[Bill Tsafa]

Hello everyone. I have been test and reviewing swords for durability for some time now and I would like to share my results with everyone here. My area of focus is durability but I do comment on other areas. I am primarily interested in swords in the $100 to $300 range. I feel that most first time buyers will most likely be in that price range and I would like to help them buy quality tested products. The latest addition to my collection is a new version of the Generation 2 black Prince.

You may view my reviews here:


http://mysite.verizon.net/tsafa1/swordreview.htm

[Katie Neal]

I really like what you do!

keep it up!..........

[Steve Grisetti]

Very interesting information. Thanks. I found this idea intriguing :

[Hugo Voisine]

Well, this is probably very effective for we had never seen this knight with another armour...



Very interesting site Vassilis, we do not often see impartial reviews for this category of swords (under 300$). If I have any comment it would be concerning the design and layout of the site. Maybe structuring the site in different pages with an index would make it clearer (and removing the strange background colors too ).

The videos are nice, reminds me of the early videos published by Arma...

Keep up the good work.

[Russ Ellis]

[Steve Grisetti]

[Bob Burns]

As swords in the $100.00 to $300.00 range go, I really like my Towton which I believe was one of the last one's available. Why MRL discontinued this sword I do not know, although it has a bit more flexion to it than I would like, for the money it's quite a nice sword. Another sword in the $200.00 price range that I have is the Sir William Marshall Sword, I tell ya this sword is indestructible!
I have files, and an array of stones both oil and water, so if and when I buy an MRL it's no big deal to me that I have to sharpen the sword. I pretty much keep all my swords very sharp but I only cut cardboard and water filled plastic jugs with them.
The thing is, with these swords in the lower price point, I can feel free to hack and whack with them to my hearts desire and have a whole lot of fun without worry. Even though I have on occasion used my Arms & Armor and Albions on such things as wood, and have yet to encounter any damage whatsoever to the blades, still these are very valuable swords that have been made by master bladesmiths who put their hearts into them and I have more respect for these bladesmiths than to go and abuse they're fine craftsmanship! It's respect!

My favorite low priced battle ready sword that is still out there is the Sir William Marshall Sword, I really like this one!

Thanks,

Bob

[Bill Tsafa]

Thanks for your feedback everyone.

Regarding the layout and indexing, if you go the the table of contents and click on the various items it should take you directly to that area on the webpage. Learning webdesign is an on going part of this project for me.

Regarding the use of tires as armor... I think with some padding underneith it may even stop a small caliber bullet like a .22 Not sure, but I have been working with the same four tires for almost two years now (give or take). The are very resiliant and at the same time not hard on my sword edges. I think the hardest part about making tire armor would be cutting the tires. I believe tire companies use giant shredder like machines. I have built a full suit or armor out of carwash barrels. The barrels are hard plastic averaging 3/16 of an inch. I use this armor in my weekly SCA practice. With two layers of cell foam padding glued tho the inside, I hardly feel the blows. Here is a picture of the armor: http://www.tsafa1.bravehost.com/armor/index.htm
I have preformed many tests on the hard plastic. It is just as effective as plate against cuts and thrusts. Naturally the joints and other openings are venerable. The nice thing about the plastic barrels is you can get them for free at your local carwash and they are easy to cut with a jig-saw.

Regarding the Towton. I still see it on sale at http://www.reliks.com/merchant.ihtml?id=35&am...1&e=65 I do not own that sword but I have been contacted in the past by a person that did own it. They said the tang on the sword broke relatively quickly. I recall they where testing on plywood resembling a shield. I have been told of a few other cases of windlass swords breaking in the tang. The Shrewbury definitely one of them. I was told the Shrewbury broke in three hits. In all cases I heard wher windlass swords broke, they were hand and a half. I have not heard of any cases of the single hand swords breaking.

Bob, could you please check something on your Sir Marshall sword. Hold the blade in one hand and the grip in the other. Now try to twist it back and forth. See if there is any play. I have found and confirmed with others that that the grips on Windlass swords tend to be slightly oversized for the tangs. This makes the tang twist inside the grip on strikes. The Sir Marshall seems like a later version and I am wondering if they corrected this.

