hand and a half sword

Which swords in the Albion lineup to you guys consider "hand-and-a-half" or "bastard swords"?

Some of the longswords in their next gen lineup look like strictly two handers (Baron, Duke to name at least two) but in my opinion the count, steward, and crecy look more like bastards/hand and a halfs.
 
Depends on how you define "bastard sword". Personally, I think of them as later period longswords that have smaller blades/grips. This also means they should pretty much always have a complex hilt.

The Baron and Duke aren't really longswords. They're great swords.

The Crecy is a longsword. Could be defined as a bastard sword if all you mean is "hand and a half".

I have the Earl, I think that would be a longsword that qualifies as a bastard sword.
 
baeleg said:
Depends on how you define "bastard sword". Personally, I think of them as later period longswords that have smaller blades/grips. This also means they should pretty much always have a complex hilt.

The Baron and Duke aren't really longswords. They're great swords.

The Crecy is a longsword. Could be defined as a bastard sword if all you mean is "hand and a half".

I have the Earl, I think that would be a longsword that qualifies as a bastard sword.
Click to expand...

Interesting. The Earl is longer than the Duke, both overall, blade, and grip length. It also weighs the same.

I always thought the term "Bastard Sword" was used on swords that were not easy to define, such as:

A sword with a single hand grip length but longsword blade length
The so called "hand and a half" swords
Longswords/Greatswords that could be effectively used one handed but were usually used with both making it hard to describe as strictly a one hander or two hander
 
thanks for the replies :)

to be more specific I'm looking for something in either the XIIa or the XIII/a styles hope that helps :)

looking for something at least mostly period correct in looks. plan on using it as part of my kit for renfairs :)
 
Jonathon Belt said:
thanks for the replies :)

to be more specific I'm looking for something in either the XIIa or the XIII/a styles hope that helps :)

looking for something at least mostly period correct in looks. plan on using it as part of my kit for renfairs :)
Click to expand...

Neither are typically regarded as hand and a half swords. Greatswords sometimes. or two handers. There has been a lapse in real understanding by a lot of vendors and collectors alike.

What is your price range.

You might look at a vendor page such as Kult of Athena, that offers pretty much all the makers and variety out there. It is a good place to window shop.

RE ren faire wear, both those types are typically up to 50" long, so keep that in mind. Most with 35" or so of blade. Hence the name Grete Sverd.

Cheers

GC
 
A quick comparative shot of a XIIIa and XIIa with another next to them. The pointy sword is 51" overall, the other two 46"-48". Sorry to say you will not quickly find either of those two shown here for sale.

25rh2t3.jpg


Cheers
 
Yeah, Type XII and XIII are not bastard or hand and a half swords.

I own both the Albion Baron and Albion Earl, and I'd be more comfortable trying to use the Earl in one hand than the Baron. Length and weight don't tell the whole story.
 
ok looks like i need to do some more research....

thanks for the pic horse really like that one in the middle

budget is somewhere around 2k more or less :)
 
With that budget, the higher end American makers and scabbard with suspension makers will just about fit your budget. With only a couple of months of ren faire activities left this year, you are going to be cutting it pretty close unless there is something on the shelf. For instance there are classified ads on various boards. The secondary market can save some money.

The middle sword there is an older ATrim from Angus Trim circa 2003. There are Trims for sale out there from time to time. That one was a variant of his 1319 model. In the past few years, a similar ATrim was billed as a XIIa.4, a nod to the Ewart Oakshott's book of medieval swords.

The Albion Baron is a great sword, in more than naming. I have compared it hand to hand with the sword in that picture and the main difference is overall weight and more nose heavy handling than the Trim. The other main difference is grip length, as the Baron has a shorter grip. Couple that with a beefier blade, you end up with the Albion being a bit more of a handful with less to hold onto. The grip length fine for me though even with quite large hands. My friend loves his.

