Hello, does anyone here have an Albion Sempach? I am interested in this sword, but have some questions that were not answered in a really nice reviewon this site.

1. How does it hanlde?

2. How well does it cut? I know it's mostly supposed to thrust but supposedy the hexagontal cross-section cuts effectivly as well.

3. What is your personal opinion on the sword.

Thanks!

The Sempach is a fine sword. It's fairly lively and agile in hand. Because it has a hexagonal cross section, it has a bit more blade presence than you might expect, and can feel a little less quick than some XVa swords with narrow blades. However, this difference is subtle; having compared the Sempach side by side another XVa, sometimes I felt the XVa was a touch more agile, and other times, I could not decide.

2. The Sempach cuts well, as will virtually all swords. With a not particularly well-angled cut, I have managed to hew three or so inches into the incredibly dense cardboard at the centre of a carpet roll: far more challenging than cutting a living target.

The real difference in sword performance is how deeply the sword can cut and with how much ease. I do not have my Sempach with me at the moment, so I have not cut recently using it. However, I would expect the Sempach to cut at least a good ten or so fewer centimetres than a similar cut with a sword like the Soldat or the Tritonia.

3. My personal opinion? I like the Sempach a lot. The pommel is really distinctive and elegant. It's a great sword to use for fencing against someone in plate armour, and it's narrow blade and strong point make it good for practicing unarmoured long sword, when so many of the actions that enable you to defeat your opponent from a crossing of the swords involve turning your point towards your opponent and thrusting. All and all, a great sword for a collection, especially if you want to practice Liechtenauer's or Fiore's long sword.

The handling is pretty nimble without lacking presence or heft (if that makes sense). I've cut mine into thick-skinned pumpkins and it went well into the pumpkin before the hexagonal cross section slowed it down. Against bare flesh, it would be pretty devastating. Even with a little bit of cloth, it would do the trick. It doesn't slice as well as a thinner blade would, of course, but is still a very effective cutter, relatively speaking.

Hi Craig and Chad, thanks for your write-ups, I enjoyed reading them. I love my Black Prince XVa, I'd be interested to handle a Sempach for comparison.

Some times I feel that it's to small and light, but then I'm used to the heavier Albion Liechtenauer (at 1.57kg) with the Sempach being 1.36kg and only really shorter in the hilt by about an inch.

It's a nice sword, I really dig mine, the blade is mean, the hilt is cool and you will learn how to hold it (the pommel) in your off hand.

It's heavy enough to be menacing but yet light enough for one handed work.
Plus with the weight it's fairly quick.

Sempach is a good sword, it is a cut /thrust sword, with probably more of an emphasis on the thrust. I haven't cut with it in about 5 years, but from memory its okay but it obviously doesn't cut as well as a dedicated cutting sword with a wider, thinner blade, like an earlier medieval hand and a half, or viking. My favourite cutter from Albion is their first gen OOP mainz gladius, superb.
It is a decent comprimise between cutting and thrusting ability.