Hi I will visit CA for some work a couple of times this spring and I was thinking of using the nice exchange rates to my favours this time (now 1 US$ = 6,5 SEK, a bit better than when it was 10 SEK).

So is there any good retailers or sword makers available in Silicon Valley/SanFransisco?

Regards Peter from Sweden

I'm actually in San Francisco right now, on vacation. So far in the city I've seen two places selling swords. The first was a place on Pier 39 up on the north coast, which had lots of great knives but pretty much only stainless steel sword-like objects.

The other was more of a sword-oriented place at a mall at this place in the middle of the city called "Japantown". They had lots of stainless steel ninja and katana style SLO's, a bunch of stainless steel cutlasses and rapiers that looked like cheap knockoffs of Windlass stuff, and a bunch of chinese-made katanas probably on par with Hanwei practical stuff for quality. They had a few Hanwei things too. Everything was about twice as expensive as getting it online, so it was easy to resist buying anything.

just FYI, the next Bonhams antique arms and armor auction is april 21 2008 in san francisco. tr

Art, http://www.arts-swords.com/ , is in Sacramento, about 90-120 minutes east of S.F. He sells Del Tin, Lutel and whatever else he might have gotten lately. Thing is, I do not know if it'll be cheaper for you here since he imports everything from Europe. Give him a email and find out.

Cheers
Jim

I always enjoy stopping by American Fencers Supply Company in San Francisco whenever I have a chance. It is a little hole-in-the-wall place that doesn't seem like it should still be in business, but they are still hanging in there. They supply the sport fencers around the Bay Area, but also the theater and opera. You should be sure to take a look in the workshop in the back - it is classic! They have a rustic showroom upstairs with some remaining pieces by Kolombatovich, and quite a few bits of armour laying about. They will also assemble semi-custom swords to order. Prices are very reasonable, and the quality, well, quite functional. You can see more at their web site, http://www.amfence.com. Info about the swords is on their "Armoury" page.

Your best bet might be to choose something from Albion, A&A or maybe even something from the Marketplace here before you arrive in the U.S. and have it shipped to your SF hotel. That gives you the whole nation to choose from and allows you to take full advantage of our pathetically weak currency. :lol: The advantage of buying from the Marketplace is that there won't be any production delay. But if you were to order a new piece now, especially from A&A, and tell them your time limitations, they'd probably be able to hit your target dates.