[Alexander Hinman]

At 4:30 today, I came home from a rather boring afternoon, complemented by the similarly dreary weather. To my surprise and utter delight, however, I found an immaculate white cardboard box on my porch. I quickly took it into the kitchen, and opened one end.

I carefully stuck my hand in, but not carefully enough, and my sword drew its first blood. It's never a good indicator when your new pet bites you.

I lifted my sword from its styrofoam prison, and was struck by how light it felt. My first (and only until today) sword was a CAS Iberia 'fully functional' Phillipines-made type, and it felt heavy as an anchor, but this blade sang in my hand. The CAS is actually lighter. It suddenly dawned on me why swords are such revered weapons. They deserve it.

After naming it 'Sava', I went outside, and practiced various guards, feints, and cuts with it, but the large pommel dug into my hand. Either my fingers are too short (so my hand slips down the grip), I'm just gripping it wrong, or it just needs a bit of breaking in and getting used to. In any case, I adjusted my grip some by moving a thumb up onto the cross-guard, against the flat of the blade and that seemed to help.

After about an hour, I came back inside and wrote a review for an hour, then accidentally closed the window. I'll write another one as soon as my head stops hurting.

It's still a marvelous weapon, and I've got a number of pictures. The grip is oxblood. The background is a dining room wall, and a tablecloth. Because with a sword this fine, you must romance it, not just pick it up.

[Addison C. de Lisle]

Congratulations! Having bought my first sword recently, I can relate to the feeling of awe and elation when pulling it out of it's "white prison".

I see fingerprints on the blade in your first picture, that's blasphemy!

[Chad Arnow]

Alexander,
I'm glad you like your new toy, er, acquisition. As for the grip, you may want to try more of a handshake grip than a hammer grip. The hammer grip puts the arm at about 90 degrees to the grip. For me, it tends to make my forearm too rigid and cutting suffers. Also, large pommels will dig into the heel of the hand. The handshake grip puts the arm/wrist at somewhere closer to 45 degrees or so. For me, this loosens the forearm, making cuts better. It also has the benefit of allowing the pommel to slide by the heel of the hand.

Aaron Schnatterly put it this way:

[Gary Grzybek]

Congradulations on such a fine sword

That's gotta be one mean cutter

[Alexander Hinman]

[Nathan Robinson]

[Gary Grzybek]

[Alexander Hinman]

Hmmm... That bit of opinion is actually quite comforting.. After reading it I went out and stopped feinting nearly so harshly. Wouldn't you know, I'm now much more comfortable with it. Thanks for that bit of advice. Mind, this handshake grip takes a bit of getting used to. Once I've appropriately acclimated myself to it, I'll write the review.

As for arm and wrist strength, I think I've got plenty of that. 2+ years of hitting hot things with hammers doesn't just go to waste, you know.

[John Marciano]

Congrats on the Hospitaller. That's one cool looking blade.

[Alexander Hinman]

Well, as promised, here is the Standard Issue myArmoury.com Review™ for the Hospitaller

Introduction

The type XI, seen in use roughly between the 11th and 14th centuries, shows many differences from the Viking blades from which it is derived. Its longer, narrower blade and a thinner, shallow fuller differentiate it from the earlier types. Despite these deviations, however, it still shares many commonalities with its prevalent ancestors.

It is almost exclusively a cutting blade, often with a more pronounced point than the Viking swords, but not uncommonly with the spatulate tip found on older weapons. These swords have a significant blade presence, and were often used by mounted combatants.


In the early Middle Ages, around 1080, the Order of the Hospital of St. John was founded originally to provide medical care and shelter to pilgrims, as an annex to the monastery if Santa Maria Latina. Soon after the First Crusade in 1099, however, it received recognition and land, even from the Pope in 1113. Though it was originally founded by a group of monks intent on healing the sick and wounded, in the 1130's, probably under influence from the Templars, it achieved a military aspect, protecting pilgrims travelling to the Latin East.

Eventually the Order would grow in prestige and might, subsuming many of the lands lost after the Templars were found guilty in 1312. They remained as defenders of many of the Catholic islands in the Eastern Mediterranean, though after the losses of Rhodes and Cyprus, they retired to Malta, eventually being dissolved by Napoleon.

