[Dan P]

[JE Sarge]

A year and a half has passed and *poof*, I resurrect this thread (instead of starting a new one).

I recently purchased one of these on sale from KoA. I must admit, it's a nifty little sword. Since Gen II never did rework it to make it on par with the Type XVI in Oakeshott's collection, I went ahead and customized it to my personal liking. I added a wasted grip with a burgundy leather over cord wrap and refinished the entire sword with a grey Scoth Brite pad.





It's definately a bit of an oddball to have around the house, but it hilariously fun to cut with and small enough to carry to a crowded period event where might want to avoid having a longer scabbard banging into people shins. I lovingly call it my medieval gladius, because that is exactly how it handles.

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Mike Harris]

Nicely done, Jonathan. I like the looks of that one a LOT more with your overall treatment.

[Cliff Seruntine]

I ordered this sword just today from KoA after reading the very positive reviews. I was debating between it, a large Seax, also by Gen2, or a Celtic sword. I suppose that unlike many on the forum my uses for these weapons are fairly practical. I live a very back-to-basics life on a homestead deep in the Canadian northwoods. I'm a primitive bowhunter and a tracker, and there are innumerable tasks around my homestead wherein a large knife/short sword can come in handy. I carry a mid-sized seax (albeit a more modern rendition of one) for everything from cutting kindling, clearing brush and pruning trees to killing chickens for the pot or putting down a deer that I've shot with my longbow. I had been wanting something a bit larger for quite some time that could also serve as a beefier self-defense weapon should I find myself in a pinch in the bush, but still small enough to be convenient and serve some practical camp uses. The Riding Sword seemed just the ticket. Small enough to tuck under a saddle bag when I'm out on my horse, unobtrusive and unthreatening, portable and useful. A good thing to keep in a tree stand should I have another bear try to climb up and visit.

I have some deer leather left over from last year's kill and, inspired by Sarge's post, I think I may use it to rewrap this sword for something a little more grippy. I haven't done that kind of thing before, though, and would love to know how Sarge did it. What would be a good resource to learn this skill? Your workmanship is beautiful and looks imminently practical.

[William Swiger]

I have some of their swords but the only thing that I did not like about the fullered blades was the fullers stopped short of the guard. Not a deal breaker but just seemed strange.

[Cliff Seruntine]

I live on a homestead in the northwoods and it's chicken killing time, and as I was lobbing heads it got me thinking about the Riding Sword, a weapon I find especially intriguing because while many are perplexed by it's smallness, my lifestyle causes me to see it as eminently practical. When I kill chickens I keep my large puukko on me (or seax, if you please, it's a modern design something like both), a beefy 15" knife with a lot of heft. If a chicken squirms at the last moment so I don't make a clean chop and it's flopping around too much to finish the job quickly, I don't want it to suffer needlessly, so I use the puukko with it's long cutting area to quickly put it down, either by taking the head with it where the hatchet's narrower blade might miss, or by thrusting into the chicken's vitals if need be. End result is the same: a fast kill and a minimum of suffering.

The Riding Sword: I can see this weapon having similar usefulness. I'm not a historical expert on the subject, but I do hunt with primitive technology, often on foot, sometimes mounted, nearly always with my longbow. More than once I've taken big game and had to run it down and put several more arrows into it to drop it. I've often wanted to approach a downed deer and end it quickly with a throat cut or heart thrust with the puukko for mercy's sake, but a big deer is a powerful animal, especially if it's thrashing around with a set of antlers. I wonder if the original of this sword may have been a gentleman's hunting weapon--a coup de grace solution that could also serve as a knightly combat weapon should the need arise. In a hunt using archery or spears, animals do not just drop like they do in movies. I know from experience. With such a sword I could make a quick throat cut or thrust to the heart or liver of a large animal with a bit of safety. The shortness would allow for greater accuracy and maneuverability, important when dealing with injured game.

Even the large hilt makes sense in that sense. I like my puukko because the hilt is larger than you usually see on knives. If I need to make an accurate power cut to kill a farm animal, it allows for it. Likewise, with the Riding Sword, the large hilt would allow for powerful throat cuts or thrusts into the heart or liver, which would be essential to put down a large game animal.

The deer hunt is fast approaching and I may get a chance to test this theory, but to me it makes perfect sense, especially if you see this weapon as a tool for the day-to-day service of an outdoorsman.

The guard is interesting, too. It's turned up and long. I can see this having several advantages, chiefly a powerful parry with a chance to twist an opponent's weapon from his hands--a defense best executed with a shorter, nimbler weapon (reference the sai or parry dagger). As well, the longer hilt combined with the shorter blade would allow the wielder tremendous leverage for knocking longer weapons (which would have weaker leverage at distance) out of the way to get in close for the kill. An extremely useful weapon if one's strategy is to get in close. Again, that seems to make sense of the sword of an outdoorsman or gentleman hunter who might want a multi-purpose weapon/tool on his rambles.

Just my thoughts on a very intriguing sword.

[J. Hargis]

Yes, I've often wondered about this sword. Nice to see everyone's opinions. I just had a G2 Dordogne worked over by J. E. Sarge, what a difference. And it just goes to show that there is some nice work to be had in the lower cost spectrum if you're willing to make some basic modifications.

Here's the G2 Knightly Riding sword before and after J. E.'s makeover. It's almost night & day.

Jon

[JE Sarge]