My blog is meant to educate everyone on the aesthetic beauty, universal danger, and overall mystique of the sword. You'll find some excellent recommendations for some of the finest weapons on today's market from some of the world's top sellers, as well as interesting information and entertainment relating to weapons and the warriors who wield them.
Evening my brothers and sisters of the sword! As of tonight, my blog is officially going MULTIMEDIA!
"By Crom, what a magnificent idea!"
Just a little bit of background before we begin: I found someone right down the street from where I live in Plymouth, MA - Peter Hamlin of Precision Sharpening- who put an absolutely SURGICAL edge on one of my blades.
The result so far have been incredible, and I plan on bringing more swords to him as they come in. If you own knives or swords, live on the South Shore of Massachusetts, and are in need of a perfectly-honed, single, or double-beveled edge, this guy is your man.
Ok, down to business.
DISCLAIMER: Some of these are great, others, well, I'll let you be the judge...
It must have been my birthday last year, 2014. As a father,
husband, and proud owner of a shiny new mortgage (2 years in), I don’t know
when else I would even THINK of purchasing a new sword for myself.
But, I had ordered it, and it had finally came:
I remember coming home from work, and seeing it. It was an
unadorned brown long box that could have been anything to someone else.
However, to an active sword collector, practitioner, and school-boy fan, it was
like Christmas in August. That day, there would be a holy unveiling ceremony
somewhere outside/around my house, with lots of room, and plenty of time to
strip her slow.
The moment came.
After tearing, cutting, gnashing, and pulling my way through
ungodly amounts of packing tape, cardboard, and newspaper wrapping….she need to
be cleaned.
“Ha!” I thought, “at least they're thorough.
Cleaning the clinging oil from the blade, her shiny metallic appeal began to shine through at last. Then, she was clean. Gleaming there for me, for all the world, inspiring fear in every 12oz, 2 liter, and milk bottle in my recycling, I saw it in it's full glory:
The Generation 2/Legacy Arms Templar Sword
It was everything I had waited so long for. My credit card
debt? Forgotten. My wife’s complaints and objections? A mere memory. It was
thick and sturdy in my hand. Light and fast. (Factory) sharp and taking me back
to the desert sands of Damascus.
Great choice…or so I thought.
Let's go back...
General Stats:
Overall Length:43''
Blade: 34 1/2''
Blade: 5160 High Carbon Steel
Weight: 3 lb 6.8 oz
Edge: Sharp
P.O.B.: 6 1/4''
Thickness: 5.1 mm - 4.1 mm
Width: 49.1 mm
Grip Length: 5 1/2''
Pommel: Peened
Fit:
The fit was excellent. Nothing rattled. Noting wobbled.
Everything was tight. The length was good. The handle, rounded and covered with
black leather. The cross guard, long enough but not flared or ridiculous. I had no complaints. A solid sword.
Finish:
The finish, same thing. The blade was polished to a fine
silver sheen. The cross guard rounded and polished and to the same high quality. It’s length, adequate.
The leather of the handle was
purposely, and minutely, cratered (I assume to give a better grip), and the red
Templar cross in the peened pommel was that fiery deep red that just screamed “Knight of Christ.”
Handling:
Deadly. The hilt was long enough to go two-handed but still
hit like a hammer, one handed. Slicing, no problem. Cutting? Right through...as long as you went parallel to the ground.
Wait, what?!
Nothing, keep reading...
It
felt light and fast, and yet had some good heft so you know it could take a
beating if crashed up against it. It fit snugly in my fist and promised both
offense and defense, attack and parry, reach and reaction. A great combination.
Construction &
Durability:
AND THEN EVERYTHING IMPLODED.
While cutting on the pell post, I used a 2-liter Coca Cola
bottle as my target. I sliced across, no problem. Water and neatly-shorn
plastic everywhere. I set up another.
But on this go around, I decided to use the
Posta di Coda Longa by Fiore, and come up from the ground at a diagonal angle:
Big mistake.