I understand what you mean about buying an expensive sword and not wanting to scratch it up or put nicks in it. A lot of people are like that with their cars too. They have a Ford to go to work in and a BMW permametly parked in their driveway. Myself, I am very utilitarian. If its too pretty to use, I won't buy it, but thats just me.

[Bob Burns]

In "my" Sir William Marshall Sword which is not the Damascus version, there is absolutely no play. I first wrapped a dry wash cloth around the distal end of the blade, gripping it with my left hand and the grip with my right ( I am right handed), I am not what I used to be but I am still a pretty strong guy and am 6' 1" and about close to 200 lbs and I tried from the distal end of the blade, to the medial then to the proximal and I was not able to find any play in the twist whatsoever!
The only complaint I have about this sword is one of these what I call false braids that is supposed to tuck under and into the grip leather has come loose. But that's something I can just glue into place.
Oh by the way, I am not afraid of putting scratches on my expensive swords, as a matter of fact all my swords have some sort of scratch marks, abrasions, etc. But there are no nicks into the edges or anything serious and I do have fun with all my swords. I am not worried about keeping the blades in pristine condition and so forth, as I will never sell any of my swords, everything I have is promised to my stepson who is 26, married and the father of a 1 year old daughter.
One feature I like about the Sir Wiliam Marshall is the reinforced tip, I tell ya bang for the buck in the low end price range I really love this sword a lot! I do not have a favorite expensive sword but I have 10 of them. All are beautiful, 8 are Arms & Armor and 2 are Albions. My most "Important" sword of all is the German Bastard Sword, because it was my very first sword and took me over a year to decide upon.
Oh, speaking of low end priced swords, Tuesday I am picking up the Paul Chen Lowlander Two Handed Great Sword. I got a special price on it. I plan to have a lot of fun with this 5 foot 9 inch 6 pound 16 ounce Beast, maybe start picking neighbors garbage for more than plastic jugs, start looking for things made of wood!

Have fun my fellow Knights of the Sword!

Bob

[Joe Fults]

[Jonathan Blair]

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!
I also own the MRL Shrewsbury, along with various other MRL closeout swords. I have a fairly recent model of the Shrewsbury. I took the hilt apart to do the typical "Windlass hilt upgrade" of wedging the grip tight, making sure it all fit together tight, then peened the end of the tang. The tang on my Shrewsbury was a full tang, not overly wide but adequate. The last section was threaded, and a small nut screwed on over the pommel to hold it all together. There wasn't any real radius to the shoulders, though, so that could be a potential problem. I did find that if I peened the tang end, everything was held together much tighter. The slot in the cross was a bit large, which could also be a potential problem.
Now, a word about the Towton (another one I also own) and the Shrewsbury. They are lovely swords to handle, but I would never use them in a "battle simulation", in other words, hard use. I don't think the light blades on these models are really meant for heavy use, regardless of MRL's "battle-ready" sales pitch. Not every sword was meant to see heavy use. I see both the Towton and the Shrewsbury more along the lines of long-bladed riding swords, swords meant to be worn "about town", or to scare off those nasty brigands on the highways and byways! (I know, the definition of "riding sword" usually applies to shorter swords, but that's the closest term to the idea I'm trying to relate.) I don't think a light-bladed sword like the Towton or Shrewsbury was ever meant to be banged against a shield (or plywood simulating a shield), or other hard use. Still, a breakage could indicate a fault in design or construction.
Now, I also own the Arbedo, and I believe that MRL sword might hold up better to harder use. It seems to have a wider tang (I've never taken that one apart, since it's a peened assembly, but the peened section in the pommel is wide), and the blade is certainly wider and heavier than the Towton or Shrewsbury. Even the slot in the cross is much tighter than that on the Shrewsbury. Everything seems to have stayed nice and tight on my Arbedo as well, and it does look nicer in person than in MRL's photos. It especially looks nice with a bit of redoing on the hilt. I wrapped twisted wire around half the grip, and wrapped dark brown leather over cord on the other half. The Schwert, a sort of Oakeshott Type Xa, is another MRL sword I bought on closeout that has an admirably wide tang, and a peened assembly. One thing I can't comment on is whether or not either sword possessed a radius at the shoulders. Many MRL blades don't, but I've seen a few that do. (The Patay had a small radius, but a screw-on pommel! I made sure I epoxied that one so everything stayed tight.) Unfortunately, both the Arbedo and Schwert are no longer available at MRL, which is a shame because they both seemed to be decent blades.
I have a question for those who have witnessed a breakage with the Towton and Shrewsbury; was any work done to tighten the grip and hilt assembly prior to use? I'm not trying to be critical of anyone's use of these swords and cry "sword abuse", I'm just trying to get more details about the conditions under which these swords failed.
I know I'm being long-winded yet again (anyone who has seen my posts on the thread about brass hilt components knows what I mean), but I've been lurking here an awfully long time, and now that I'm finally posting, I have a lot to say!
Oh, and in case your wondering why I have all "cheapie" blades, I spend most of my money on books. I'm just a poor home schooling dad and aspiring author!
Stay safe!