Overview

Unlike most of Albion Armorers' Next Generation models, the Hospitaller is based entirely from a single sword (except the grip), rather than bits from various different blades. It is based off the sword #1027 in the Royal Armoury at Leeds, a very simple type XI. Albion identifies it as a typical sword for a mounted combatant of the Crusader era, placing it roughly around the late 12th century.

Measurements and Specifications:

Weight: 2 pounds, 10 ounces
Overall length: 40 inches
Blade length: 33 3/4 inches
Blade width: 1 22/25 inches at base
Grip length: 3 7/8 inches
Guard width: 6 3/4 inches
Point of Balance: 5 1/4 inches from guard
Center of Percussion: ~22 inches from guard
Oakeshott typology: Type XI blade, Type G pommel, Style 1 guard

Replica created by Albion Armorers of Wisconsin.

Fit and Finish

As with all of Albion's Next Generation line, this sword is made to a high level of excellence. The fittings are tight, and well, machined. There was a small casting flaw on the underside of the guard, but it is extremely difficult to notice, and it was only in an attempt to find imperfections in the casting that I was actually able to spot it.

The pommel is peened, the peen itself flush with the end of the pommel, and so expertly concealed that upon first looking for it and being unable to find it, I almost thought it might have been a screw-on tang. After a second look, I found a small, near-invisible circle on the pommel where the sword had been peened.

The blade is well finished, the fuller perfectly machined into the blade and the edge razor sharp. There is a negligible difference in the curve of the spatulate point, making it a little uneven to a keenly scouring eye. It does not detract from the aesthetic beauty of the blade, but it is still visible upon a close look at the point, which is generally not advised.

The leather-wrapped handle came in brand-new condition, and therefore needed a little bit of breaking in, some of the 'ox-blood' dye flaking off onto my hands.

Handling Characteristics

The Hospitaller handles wonderfully. While I at first tried using a hammer grip, that quickly failed and I used a handshake grip somewhat akin to that of the Viking swords. This was much more comfortable and had better edge alignment, identified by a light swish sound when I swung the blade. I cut at the air a few times, and learned that it moves with great purpose, being quite manoeuvrable for its length. It does not weigh heavily on the hand, but instead is simply there. Coupled with the rather significant blade presence the weapon feels exceptionally deadly, but still manageable.

The recovery from the swings is comfortably easy, and I found it equally easy to swing forehand as backhand.

I then took it to cutting on a 1/2 gallon milk jug and a 20 oz. half & half bottle (now half in half). Never having test cut anything before, I was impressed by how easily the sword went through the jug. I would have thought I had missed were it not for the very comforting ring of the tempered blade. The base of the jug didn't move from its stand, but instead the top 3/4 simply fell off. The half & half bottle produced slightly different results because of the bottle's thickness or composition.

Conclusion

Even though this is my first real sword, I can say with confidence that I am extremely happy with my purchase. It is an extremely comfortable sword for me, and would be very powerful in the hand of a sword-and-shield combatant or a cavalier. Its combination of power and grace make me think of it as a controlled, helm-cleaving tidal wave. I'm sure it would be a sword like this with which El Cid magically 'Tiró al suelo siete moros y mató a otros cuatro de una vez.'*


*This translates into 'Threw seven Moors to the ground [that is, slew them] and killed four more with one stroke.'

[Craig Peters]

Alexander,

Thanks for the review, but I'd be very wary about discussing it in the context of two other swords that you have not handled. Remember that the other two reviews represent different people's responses to particular Albion swords and therefore your comparison can only be as good as your perception of their perceptions of the weapons. In other words, the description of the Templar and Ritter is twice removed from the actual swords. I think it's probably safer in the future to do comparisons and contrasts only with weapons you've handled personally.

[Alexander Hinman]

Point well taken, Craig, and corrected.

[Steve Grisetti]

Nice review, Alexander. The Hospitaller has a certain austere beauty that I find very attractive. Congratulations on your acquisition.

[Dave Calhoun]

>searches frantically through smiley library<

Crud, can't find it!

We need a "This Thread is Worthless Without Pics" smiley.

Photos, man!