Strider Swords

S

Skunkabilly

Joined
Jun 29, 2002
Messages
86
See my other post about the 3-sword set above the fireplace.

I think a Strider set like this would be great. Tiger stripe camo and cord wrap handle...a perfect blend of old school and Y2K tacticalness; of warriors of old and recent.

Your thoughts?
 
Howdy nieghbor!

It was mere months ago that almost every piece of steel I owned was to large to classify as a knife... they were definately all swords. But since I ran outta wall space in my ultra-expensive studio apartment, I decided to invest in the smaller sharp stuff, wich lead me to this wonderful forum. Every time I see a knifemaker of quality I wonder the same thing you are. When am I gonna see a sword of quality com from these weapon-oriented bladesmiths?

Practicallity could be the issue:
Reading a few of the posts in the battle blades type section, as well as my own experience as a martial artist and blade enthusiast, I believe in the fact that he who has the bigger blade has the advantage (given every other variable is equal). This would make swords a logical choice for someone like Strider or Busse who seem to lean twards the "weapon" end of bladesmithing.

Marketing could be the issue:
It is a sad ailment that money superseeds art in this and many other industries. I am an artist, and I frankly cannot stomache the pandering involved with marketing and money. But it is hard to believe that a company like Strider could not market a sword when swords of any practical quality are almost always above the 1000$ mark anyways and there are plenty makers selling them at these prices.

Material could be the issue:
These companies make knives. Knife steel must have different characteristics than sword steel. It would probably be inappropriate and expensive for a sword to be made of ATS-34. Also the japanese swords construction..soft steel core, hard steel edge...could require years of training and/or experience smiths.


My own 2 cents on the subject:
Swords are not impractical. I think today they can be considered fixed blade knives of epic proportions. I like to think it is simply weight and materials that keep the common soldier from carrying a tactical-sword with his multi-tool and firearm. The sword itself would benefit greatly from modern design and materials. I swoon at the thought of a Swamp-Rat brand sword slicing through a cinderblock, its no-frills yet high-tech design making it impervious to damage.




also...I forgot some neet examples of what I would call "Tactical" swords I found from reading the posts of this forum.
there is: [url]http://www.plan-a.org/mmhw/[/url]
this guy has a huge beard...wich is something to trust about knife-makers...huge beards are good


and this guy:
http://www.theedgeequipment.com/Hayes.htm
though without a giant beard...his stuff still looks nice
 
Oh yah, I would love to see a Strider Sword. I personally would like to get my hands on a Strider Waki sized short sword, with a cord wrap, and tiger stripes down the blade.
Skinwalker I think Mick and Dwane only use the best steal for a given job. They can and have worked with other materials. I'm sure they can tackle a functional sword, but I don't know if they would. I would definatly like to see it if they do!
Take a look at the Knife and material explanation on construction in the below posts. I think that the two main reasons for a lack of a sword on their product line would be construction time, due to having a small operation, and the people they sell to. Its my opinion only though, so who knows for sure. The below knife is an amazing artistic creation.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=209912&highlight=Contest

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=208112&highlight=Contest
 
Personally I'm not that huge a fan of "tactical" swords, Rob Criswell's stuff is about as far as I'm willing to go in that direction.

A few thoughts:

But it is hard to believe that a company like Strider could not market a sword when swords of any practical quality are almost always above the 1000$ mark

That really depends on your definition of practical quality and what sort of sword you are looking for. If it is Japanese swords you are after then I believe that most of the Paul Chen products fall into that range. These of course aren't the end all and be all of Japanese sword but they are certainly of usable quality and of generally historical specifications. At an even smaller price but still usable you can find Kris Cutlery's Japanese style swords at www.kriscutlery.com

If it is European swords that you are interested in you will find that 1000 dollars will purchase just about any production European sword on the market some of which are of very good quality indeed. In most cases 1000 dollars can also buy you a custom sword from some of the custom guys.

Swords are not impractical.

