The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
I actually like the handle, but it could be a tiny bit smaller, not much though. The falcata is not a big sword at all, it's just the other swords pictured are pretty small. IIRC the falcata is less than 30" OAL.
tedwca
have you used the yagatan yet? I love that design.
Are Dervish knives and Mineral Mountain related companies?
Well, to begin with, I did have a chance to put my hand on a grip of a few swords from the Angel Sword company at one of the knife shows (the company's owner is a very nice person and extremely knowledgeable in what he is doing). To my taste they were heavy and not very well balanced - not to mention that their grips were surprisingly uncomfortable: some of them were too boxy and some just did not feel right at all (or was it just because I was not lucky to try their best?). Do they look nice? Undoubtedly, yes! Do they perform well? The company's videos are very convincing (I am talking here about so-called "Techno-Wootz"). Is this a TRUE Wootz/Bulat/crucible Damascus? Certainly NOT! But - does it really matter? The guys managed to make some steel of what appears to be superb quality, which is really good. Personally, I don't like any of their designs - for one reason: too much of fantasy. I prefer a "working horse" simple but comfortable, light and well-balanced sword. As for the TRUE Wootz/Bulat/crucible Damascus - it is a field of discussion with so many spears already broken... Some people follow the Verhoeven/Pendray theory and some disagree with it. I am always hesitant in believing somebody who shouts at each street's corner that what he has is the most real/authentic/true wootz in the world..... I want to hear from some one who has used the technowootz steel. I am surprised there is not more talk on here about it. You would think, when a modern manufacturer was able to recreate a legendary steel like Wootz/Bulat (and actually scientifically compare that through independent testing and comparison) that it would be more common for a topic of discussion.
From what I have heard, the ideal fighting sword is one that balances as near the hilt as possible. It makes the sword seem alive. The more blade heavy it is, the harder it is to switch directions, check a stroke etc. Everyone I have talked to says this is a plus.
I disagree, but that's a subject for another thread. Either way being the "most refined" does not make a sword any better at tasks it was not designed to do.If your talking specifically about swrods, I doubt many people could argue that the katana is the most refined blade style in the world.
I disagree, but that's a subject for another thread. Either way being the "most refined" does not make a sword any better at tasks it was not designed to do.
And indeed such a thread is going on.I disagree, but that's a subject for another thread...
European swords as a whole evolved constantly for as long as they still had a practical function on the battlefield (hundreds of years). They might not have had as many intricate details as to how they were forged, but that's only because the iron/steel in Japan wasn't as good as what was readily available in Europe. The Japanese had to learn a lot of tricks in order to make their swords both tough and hard. Furthermore European swords had to evolve much more dramatically and aggressively because the face of war (quality and availability of armor, tactics, technology etc) changed and improved much faster than it could in Japan.By refined I mean, modified and constantly used over hundreds of years to suit the current USE as a weapon.
I agree with AfterTFD across the board, especially regarding BigFattyT's post.
So instead of repeating what he just said, I would instead describe what a sword would be like if its center of balance was at the hilt: it would be a thrusting weapon only.
I you were to swing this sword in any direction into a target, the impact would vibrate the shock directly up into your hand. If you've ever mis-swung an axe and had the shock of impact buzz up your hand, you know you wouldn't want to do that twice.
With a sword like that, it would happen every time it struck something. As a result, it would fatigue your hand rapidly. As AfterTFD said, you want the center of percussion to be located forward of the hilt, so that your grip is exactly on the sine node, and you feel little impact.
Additionally, if your sword is checked or trapped by the opponent's weapon (or shield if he can find one or simply hitting a wall but missing him), holding a sword by its balance point would provide him the perfect fulcrum for an easy disarm. I don't buy much into disarming swordsmen myself, but the WMA crowd is *very good* at this.
Purely food for thought. My expectation is that none of us will likely use or face a sword in real combat.