[Richard Fay]

Hello again!
I forgot a point or two in my last post. I also owned a sword made by Windlass when MRL first switched over to Windlass blades, the Medieval Sword. It was definitely a "plain Jane" sword, and put together rather strangely. The pommel was screwed on with a small, inset nut. It appeared to be peened, but it was just ground smooth. I had bought into the MRL advertising and thought it was a full tang. Can you imagine my surprise and shock when I finally took it apart and found that it had a weld right in the middle? Yes, it had a partial tang with a threaded rode welded on the end. That sword eventually ended up buried in my yard. Some future archaeologist might dig it up someday and get a shock!
I thought at the time that the MRL Medieval (not to be confused with the recent "Classic Medieval") handled well, but I only had an old MRL Del-Tin Man-at-Arms Sword (yeah, I've been collecting swords that long) to compare it to. The Man-at-Arms is put together nicely (they did nice work back in their Del-Tin days), but it is a tad blade heavy. I was amazed by the handling characteristics of my more recent MRL swords like the "Drac" (nice little cheap short sword), Towton, Shrewsbury, and even the Schwert and Arbedo. (After swinging around the Man-at-Arms sword, I'm more comfortable using the Towton as a large one-handed sword!) I wish that MRL stayed on course, but their medieval-style swords lately look weird and ugly. Their current Renaissance and later swords look nicer, but being a southpaw, I don't care much for complex hilts.
Of course, if I get a publisher to publish my novel, and get a decent offer (awaiting word on my submission now), I'm going to get myself an Albion and/or Arms and Armour sword (or two, or three, or...)
Stay safe!

[Jonathan Blair]

[Bill Tsafa]

Richard , Jonathan, thanks for your posts. Considering that Windless charges an average $200 per sword there is no reason they can not reinforce the tang a bit more. It would cost them pennies per sword. I have also sent emails to Windless complaining in the past. I hope they listen. They have a lot of beautiful designs I would like to own, but I have lost confidence in them. The Sir Marshall sword seems like an improvement according to Bob. Time, more testing and hard practice will tell.

Bob one more thing if you could check for me. I have noticed and have heard similar complaints that the Windless/MLR swords are a bit too soft and fold too easily on thrusts. While this would be acceptable on a Norman style cutting sword like my Windless Classic Medieval, it should not be the case on tapered swords which serve to thrust such as the Towton. Please check your Sir Marshall sword and tell us about the level of blade stiffness.

Richard, you seem very handy with taking apart upgrading windless swords. Did you by chance take any digital pictures? If you send me pictures and detailed instructions, I would create a new webpage so people can see how to upgrade their swords. It would just be a matter of cutting and pasting your instructions. I would post your pictures and give you all the credit. A number of people have written me and asked me if there is a way to reinforce the hilts on their windless, you seem to have the answer.