You will of course find differing views on the subject. My own view is that yes they are, or the militaries of the world would still be issuing them. Personally I think it is mostly a matter of practicality not technology i.e. materials. To be able to effectively use a sword requires a pretty good bit of training. That same training time is better spent learning to use your primary weapons that is firearms. If a hand to hand component is desired bayonet drill might be better, it's easier to learn and does not require an expensive sword, but only a bayonet. Just my two cents.
 
Skunkability, much as I love swords and the romance and history involved with them even though they were very definitely deadly weapons, I know that they started becoming obsolete with the appearance of gunpowder weaponry and that, with each improvement to that weaponry, they became more and more obsolete. I believe that the last war in which one can actually describe the saber as being useful was the Napoleonic Wars that ended in 1814. Yes, there were occasions when primitive tribesmen attacked with swords after that, but they were generally massacred. Look at what happened at Omdurman in 1898, where the British mowed the followers of the Mahdi down with repeating weapons. A young subaltern, Winston Churchill, was there carrying a MAuser C96, a very early version of a semi-automatic pistol. His say that he used it to maximum effect.

The Japanese maintained their love affair with the sword, but that was more cultural than military and I cannot see how it could be seen as a useful weapon during WWII, even though they seemed to think so. I have heard too many reminiscences of GIs and Marines who were only too happy to shoot down sword-wielding Japanese soldiers to give much creedence to the horror stories of that have come up since then about the Japanese swords. About the only time that they were genuinely feared was in POW camps where the guards loved to use them on the unarmed prisoners, very chivalric, that.
 
Hey Hugh,

About the "Mad Mahdi." Did he suffer a major military defeat? I was under the impression that killing off "Chinese" Gordon he was pretty much left to himself in his nasty little fiefdom until he died of debauchery. An interesting character in some regards he reminds me of our own mad mahdi bin laden. Could you elaborate on the battle you have referenced?
 
The Mahdi, himself, Muhammed Ahmed, died shortly after the taking of Khartoum and the killing of Gordon, whose actual orders had been to evacuate the Europeans from the city, in 1884. Khartoum was destroyed in the doing of that and the capital of the Mahdi's empire was at Omdurman. He had been succeeded and it took forever, 14 years, for the British and Egyptians to get an expedition together to sail up the Nile River to revenge Gordon and the other Europeans murdered at Khartoum. It was under the command of Kitchener, who was ennobled Earl Kitchener of Khartoum for his victory. Kitchener is most famous, I suppose, for the recruiting poster of him, walrus moustachios and all, pointing out of the poster and saying "Your Country Needs You", although it was he who finally got the British army unstuck down in South Africa and organized enough to win the Boer War, although he was never really recognized for it. I think that the Brits were too embarassed by it to do much in the way of parades, etc.
 
Thanks for the information Hugh! An interesting episode, I guess the British were really embarassed by those mad dervishes.
 
As Ronin said in the series by Vonlustbader SUNSET WARRIOR "..combat is not only with the sword".. I've been shooting guns since 1976, studied the Martial Arts from 1969 to 1986, and just recently (since 1994) I have studying the sword.

Do it all!! Become a complete person in combat. You never know what you will get to use and when you will use it. Like Russ Ellis, if I had my druthers, I'd step back around 25 yards and shoot the Sucker. Or use my Longbow, or cap him with a shotgun or rifle. You don't alway have to be excellent, just competent enough to get the job done--but always strive toward excellence.

While I like the traditional stuff, I own a lot of items by Dawson, Criswell, and Frizzel of Mineral Mountain. It all cuts, it all draws blood, and one day I may have to use one of them. So I practice and plan for that day. And have an enormous amount of fun besides! :D
 
Triton, you are welcome, but I doubt that they were terribly embarassed by the dervishes, but much more so by the Boers. "Oom Paul, don't you knock my soldiers down!" said a cartoon Queen Victoria to a cartoon Oom Paul Kruger, the President of the Natal Republic, the primary Boer leader in a Punch cartoon of the time.
 
I'm not a big "Sword Person", but I do own a couple. A Wally Hayes "Tsunami" Wakizashi and a Steve Ryan "One off" "Long Sword". Both are outstanding.

I'd like to see what the Strider gus would come up with in the Sword Department. :D
 
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