Pretty redokulous deal for the sword over at MRL

Jheesh, with all these orders I'll be curious if there is consistency in construction, materials used, etc. Hopefully everyone will give some opinions upon receipt.

J.E. Sarge, postpone your deployment, you apparently have boat load of work awaiting you.

And if Phil D. isn't invested in MRL he surely deserves a kickback from them.

Jon

Well, just placed my order, and immediately got an email saying it's on back order. Hope this one is worth the wait. Everyone else, you've got a couple of hours left to get yours at this price.

Phew, I didn't get a backorder email so hopefully im OK. For those of you waiting it doesn't seem as if you have to wait too long for back orders, maybe 2-3 weeks or so.

I placed my order on Friday, been eyeballing it for a year, but felt it was far too much for what it was (and the fact it was going to be a project blade). It'll be interesting to see what people do with theirs.

Ordered also. Been wanting one of these for a while.

Was kicking myself quite thoroughly though-- I forgot to apply the SBGWEB 10% off coupon. Granted, the price is low enough that it wasn't an issue, but for $20 shipping when I live a hour away from their warehouse in Conyers? Please. I should just call them and see if they'll knock off shipping if I just go pick it up myself...

I ordered a sharp, I'm curious how well MRL sharpens their pieces. I also went for my initials, such unmitigated vanity.

Jon

Just a few moments ago I received an email informing me that they are cancelling my order as they do not hold back orders for international customers! I am completely gutted as I was really looking forward to this piece and I thought I was going to be OK as I had placed my order over the weekend. I suspect that they placed domestic orders ahead of international due to less paperwork and hassle. I may end up buying from one of the overpriced UK vendors as I had been really looking forward to the sword, but I can't really afford it so I will have to sell off some of my collection, which sucks. I am going to email them to see if they will honor the sale price when the sword eventually comes back into stock but I am not holding my breath. This is probably my first and last time ordering from them.

So my sword arrived a couple days ago and after a bit of handling, I have to say I'm fairly happy with this sword. It's solid and fairly well balanced. A bit too blade heavy for my taste, but with the really sharp edge MRL put on it, it sings through the targets I put it against. It was almost too easy after my Agincourt to cut things.

It is however a very "budget" sword. The blade is noticably wavy in reflection. The crossguard is really blocky. And the hilt is a functional, but to me, ugly leather stitching. The wheel is pretty well done though, I have to say.

Overall, this is a sword begging for some upgrades. Thinning the cross seems a good start, something to place in the hollow wheel, and contemplating a wire wrap for the hilt, but this will probably have to wait until school's out.

Still, definitely worth the price.

I received mine as well. Generally, ditto Ben Coomer. I found the blade no more wavy than an A & A sword I have in my collection. The initials I requested are quite a bit larger than expected. More me.

A little work should do wonders on this great deal.

Jon

Well after some email communication back and forth MRL has graciously agreed to just hold the sword for pickup and waive the shipping fee. Seeing as I live only about a hour away from their showroom, it'll be a great chance to see it again and actually get something this time around :)

I have nothing but good things to say about this experience thus far with them. Look forward to taking advantage of the next good deal!

Why not just get it from Kult of Athena? They have it listed in stocks.

Had one from the original batch for a couple of years and quite liked it - for a short sword!

But seriously, how can you complain even at $189 for a sword like this? Or to put it another way, how many swords in the $300-400 range are this good? And how many original 13-14th century swords were this evenly formed? By the way, those fixer-up projects shown above look to me like $600 swords.

I can't remember who it was, but someone at 'sword buyer's guide' said they have both this and the Albion and preferred the Windlass. Sacrilege! ;)

I wouldn't go that far, but I still have a soft spot for Windlass - they gave me a lot of happiness when I was going through a tight stretch a few years back.

I hate to "blaspheme" as well but at that price point. Plus if you compare stats...the Windlass is a fantastic version of an XIV and you save about $800.00.
\
. Plus resale value is waaaay easier to regain. My Albions are great but I know that I will not get back near what I paid for it if I decide to sell one..

Some relevant information:

If anybody here ordered one and has not received theirs yet, I have recently corresponded with MRL about this. They state that the next delivery of swords will be early June. You should be able to expect yours around then. I will simply be stopping by there to pick mine up :)

Good. My wife ordered this sword a little later than me and has been a little irritable about it being out of stock for so long.

Yeah for peace in the house come June (by adding more weapons... :lol: )

PFF that´s a long wait.

But i´m lucky anyway, normally they don´t accept international orders when an item is out of stock.
They accepted my order because there was something wrong with there site so i reported that.

I'm really looking forward to this wicked little cutter.

Just received an email that the sword has been shipped OH YEAH! !!!

I noticed in the official review for this sword that it states the pommel is a type J1. While looking through "Records of the Medieval Sword" on page 124 the pommel on that example looks very similar to the Windlass XIV and is classified as a type K. I think type K would be more accurate for this sword but want some input. K just looks like a better fit as most type J1 pommels secondary disk is closer to the primary disks. Any input would be great. I have included a picture of the XIV.8 from page 124 of oakshott' book.