[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

I just thought I would let all of you know that you convinced me; I just ordered the MRL Auray from Kult of Athena. I'll give a little feedback about what it's like when it comes, but I won't go too in-depth in case someone ever does a review (I'll just say whether or not it's worth the money).

I know it's no heirloom piece, but I hope it's a decent sword for $150!

Stay safe!

[Patrick Kelly]

Sounds good. I'd wanted to get my youngest son an Albion Bayeaux for his birthday but I couldn't make it happen. He's taken a liking to that new Type XIV from MRL, so I ordered that one for him today. That should keep him happy for a while.

Please give us your full impressions of the Auray, unless of course you're hinting that you'll be doing a review. Otherwise I'd rather get some feedback now rather than worry about scooping some shadow review down the road.

[Jeremy V. Krause]

Ah Patrick,

That's really cool that your son appreciates our little hobby. It's especially nice that since you are his father he knows the difference between a nice sword and the other variety. When I was around his age I had no notion- which probably led to my first sword purchase at age 16- a $99 "barbarian sword" with a glorious and sizable brass guard and cross which I promptly took outside struck a tree and bent the very thin blade!

Jeremy

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Chad Arnow]

[Patrick Kelly]

[Patrick Kelly]

[Chad Arnow]

[Grayson C.]

[Chad Arnow]

Let me see if I can further clarify the post vs. review issue before we return to the thread at hand:

People are encouraged to post their thoughts on their purchases. This is valuable to the forum community and always has been. However, there are people that take our standard review format and post it on the forums, and/or include large amounts of text about an item. My suggestion targets these alone. Text resulting from that much effort deserves a longer lifespan than a forum post. All it would need to turn it into a formal review are some pics and a little extra work. In that case, a formal review isn't much harder to do than the afore-mentioned post and impacts a wider audience for a longer period of time.

Regarding newsworthiness, I believe I may have been unclear as well. Once someone posts a large amount of text on the forum, we won't take that text and make it a formal review. If that poster wants to rework it and submit something with substantive changes, we'll consider publishing it. Anyone not intending to do a formal review (for whatever reason) is free, as always, to post as much as they want to. Also, if someone else decides to do a review later, we'll likely run with it, since every author's voice and experiences are unique.

Now, back to the thread...

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

Okay, the MRL Auray arrived today. Here are my impressions of this Windlass offering.

In general, it's not bad for an MRL sword. It feels alright in the hand. For it's supposed weight of 2 lbs 2 oz, it still has a positive "blade presence" without being overly heavy. The balance point seems to be about 4 or 4.5 inches from the cross, measured very roughly by balancing it on the arm of my rocking chair. I can't comment on the centre of percussion; I couldn't really figure out where that was.

WIndlass does pretty well in the tempering of the blades, and this seems to be no exception. I did a quick temper test, bending it carefully against the floor and making sure it returned to true. I don't intend on doing it again; I don't want to damage the blade. It's flexible without being overly flexible. I had no problem thrusting the blade (unsharpened) through the cardboard box it came in, through both walls of it if I also held the box. The point also seemed to go where I wanted it to; I aimed for tape and stickers on the box, and had no trouble keeping the point where I was aiming for.

I think this one may actually be a bit stiffer than the typical MRL/Windlass blade. This may be due to the hollow grinding. There is a slight distal taper toward the tip, but it doesn't have as much distal taper as some of my MRL/Windlasses. I think they opted to reduce weight more by hollow grinding than distal taper, which may have resulted in a fairly stiff blade. It might not be as stiff as some would like, but it's not "floppy" or "whippy" by any means. I own some Windlass swords that bend very easily under their own weight if you place the point on the floor, but this takes some effort to bend.

The hollw grinding is subtle; it basically causes the central ridge to be more prominent than in MRL/Windlass blades lacking the hollow grinding. The hollow grinding is actually well done for a $150 sword; the shallow curve ends well before the edge. I wouldn't necessarily call it a thickened edge, but since the hollow grinding does't go right to the edge, and it has the typical Windlass semi-sharp edge, the edge doesn't appear to be rendered too thin by the hollow grinding. The hollow grinding seems to gradually peter out toward the point.

The blade profile is fairly nice and even, but it seems typical of Windlass swords of this type in that it's somewhere between an Oakeshott XV and an Oakeshott XVIII. The width of the blade near the point seems a bit broad for a typical type XV. It's still a sword that seems designed more for thrusting than cutting, since it's relatively narrow near where the centre of percussion should be (and probably is).