[Jonathan Blair]

Here's the pictures of the MRL Shrewsbury hilt.

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!
I was shocked by the pictures of Jonathan's Shrewsbury. The rat-tail and weld look even worse than what I found on my MRL Windlass Medieval Sword! The current Shrewsbury, the one still on closeout, has a much nicer tang. It is a full tang, no welds, and tapers much more gracefully to the threaded section. I wish I took pictures of it as I worked on it, but I didn't. Windlass still has some problems, but I have noticed a marked improvement in the size of their tangs.
Vassilis,
Like I said above, I don't have pictures of what I do to tighten Windlass swords, but I might be able to describe it for you. It's not a perfect fix, but it helps! I didn't mess with any that are peened, like the Arbedo, Dracula/Short Sword, or Schwert, except for a bit of extra tapping with a hammer to tighten the peen. I think the wider tang in these models helps hold the grip on tighter. I have found that toothpicks or other slivers of wood jammed up through the cross and into the space between the tang and grip can tighten the grips of those swords that can't easily be taken apart. It sounds nuts, but I got the idea from the photos in Records of the Medieval Sword that showed the "Morgarten" sword's hilt taken apart (in Appendix C). There was a piece of white wood that looked like a match stick (but wasn't), placed between the grip and the tang to keep the tang tight in the grip. (The hole in the grip core was slightly too large, just like many Windlass swords!) I have done this to my MRL Windlass Norman sword (not one of their better designs) when the grip started to loosen, and now the grip is tight. I believe others use epoxy to do basically the same thing.
For Windlass swords that have a screw-on pommel or a nut on a threaded tang holding the assembly together, a strong twist with pliers wrapped in duct tape or the like will loosen the pommel or nut. (I was able to unscrew the Patay pommel with my bare hands.) I take the pommel and grip off, then use the wedging technique or epoxy to make sure the grip is tight. When I tightened the Shrewsbury, I carefully jammed some slivers of wood up into the grip core (plastic, by the way) and then slid it down in place over the cross, making sure nothing would wiggle or twist. You can also wedge the cross if you need an even tighter fit. I epoxied everything on the Patay because it had a screw-on pommel, and this was the best method I had to keep the pommel from spinning. After I'm satisfied that the grip is on tight, I then replace the pommel and nut. I've found that since Windlass tends to wrap their grip cores prior to assembly, and tend to have leather between the core and cross and core and pommel, if you remove Windlass's grip wrap and rewrap the grip core, the tang will stick out a bit from their nut after putting it all back together. I found that their tangs are a bit soft, and can be adequately peened cold using a hammer. You tap lightly and repeatedly, squashing the tang end into a dome-shape. I used a regular old hammer for this, but a ball-peen might work a bit better. This might not be the most efficient way, but I found that I can peen the tang end by just holding the sword in my other hand. The trick is to go slowly and carefully. I've done this with both my Towton and my Shrewsbury, and neither one has any rattle or twisting in the grip or cross. It's still held together by compression, but at least nothing twists!
I have found that Windlass doesn't always use the best wood for the grip core, so that can also potentially cause a problem. My closeout Patay had a cracked core that I liberally doused with Gorilla glue until the wood was thoroughly impregnated with the glue. That was another reason why I epoxied everything.
I hope this rambling helps!
Stay safe!

[Nathan Robinson]

My old Windlass Shrewsberry had a full tang, too, without any welded parts. It was fairly substantial, too. My friend still owns the sword and it's been good for him.

[Steve Grisetti]

The Windlass/Factory X Sword of Dracula has been mentioned a few times in this thread. I finally got tired of the poorly-sewn, vinyl-over-plastic grip, and tore it off. One of these days, I'll get a new grip on it. In the meantime, though, here is a photo of the tang, which seems pretty substantial to me.

[Patrick Kelly]

All of the Windlass pieces I've seen in the last couple of years have had full tangs like this. If it's a new production piece it should have a full tang.