I hit the bottle wrong, missed the bevel of the
blade's edge, and struck with part of the flat.
THE SWORD BENT LIKE A PIPE CLEANER!
I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!
After my initial shock and disgust, I unbent my sword-like object in the vice in my garage back to normal, but was now less sure about the blade I had only just pulled from the box!
I felt I couldn’t trust it in battle. I couldn’t count on her to counterstrike. The
best she could do was offense, and even then…(sigh)..
I researched. The temper is too SOFT. With a hard steel edge outside, but a tempered core of steel that was softer on the inside, one wrong hit and the blade would predictably warp and bend; giving you an almost wall hanger-like quality to your once
mighty Templar brand. No.
To add insult to injury, the sword did not fit in the cheap scabbard it came with! The
scabbard was plain black, unadorned, and ill-fitted to the sword. I even had to
send the sword BACK TO KOA to see what the issue was. They claimed it was
nothing and the sword fit fine. Wrong.
Worse still, even drawing out the sword was a challenge! The scabbard squeezed so
hard, it wouldn’t let go of the blade. This could lead to serious injury to the
“less than patient.” No thanks.
What did I just pay for??
Overall Rating:
What do I think now of The Generation 2/Legacy Arms Templar
Sword? I cut with it. I practice with it. I sharpen it. I like it.
Do I trust
it now? To a point, but less than I should.
I trust it to cut with the edge I put on it with the Accusharp. I don’t trust it
to parry. I don’t trust it to respond to my moves, poste, and cutting angles. That can't be right.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely not. For $300 and above, I could name
any number of long swords that bladers could buy and get much more for their money.
My Advice: Pass over this blade, save your hard-earned
cash (as sword collectors are some of the poorest people in the world), and buy
a sword that is DUAL TEMPERED with an HRC in the 50’s and 60’s, inside and out. You want to be sure you're getting everything you want for your money, and this blade simply comes up short.
So ends my tale of steely woe….
Collector's Rec.
One lesson every sword collector learns is that not all "battle-ready" (groan) swords are meant to be champions. Before investing hundreds or even thousands of dollars in your next blade, I highly recommend reading The Sword in the Age of Chivalry by Ewart Oakeshott. No single book has done more to help collectors understand medieval sword design, handling, and what separates a true weapon from wallhanger trash.
The very first "real sword" that I ever purchased is the, now collector's item, Brass Excalibur from Generation 2 and Kult of Athena. This amazing weapon is nothing fancy at all but I can say with confidence, that it is one of the better and most favored pieces in my collection.
The grip of the sword is easily a two hander wrapped in a wire mesh down to the bottom of the handle.
Once taking hold of this weapon, you will notice that it is extremely light and balanced. The cross piece is solid brass as is the peened circular pommel. The tang is full and travels down the full length of the handle for added stability.
The blade, shining bright with a little WD40, extends approximately 3 feet from the cross piece and is as beautiful as it is functional.
You must remember to respect the sword at all times when handling it and caring for it. This sword can go through ANYTHING! The steel will slice right through it's wielder's hand as easily as anything else. It does not love you. I, through unfortunate experience, and lack of attention while cleaning this sword, was treated to a beautiful view of the bone in my right index finger after it ran down the sharpened edge.
Finally, the blade comes to a sharpened point on both sides of the blade in the typical fashion of the medieval broadsword. The toughness of this marvelous weapon cannot be questioned and the solid construction from peened tang, meaning that the threaded end of the forged steel is welded into place in the circular "cap" of the bottom of the sword, to sharpened tip makes this sword one of the strongest produced by Generation 2.
All beaters, swords that can be beaten against the toughest surfaces and not have a scratch on them, the veritable Chuck Liddels of the sword world, should be made like this one: high carbon steel blade for added toughness.
I will leave you with an excellent display of this bygone force of the steel era from our brother in arms Paul Southren of Sword Buyers Guide.com
