[Nathan Johnson]

Hi, I'm thinking about buying two mid price range swords,one to use as a saddle sword and one to wear.
Basicly I,d need one single hand arming sword and one longsword both circa 1490-1530 that complement eachother astheticly and in function (one for cutting one for thrusting or vis-versa)
There to be used as sparing blunts so nothing to high end.
I,d probably get them from eather Lutel, MRL or Del Tin.

My question is which two swords from these makers would you choose and why?

[Bryce Felperin]

If you want the swords for costume and appearence then any would probably do for a low price point. If you want them for fighting and heavy contact use, then I'd go Lutel since those are toughest in my opinion of the three brands you mention. The Del Tin are a good compromise, but some aren't as good a performance as others...so shop for good models. Most all Lutels are good performers. Personally, I'd be careful of the MRL's for heavy sparring...some are good and others aren't very good for this.

[Zach Gordon]

The Albion Maestro line isn't much more and is much better than the three you mentioned and thoose swords will match nicely together (you could prolly get the lechtenaur and I:33) alternately the squire line with a blunt edge they are kinda thin for sparring but should be pretty durable.

[Lee O'Hagan]

I know you've mentioned nothing too high end,
but Brendan may be worth an email,
alot of his stuff looks higher end fantasy,but the few historical pieces he's shown look nice,
also being in OZ,the import tax and shipping would be saved,
cant hurt to ask,
http://www.fableblades.com/index.html

[Nathan Johnson]

I should have mentioned i'm only interested in hilt types that are specific to the time period eg. roped, S- guards and complex hilts.
Thay are for Living History displays were I portray a German man at arms/landsknecht ,so plain strait quillons and round pommels just aren't appropriate. also only military swords not civilian or historical traning styles.
The simplest sword I would go with would be the Schloss Erbach arming sword
i'm currently thinking the 15005,15010,15014 or 15024 models from lutel
But I don't usually use single handed swords apart from short swords so I really don't know what to choose in that category
( I could use a saber or messer I suppose,but a single hand arming sword style is still my most prefered match) whatever kind of sword still has to look specificaly early 16thC

[JE Sarge]

I'd go for Del Tin. KoA is blowing alot of the old DT prices out of the water; and I believe that they have an nice S-guard 1.5 in stock right now...

MRL does not make what you would ultimately want and Lutel would be considerably more. Of course, your Del Tins would come sans scabbards, but if you have a little time and some basic tools, you can do these to historical accuracy yourself, adding individual flair to make them more you...