Well, I'm very happy to have found this site! I've had a life-long love of swords and melee weapons. I haven't had the means most times to acquire many examples, but I do have a whopping three weapons in myArmoury! :blush:

Have any of you purchased or reviewed anything from Darksword Armory? They are prevelant on Ebay, and rather inexpensive. I'm a patient man, and am accumulating funds to get a new addition for my collection, but was wondering if any of you had any insight to the quality of this maker's blades.

Also, I was wondering where I could go to begin taking lessons in European swordsmanship. I live in Pennsylvania, so of course the east coast is more to my liking in locales.

Last question...for now. I am looking for a good place to get new furniture/hiltwork for the sword I currently have (a French-made "super-blade" i purchased about 16 years ago). Any advice will be welcome!

I have handled one of Darksword's longswords; I didn't really like it. It was too heavy - the handle was metal, and it felt like it. It felt awkward to swing around. It didn't particularly recommend itself above any other sword by its looks, either. I didn't use it for anything other than swinging, however, so I cannot comment on how it holds up in combat. There are better swords on the market, depending on what you're looking for, in my opinion.

As far as lessons, where in PA do you live, and how far are you willing to travel? There's an ARMA chapter in Jersey, and an AEMMA chapter in New York. There is also, I've come to hear, a recently founded WMA school outside of Allentown. Of course they waited until just after I left the area to start!

As for furniture, depending on what you're looking for, and willing to do, you can find materials in various different places. Finding a good wood source shouldn't be hard, nor steel. Even bone is easy to find, as is wire and leather. If you're looking for somebody else to do it, there's always people like Christian Fletcher and Art Elwell.

Best,

~JAG

Hello, Carl:

Welcome "home" :D The best advice is to save your $ and get a good sword, and not an inexpensive one. As the old adage goes, you get what you pay for. That cheap sword can easily end up a waste of money the first time you handle a good sword and realize how lacking your bargain blade is. You can get very good swords for around $500. If you can budget for it, $750-1000 opens more options.

Check out the following, all highly regarded. All Saints Blades allsaintsblades.com They are the retailers for Angus Trim, Atrim swords. Arms and Armor www.arms-n-armor.com Albion Armorers www.albionarmorers.com

These are not the only quality makers/sellers out there, but they are excellent places to start looking. Merely looking through these sites will increase your knowledge of swords and what a good one should be.

Happy sword collecting!
Brock

Hi Carl and welcome!

I've had very bad experiences with Darksword in the past. Shoddy workmanship and terrible customer service. Got burned on my one purchase from them (an axe off of Ebay that was mounted on a half inch dowel rod), and have seen some of their swords which were poorly tempered, heavy, and felt "dead" in the hands.

Worst of all is their marketing hype on their E-bay ads. They claim ridiculous things such as their use of high carbon Titanium steel for their blades (which doesn't exist), or that their steel is highly "carbonated" (which is just funny).

If you're looking for a new sword but don't want to spend too much money, I'd suggest browsing the reviews section of this site for ideas of what makers are capable of doing what (and there are links to their sites as well).

Thanks for the info! I appreciate it.

As Bill said, check the reviews on the myArmoury.com page. For a lower end price range, specifically look at Lutel and Museum Replicas.

Lutel's prices, when converted, fall mostly between $300 - $400 U.S. (for most singlehand and hand-and-a-half styles), and that price includes a nice scabbard and sword belt! From the reviews, they sound like good swords.

Museum Replicas has had problematic quality control in the past, but the reviews suggest they are improving lately. Their prices are also very reasonable.

Bill's comments about Darksword's quality have been echoed by others on many sword forums, so I recommend you heed his advice and steer clear of anything from them.

That's my 2 cents...

One other maker you may wish to take a look at is Armour Class in Scotland.
Good stuff at a good price........www.armourclass.com


William

You might want to sneak a peak at my review on my latest acquisition a sword from Rob Miller of Castle Keep. It's a bit pricier then say Lutel but my they are nice.

Rob Miller's claymores are verrrry nice.

I live just north of Philly and I am also interested in learn historic combat. I took a 20 week course in sport fencing but I would like to learn rapier or longsword. I would say avoid darksword. I bought one on ebay. I discovered that it bends quite easily and the tang is better than the total junk but not near as good as the one on the take down atrims shown here:http://www.leesarmoury.com/at.htm.

Nathan