[Steve Grisetti]

[Travis Canaday]

I guess I just misunderstood you. It sounded like you were saying the stiffness of the blade was some how undesirarable.

I remember reading someone say it sounds like a huge tooning fork after you make a cut with the Savante. Sounds awesome.

It would be very cool to see some pictures of it in action. I don't think anybody has posted Svante cutting pictures before.

[Patrick Kelly]

[Patrick Kelly]

It's raining. It's been raining off and on for over a week now (as you can tell by the condition of my grass) and sure enough, it's raining this morning. Still, I decided to take one for the team in order to provide some cutting feedback, as a service to the community. (actually I had ants in my pants to try this sword out and a blizzard couldn't have stopped me but it sounds better the other way) I felt a bit like Toshiro Mifune in The Seven Samurai out there in the rain but I bet he looked better. I put together a few double-mat rolls for use this morning and decided to start bright and early. Greg came over and we discussed the swords aspects while waiting for the rain to let up. When it became obvious that it wasn't going to, outside we went. (our timing was actually perfect as it really started to rain after we finished) I had previously done a bit of dry handling with the sword, trying to get a feel for it. It quickly became apparent that this sword possessed some very different handling qualities than what I'm used to. As we have often said: there is no best sword. Swords were designed to do specific things in specific environments. The differences in the Svantes handling, when compared to something like a 13th century Grete Swerde make this very apparent. The two may be longswords but there are vast differences in what they're intended to do. When dry handling I did observe that my edge control was better when I looped my index finger over the guard. This was something I completely forgot about when I started cutting. I'll have to remember that next time.

This mornings cutting exercise proved two things to me:
1) I'm even more intrigued by this swords design than I was before.
2) I suck.

"Good valiant sir, dost thou suck with a fair contumely?"
"Aye sire, wouldst fardles bare upon my suck."

"Now is the suck of our discontent."

"He was a man, taken for his suck. I shall not see him suck again."

Okay, enough of the Shakespearean digression.............................................

The Svante is a far different beast than any other sword I've had experience with. When handling most of the high medieval designs I'm familiar with I can pretty well judge how it's going to perform prior to use. To be honest, I really had no idea how the Svante would perform. It has a very thick cross-section which should increase drag as it forces its way through the cutting medium. On the other hand, its aggressive hollow-grinding provides an effective cutting surface. The edge doesn't have the acute sharpness of the earlier designs. This is understandable though.

The Svante comes from an era where plate armor had reached its full development. Heavier body protection would have been encountered in comparison to that of 3-4 hundred years before, so the sword would have possessed a stouter edge that could cut effectively yet still encounter plate armor and maintain integrity. Still, it lacks the fine sharpness of those earlier designs dedicated to the cut. It's certainly well-built for killing on the 15th century battlefield but how would it perform in mat cutting? It's also a heavy sword but it's mass distribution is such that it feels as if it weighs nearly nothing. This was a bit disconcerting to me when compared to what I'm familiar with. Nearly all of those earlier designs will exhibit a certain amount of blade presence as part of their character whereas the Svante has nearly none to speak of. The sword feels very light and it's easy to get it moving very fast. The relation of the bade and grip length is something new for me in medieval design. In this respect the Svante has nearly a katana-like feel to it.

The photos perspective makes it appear that we were standing very close to the target, this is not the case. I put the cutting post in a rather narrow area in my back yard away from the main area, so there's little flexibility on camera angles.


As you can tell by the facial expressions in these photos, we were putting much more power into our cuts than was neccessary. Cutting is more about speed and technique than force and power. However, due to the lack of felt blade presence I think, subconsciously, I was telling myself I really had to swing for the bleachers to make a clean cut.


Most of our cuts were nearly successful in achieving a clean cut through the rolls. Most were left with the top section hanging by a few grass strands. I told Greg this was good realistic performance since it would leave an opponents arm or leg still somewhat attached and you wouldn't be tripping over it later. The only reason I can see for this is we may have been pulling our cuts a bit without realizing it. This photo shows one of my fully successful cuts. By the expression on my face and the bending of the mat, I think it's pretty obvious I'm putting too much force into it. Some of this movement may also be due to the Svantes rather radical hollow-grinding causing drag on the cutting medium as it pushes its way through. While cutting you can feel an increased drag on the blade when compared to the earlier designs that feature a broad and very flat cutting surface. I was happy with this cut because it was a clean complete cut. I wasn't completely happy because I twisted my back doing it. This time when my chiropractor asks me how I did it, I don't think I'll tell him what I was really doing.


I let Greg give it a try with the caveat that "You break it you pay for it."


All too often comments made on the internet are misconstrued by those who read them. I want to make it crystal clear that my comments are observations not criticisms. The original sword of Svante Nilsson Sture wasn't made to cut grass mats, water jugs or (god in heaven!) pool noodles in the back yard on a rainy morning. It was made to perform against a wide range of armor and weapons on the medieval battlefield. Whether it's cutting or thrusting, a sword can be designed to do one thing in an excellent fashion. However, when we move beyond doing only one thing and start designing multi-purpose weapons compromises have to be made.

