Starting to to think about getting the A & A Black Prince, since I E-mailed Craig for more information about it I am almost DOOOOOOMED ;) to get one. ( When I get to the stage of E-mailing the maker I'm usually 90% sold on getting it. )

I'm being slowed down by wondering what the Albion Agincourt will look like when in production.

On the A & A site the point of the sword looks a little rounded rather than needle pointed: This might be a good thing as a small spatulate or elliptical point should be as effective getting through chinks in armour as a needle sharp sword but not as prone to have an overfine point breaking of. ( At least that is my best guess,. )

It is also possible that the one shown on the site has a slightly rounded point for safety reasons and if it was intended for sparring and may be unsharpened.

Anyway, this is in part the questions I've asked Craig.

So, any feedback from people who own or have handled this sword would help me decide when and if I " weaken " and burn another hole in my bank account. :eek: :lol:

I like my Black Prince from A&A very much. While not a needle point, the diamond geometry carries right throuh to the point. Your post prompted me to check. At the final radius to the point, my blade is about half an inch wide and the linear length of the point is about the same half an inch or a little more. What you end up with is a good sturdy point.

I have driven this point through a couple of inches of phone book.

A&A ships their swords sharp, by default, and every example I have seen (I own two and have handled a few others) has had a terrific sword edge with no secondary bevel.

The Albion line up looks very nice and I would have had a tougher choice to make, the few years ago when I bought mine.

The A&A Black Prince is a good stout example of a XVA with lots of rigidity and still capable of strong shearing cuts (closer to the hilt than you would normally aim with a XII or XIII type). Mine has cut mats and sundry other light targets but it is more of a thrust biased do-all than some of the other typologies.

Mine has bronze and the older style handle, hence the specs are a wee bit different than current production but I like it a lot.

I'll see if I can dredge up a picture but Nathan's (in another thread) shows it quite nicely with the slimmer early Albion model.

Here with the A&A GBS for scale.
Forgive the assualt camera resolution. They would look neat blued but that's all reflection.

[ Linked Image ]

Don't look too close, they both could use a polish.


Cheers

GC

Glen;

Thanks for the minie review: That type of point appeals to my tendancy to like stuff overbuilt or railroad engineered.
( But not exagerated to the point of making a good design bad ! )

Oh, the blue appearance is due to low lighting or a " lack " of reflections rather than too much, but I understand what you meant :lol:

I glad I asked Craig for an update on this swords' construction as he regularely improves his product as he learns more about them: He just doesn't brag about it enough in my opinion. :D ( I look forward to his reply to my E-Mail. )

So, you didn't help me save money as I am now CLOSER to deciding to buy this one ;) :lol:

Jokes aside, thanks again.

I'd say that the older model I handled was an EXCELLENT sword of the type. Handled much better then I thought it was and was very attractive in the bargain. I'm afraid I can't remember much about the tip though... :(

Jean,
I got my A&A Black Prince about a year ago. Definitely one of my faves. The grip has two subtle ribs going across it, as to replicate the old grip on the original before it was thrown out. Since I have rather large hands, half of my guide-hand (left) covers the pommel so when wielding it, I'm actually better off grasping the pommel with my other hand (which is quite comfortable).

I've always described the Black Prince as the 'quintessential XVa.' It really comes alive in your hand. It's emphasis is obviously in thrusting, but it still cuts very well; A&A's version has a sharp edge. If you like swords that excel in thrusting, recovering, and even good for half-swording (a technique that I do a lot) you can't go wrong with the Black Prince. There's no type XVa sword I admire more (how sad that the original is in such bad shape). -Ted

Well: It's done I made the Order official. ( Stupid E-Mail is not delivering my message :mad: I wonder if it's a problem at my end or at Craig's ? Anyway I sent him a back-up reply using the P.M. feature here. )

Gettin an error message from this site ????? From: MAILER-DAEMON@visi.com (Mail Delivery System) Is this legitimate or some sort of spam or scam or virus.

Anybody knows what this actually means:

Final-Recipient: rfc822; arms@visi.com
Action: failed
Status: 5.0.0
Diagnostic-Code: X-Postfix; maildir delivery failed: error writing message:
Disc quota exceeded

( Some sort of network failure ? I wasn't sending a large graphic intensive message ! ) ( Oh, I use a MAC powerbook with Virus protection updated daily and I never get spam, so far at least, or viruses. )

Sorry for the OFF- Topic detour

Hi Jean,

You might want to try aa@armor.com or the phone numbers listed on the contact page at the site. www.arms-n-armor.com

Cheers

GC

Go ahead and read the bounce message. It tells you what the problem is: "Disc quota exceeded". The mailbox is full.

Glen;

Thanks, just used a search and found that this is a legit site for AOL that deals with communication glitches.

From the error message it seem probable that A & A's has run out of room and need to delete some messages to make room for new messages.

I could be wrong about this but I will P.M. Craig so that he can check for any problems at his end.
( Not an expert about this stuff. )

Anyway, the important thing is to get back to the subject of the BLACK PRINCE sword.
Although I have made up my mind to buy it I would still welcome more discussion about it, thanks :D

Hello Russ

Sadly it is not in the Oakeshott Collection, the piece is now in the private market and I am unaware of the exact collector who currently holds it. My guess is it is somewhere in the UK.

Best
Craig

You'd think the UK government would be trying to get it back.... I sure would like to see it back at Canterbury, where it belongs.

Mike

I think that Canterbury was unconvinced that it was really Edward of Woodstock's sword. Oakeshott made a good case that it was indeed his sword, but it wasn't 100% proof.

Hey Russ

The reason is as simple as he had it in his possession for a long while and eventually decided to pass it on and acquire new pieces. The collector that needs to control expenditure almost always use this methodology to adjust their collections over the years. Ewart always was aware that he was only a temporary guardian for these pieces that they would continue on and that to try to hold on to something forever was futile. Much better to care, nurture and learn then make sure they continue on to a good home.

The first time I met Ewart and Sybil he had an afternoon of tea and whiskey and great discussions. I spent the majority of the day with the sword laying in my lap and it really was one of the first pieces I was able to handle and admire in great detail and time. Pretty good day all and all
:)

Best
Craig

Craig:

Well, I'm even happier that I ordered one: Craig that story makes getting this reproduction of this sword seem even more like getting a piece of history, both the history of the Black Prince sword and of a great scholar and gentleman who shared his knowledge and love of swords with you.

And not least getting a really nice sword :D