Hey Peter since you have held a original falcata, have you by any chance held Del Tin's version? If so what are your comments on it?

I'm finding this thread a bit on the depressing side. I was really considering a del tin for sparring and practice. Now I'm not sure what I am going to do. I would love to get a next gen from Albion, but (at least as far as I know) they are all sharps. My wife will not allow a sharp sword in the house, so this complicates things. Albion does have the squire line, but now I'm wondering if they handle like an original.

One thing other thing that popped into my head while I read Peter's post was that there were tourney swords and blunts for training. I may be stretching this but I think that a knight, man at arms, squire probably spent more time actually working with blunt blades or wasters.

Ben

Thanks guys. I'm feeling better.

Ben

I have a Del Tin falcata and I like it very much. It may not be an original or even of the best quality, but I suspect that the quality of originals varied a good deal, and some would have been much poorer than a Del Tin. Others would have been superb specimens. Mine gives me considerable insight into how such a sword would have been used, how it felt, etc. Of course there are better falcatas around but the cost would be considerably more than Fulvio charges and maybe one day I'll get around to getting one of them. Until then, mine will do very nicely.

Cheers,

Paul

On the Albion Squire Line, reenactment and martial arts practice are what these pieces are specifically marketed for. They are sold blunt but don't have the heft of the Del Tin nor the thickness at the edge. The best way I can describe it is if you were to take a Next Gen sword and have it shipped rebated, put a little more meat at the edge, make the hilt components a little more simple in design (not any less a component, mind you, just quicker/easier to produce) and take the polish down a grit or two and you'd have something pretty close to the Squire Line. In my (admittedly limited on some of the models, but I pretty much lived with a Squire Viking in hand for two days) experience, you'll be hard pressed to find a more historically accurate practice weapon in durability and feel for your dollar and at a price that won't scare you away from REALLY using the weapon.

. . . and in reference to "blunt", the points still have a little bite to them and the edges are a wee bit keener than "MRL dull". So, I think a plus for martial arts drills in that there's still enough there to wake you up such that you don't forget you're swinging a sword around, but keep your practice a safe distance from kids, pets, soft cuttable things, etc. Otherwise, for the casual pick up and play with kind of thing, I can hold one edge on against the palm of my hand without worries (I see the type XV as great for this reason - take baby steps toward half-swording without fear of cutting your hand to ribbons! I know the physical dynamics of it are sound, Peter, but still. . . the first couple of times really going after it with a sharp is going to take some stones on my part ;) ) Back on topic, if you're still worried that Squire Line blunt is still too sharp, talk to Mike at Albion and I'm sure they can figure something out (I remember some rumblings about playing with edge thickness when Lloyd was talking about using the Squire Line for stage combat).

I was going to throw in $.02, but y'all got about $1.25 :)

Anyone have links for the falcatas in production being discussed,?

Unfortunately, AFAIK, the Del Tin Falcata is probably the best "production" falcata currently on the market. To get something considerably more like an original, you'd have to go custom. I've seen some very nice-looking examples from Al Massey, J.T. Palikko, and Vince Evans. It would be cool if one of the better companies (Atrim, Albion, Arms & Armor) made a falcata, but they don't (I guess A&A could do one on a custom basis....).