The end of the tang is peened over the pommel. It's ground smooth, although there are a few minor pits and dings. It doesn't look bad unless you examine it closely. My biggest complaint is that the pommel is turned a bit off-centre, as if they ground the slot for the tang cockeyed. This isn't enough for me to return the sword, but it may be enough to turn others off from the one I received. It probably isn't enough to cause any sort of handling problems.

The pommel is otherwise fairly well made, with an interesting shape. The central ridge in the pommel makes a nice compliment to the ridge in the blade and cross, but they line up better on one side than the other. The cross is a bit uneven; one of the overturned ends appears slightly thicker than the other. Again, these things may turn some people off from this sword, but they are minor, and not apparent from a distance.

I'm pleasantly surprised by the fit of the sword. Everything seems pretty tight. The cross doesn't seem to wiggle, and the grip core doesn't seem to twist. The slot cut in the cross for the shoulders of the blade isn't overly large, but it is the usual rectangular groove. It's not as wide as on some Windlass swords, and there is no round hole in the centre. The groove could have been cut a bit more smoothly, though.

The wooden grip isn't actually that bad. It's rather attractive. The wood is stained a nice brown color, and it has a nice grain. I may leave it as-is, at least for now.

Overall, there are some flaws that might offend some, but it's an okay sword for the money. It feels pretty good in the hand, and the blade seems well done. And, it's a nice change from the typical overly-flexible Windlass blade. The sword also looks much better in person than in the photos on the various dealer web sites.

Stay safe!

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Patrick Kelly]

It sounds like a pretty good buy for the price. I'm glad you made the jump and bought it. The imperfections sound acceptable for a sword in this price range. I wondered about the wood grip too. I glad it's fairly attractive. The Oakeshott "Type IV" I ordered for my son is on backorder, as I expected. MRL has a usual habit of putting things into their catalog before they're actually ready for sale.

Congrats, it's already nice to get a new play pretty.

[Richard Fay]

[Jean Thibodeau]

Richard;

I've never ordered from Kult of Athena but Bob Burns who lives close by the store always has nice things to say about their customer service and integrity and if I wanted anything from the MRL catalogue I think that is the way I would go.

Some of the Generation 2 swords or knives are available there and I'm at least looking at some of these like their Bowie Knives and a falcata that looks O.K. for the price also.

Well made but lower end stuff can be a " rest " for the overworked credit card and still give one a taste of what some types of weapons were like without going broke: One can have a small and select collection of " custom " or high end production weapons and still want a larger variety of things that would cost too much if they all had to be the expensive kind.

One can love " fillet mignon " and still enjoy a greasy cheese burger occasionally. ( Oh, not that I'm comparing your sword to a " cheesy " burger. More a lean cut and healthty hamburger steak. )

[Patrick Kelly]

[Steve Grisetti]

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

And now, pictures...
(I did the best I could with my camera; my lack of a nice camera is one of the things keeping me from doing a formal review.)

The first photo is of the Auray hilt next to the scabbard. The scabbard is typical Windlass; not period, and rather cheap, but at least they tried to do some nice work on the locket, and the sword fits pretty tightly. Note, if you can, that one of the turned over ends of the cross is slightly thicker than the other. It's no bid deal for me, but some may have issues with it. Nothing that bad, considering it's a $150 sword. I think, overall, the shape of the hilt isn't too bad.

The next photo is of the Auray hilt while it's in its scabbard. Notice the wood on the grip actually doesn't look too bad. And, they did a fairly nice job on the brass ferrules. They are smooth, with no sharp edges. They could make wrapping the grip a problem, though, since they are sunk right into the wood. I kind of like it as it is for the moment.

In the third photo, I wanted to show how the groove for the shoulders of the blade isn't as overly large as in some Windlass swords of the past. It could still be tighter near the blade edge, it's rectangular instead of sloped, but it's not as huge as on some Windlass swords. You can also see that the faces of the pommel are a bit uneven, but it looks fine in the view from the front. I tried to get a view of the hollow grinding, but it's so subtle, and my camera is so bad, that I couldn't get a decent view of it.

In the last photo, I show a full-length view of the sword. The blade profile isn't too bad, although it seems to be mid-way between a true Oakeshott XV and an Oakeshott XVIII. I think the point may be a bit broader than most historical type XV's.

I hope my photos did the sword justice. It's not bad for a Windlass offering, and is definitely worth $150.

[Steve Grisetti]

The asymmetry in the cross isn't all that noticeable to me in the pictures. I notice the pommel, but that doesn't look bad. All in all, I think you did pretty well for yourself.