It looks quite nice in person, but I am utterly unable to convey that in these cruddy pictures.

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Gaddhjalt hilt for comparison [ Download ]

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Gaddhjalt hilt for comparison [ Download ]