[Matthew P. Adams]

Lots of great advise given! I would add two things:

1) See if there is an historic fencing group nearby. If you are interested in single handed swords, maybe a group looking at I33, or saber, rapier, or viking sword and shield. If two handed swords, look for groups studying Fiore or Lichtenauer.

2) I'd just point out that in addition to Christian Fletcher you could also look into Arms and Armor for custom work. http://www.arms-n-armor.com/custom.html They can customize a production piece for a reasonable price, or you can ask them to make whatever suits you.

If you contact a group they might have some niece pieces you could handle and get a better idea of what you'd like.

Your budget would cover several nice production pieces. You could get an Albion Gallowglass, and A&A German Bastard and have enough left over for some nice scabbards. OH! Scabbards! That's what I would do, get a weapon and scabbard set up! And don't forget to post pictures!

[Craig Peters]

Pete,

If, by practice sword, you mean "a sword I can reasonably safely use to spar with an opponent", then I would recommend getting one of the Albion Maestro Line Swords: http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/sw...aestro.htm. Since you are interested in single handed swords, I would recommend the I.33 (One-Thirty Three, for the manuscript by that name):http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/ma...ce-I33.htm.

You'll notice, though, that practice sparring swords look quite different from real swords. This is because practicing with a sword that looks like a sharp is not safe. To make a sparring sword relatively safe, you need to round the edges and flatten the point, which is what Albion has done.

So, when you talk about a reliable, good looking sword, I have the impression that you want a sharp sword that looks and handles like the real thing. Sharps, like the Laird and Sovereign can be used for practice, but only certain parts of practice. You can practice improving your cutting technique against various targets, and perhaps do solo routines cutting routines against the air (if you are careful) with a sharp sword.

Regarding your question, practice swords should be good quality, because a poor practice sword really distorts your technique. You'll notice that Albion's Maestro Line are their cheapest swords, and that's because they want to make them accessible to historic European martial arts people, who probably purchase them in larger quantities than the number of their Next Gen swords- like the Laird and Sovereign- are sold.

By the way, coats of arms on any part of the sword, whether the pommel or the blade, are all but non-existent on medieval swords. There is the coat of arms of Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV on the Sword of Saint Maurice of Vienna, but this sword is the Imperial coronation sword of the Holy Roman Empire, and while its blade most certainly is suitable for combat, its hilt components are primarily made of silver, if I remember correctly, and thus it is a ceremonial sword very atypical of most medieval weapons. There are a few other examples, and these are probably a bit more common in the late Middle Ages (say after 1300 AD), but I would guess they account for less than 5% of medieval swords at this time, and probably less than 1% of medieval swords overall if we factor in blades from the 12th and 13th century, when heraldry first appears. Personally, I would avoid putting on a coat of arms, because again, this smacks of modernity to me. I would also stick to replicating inscriptions of antique medieval swords unless I was deliberately looking to make an anachronistic pseudo-medieval sword that celebrates the shape and form of a medieval weapon and yet is not a medieval sword, really.

[Christopher Lee]

My advice, for what it is worth, in no particular order: don't go dropping down $2K+ for a custom sword just yet. You need to figure out what it is you want customised. Its not just a family crest and inscription, there are all the other handling qualities of a sword to consider as well, the length, weight, point of balance, culture, era, single hander, two hander, hand and a half, and so on. Now, until you have handled a sword for an entire 2 hours training session and feel the ache in your shoulders the first time you won't know what sort of sword you like. Some prefer a blade heavy beast with the balance of a girder, others prefer a much lighter more agile sword. But until you have handled a sword, and a few different types of sword you won't know what particular qualities you are looking for in a customised sword. Plus, if you go to a custom sword smith with no clear idea what you're after you're likely making a headache for yourself and the swordsmith. Keep in mind that you might be waiting 2+ years for a sword comission to be completed, this is not a rush decision.

Also, and this is my own opinion, but you only get to know what a good sword feels like in the hand after you've handled some 'sword shaped objects'. I would think that there are many sword collectors who still have the fugly lump of steel they bought as their first 'real sword' but quickly discovered the only thing in common it had with a real sword was the name...and being mostly metal. To put it another way, you only get to know what a good car feels like, handles like, etc after you've driven a shitbox for a while. You need a point of contrast and comparison, otherwise how will you know what a quality sword should feel like.

Also, if you've never handled a sword before then you need to get a feel for what style of swordplay you want to engage in. You can diversify later but everyone starts out somewhere - german longsword, italian longsword, sword and buckler, scottish broadsword, sabre, italian or spanish rapier, two hander spadone or montante, and so on. What ever style you prefer will likely dictate the style of sword you comission. So my advice is buy a middle of the range sword, use it, find an historical fencing group near you, but become informed and experienced before talking to a custom sword maker.

As for a custom sword, do not by any means rule out the european makers, they produce outstanding pieces.
http://www.kp-art.fi/jt/index_eng.html
http://www.gullinbursti.cz/index.php?lang=en&page=home
http://owenbush.co.uk/

plus many, many more.

[Pete R.]

I cannot thank you guys enough for giving me more insight into this. I agree that I should test out more swords than just going and spending money I might later regret. I suppose I have to find a starting point, sadly where I live (Colorado) there are almost 0 groups other than the Rocky Mountain swordplay guild about 2 hours away. Anyways, again, I truly appreciate thos insight and i will very likely start with a cheaper sword, but good enough for proper form. I suppose ill start by contacting these groups and studying the ways they teach the sword. Ill try and check out a sword around 500 USD. Is that a good price for a testing blade? Or more/less?

Edit: For a practice sword to start the path to find out what kind of style I like, ehich i think would be agile swords than greatswords/longswords since I myself am a 5'5-5'6 short guy.

Any recommendations of where to start?

[P. Frank]

I personally quite like my Albion Meyer, plus, I think it looks very nice too:
http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/ma...-meyer.htm

It is rather light and for some larger folks it might be a little short, but it is very agile.