The Svante doesn't cut as easily as earlier types like the X's, XII's, XIIa's, etc. On the other hand, every cut we made during this initial run would have either killed an opponent outright or immediately put them out of the game so the point is moot. If this sword were used against plate-armored opponents, its heavier edge geometry would be far more durable than that found on designs from the age of mail. The sword also possesses a strong thrusting ability that turns it into a truly mutli-purpose weapon. The sword tracks extremely well into a thrust and I certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end, no matter what I was wearing. In the end the original designers chose to go down the middle of the road, rather than completely on one side or the other. The result is a strong, stout and versatile sword that will perform numerous functions well. This modern recreation was designed by a modern day master of the craft and assembled by skilled craftsman. I have no doubt this sword would perform as intend in a realistic environment and probably do it in a spectacular fashion to boot.

Any faults I found today were due to my own inexperience in exercises like this and in my ignorance of the swords design. The Svante fascinates me now even more than it did before because it has something to teach me. Further work with it will teach me something I didn't know before and that's the best thing about this hobby.

This is a great sword.

[Glen A Cleeton]

Hi Patrick,

That's some pretty impressive hewing, nontheless. Considering double mats and often near horizontal cuts, you may be too self critical. Cutting mats is a little like juggling. Every time you change one thing, it can take a few rounds to sort it out.

I hear you on dynamic differences between sword types. I have recently been warming up with single hand swords again (after a long stint with longer gripped cutters and longswords) and it took some time to get back the form over force philosophy with these as well. Yes also, a different spine adjustment ;)

The Svante really does look the dandy. With a grip that long, it would be interesting to play with different gripping locations.

These are nice swords, really nice. It is great to see so many out there and now apparent tweaking on the design. They were a long time coming and hopefully will be available for some time to come.

Cheers

GC

[Henrik Bjoern Boegh]

Hi Patric,

Congrats on a massive sword! Looks awsome in the cutting photos.
And you look rather dangerous too

Cheers,
Henrik

[Steve Grisetti]

Thanks for posting the photos of your important experiment, Patrick.

[Martin Wallgren]

Hi Patrick!

As I can see from your pictures and as you say it seems you tens up a bit, and you seem to hold your arms a little bit to bent. This could of course be just thet the picture gives that impression or that you are not yet used to the weapon. A trick I tell my fellow students of the art of longsword is to let the tip travlle as far from your centre as possible. (Center -An imaginary point between your shoulders). In the same way a trebusche throws or a fisherman use a fishing rod.

I recoment straight but relaxed arms, not to tight grip on the sword until its time to break the chop/cut. Do the strike from tach and land your foot just before your sword hit the target. In this way you get a wavemotion in your body that channel force to the last 8" of your blade. Just dont forget the step.

I realise that you probally already know this so see the reply mostly for the benefit of beginner who might follow the topic.

Best regards!

Martin

[Patrick Kelly]

I'm certainly no expert Martin. In truth, when it comes to activities like this I'm something of a tyro. Yours is all excellent advice and much appreciated. In truth I'm far more relaxed when using a single-handed sword of earlier design so the Svante is something of a different bird for me all the way around.

Thanks again!

[Patrick Kelly]

[Patrick Kelly]

[Alex Oster]

Well, spellcheck wiped out my previous composition, so I'll get right to the point:

Any thoughts to what your going to do with the alcoves?

I would have thought Albion could have figured out what was there to a low margin of error, or at least done something to make it more universal. Like grove all the facets or none. An odd three is driving my o.c.d. nuts!

Congrats and best wishes,
-Alex

[Patrick Kelly]

[Patrick Kelly]

I just had a quick cutting session with five single-mat rolls. I followed Martins advice and also used a different grip and the results were more satisfactory. I tried to consciously stay relaxed and extend my arms. The sword felt much more comfortable in my hands this time around and I experienced that tuning fork sound a few times. The single rolls are actually harder to cut in some ways than the double rolls as the doubles are more rigid.

It also started raining again just as I finished, along with some thunder and lightning. I don't need the nickname of "lightning rod"! What is it with this stuff?

Cool!

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Patrick Kelly]

Hi Jean.

No thanks, I have enough job security in my current profession. Being called "Mr. Crispy" isn't high on my list of priorities.

I think you've given a good basic description of cutting with a sword. Speed seems to be more important than brute force. No matter which sword I'm using, if I concentrate on getting the sword moving as fast as possible the results are usually satisfactory. One important thing seems to be remaining relaxed and loose. This makes it far easier to move the sword quickly but with control. When you tense up you seem to get into a mode were you're trying to force the sword along and things start to work against you. Another important thing is to keep the blade aligned throughout the cut. Many people seem to "scoop" the cut, this causes drag on the blade that it very counterproductive.

[Alex Oster]

[Travis Canaday]

[Bryce Felperin]

[Bob Burns]

Aye Patrick ya look like a happy man indeed and well you should be! Tis indeed a wonderful sight to see a good buddy enjoying himself with something he so earnestly loves and deserves, this warms the cockles of my heart, as this is what it's all about! The happiness of a most beloved and passionate preoccupation with historical arms!

Simply Fantastic!

Bob