When Gus Trim was making many models of XIIa examples, the clamor was for longer grips, so many of those ended up with nine and even ten inch grips. Compare that to a lot of his earlier swords which often had 7 to 7 1/2" grips on the longer swords. You can see the older Gus grip on that XIIIa. The Hanwei Great Sword of War, prototyped by Michael "Tinker " Pierce is reputed to be a great sword and priced economically. That has a very long grip. Usually in stock at suppliers and has a usable scabbard.

In the middle of the market prices are the Del Tin swords. Blunt by default but can be ordered from Italy with a near sharp 1mm edge. Scabbards and then suspension are then extras.

Lutel Handicrafts (make sure you look for the handicrafts site) Czech Stuff often in stock and scabbards with suspension available. Sharp or blunt, your preference.

John Lundemo (Odin Blades) and the Longship partnership have been producing quite nice mixes of history and fantasy. I don't have a clue as to John's waiting time for straight customs but he is a great guy. Chatted with him one sleepy Sunday at a NECCA knife show in 2001. He had a huge portfolio even back then.

Baltimore Knife and Swords Whatever you desire. Vendors such as KOA stock some availables. Waiting time on custom orders will vary.

The list really can go on and on but as mentioned, KOA is a great place to window shop a lot of these makers. Sword Buyers Guide will have a large amount of feedback for just about anything at all price ranges. A caveat to take a lot of the place with a grain of salt but there is a lot of raw feedback from especially first time buyers which can say volumes.

Compare all that to myArmoury for the same type of goods and divide by 3 :)

Cheers

GC
 
Not entirely unimportant question - is it just going to be a part of your Ren Faire kit, or are you planning to use it for more?

Here's why I ask - if you're going to use it for cutting pop bottles, you'll want something with a good edge, but at the same time, you will probably need to peace bond it or the like when you use it as your kit (a sword is a weapon, after all, and they do tend to care about safety). If you're planning to get into Western Martial Arts, there are some good practice swords out there, but they have a different blade design from a cutter (again, safety - accidentally chopping off your sparring partner's limb tends to be looked down upon).

I know it's a bit of an extra concern, but in the end, it will help you come out with a really good sword that will do exactly what you want it to, as opposed to getting a sword, deciding you want to do X with it, and discovering that you have to drop another half a grand on it...

Best regards to all,

Robert Marks
Darksword Armory Inc.
http://www.darksword-armory.com
 
thanks for the concerns robert :)

i will most likely use it for light cutting : tatami bamboo and the like

as for western martial arts ive been a student for a few years now but ive always used wooden wasters to spar with
 
In that case, I would strongly recommend getting a steel blunt of some sort for practice. Binding with wooden wasters is essentially a waste of time after you've played with steel a bit.
 
baeleg said:
The Baron and Duke aren't really longswords. They're great swords.
Click to expand...
...they're two-handed longswords. greatswords are not the same thing.
greatswords are usually gonna be around 2-3 pounds heavier and have a much longer grip.

a good way to define "bastard sword" would be "a sword of sufficient size to be used one- or two-handed, with a grip that provides space for two hands, but is insufficiently long to put the hands at any real distance form eachother"
 
Professor_Jack said:
...they're two-handed longswords. greatswords are not the same thing.
greatswords are usually gonna be around 2-3 pounds heavier and have a much longer grip.

a good way to define "bastard sword" would be "a sword of sufficient size to be used one- or two-handed, with a grip that provides space for two hands, but is insufficiently long to put the hands at any real distance form eachother"
Click to expand...

It is largely a matter of semantics but XIIa, XIIIa and XVja swords were often termed grete swerdes of war. Longsword more a description of swordsmanship and one might note Silver's longsword has the same blade length as his single hand sword. Bastard referring to being useful in one or two hands. Zweihander,and bidenhander, large two handed swords. On and on, many interchamgable but usually a matter of context.

One could argue with or largely agree with this wiki that breaks down a lot of the semantics over several time periods.

Cheers

GC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longsword
 
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