This is my biggest sword. It has a blunt blade tempered for flex. It included the rubber tip. It has a 1/8 inch thick tang with a sandwich wood grip. Each sword is made to order.
See how it compares to my G2 BlackPrince in size.
Thick tang and a "schilt" as depicted in Joachim Meyer's book of 1570. The schilt is part of the guard, not the blade.
length: 54.5 "
blade: 42.5 "
hilt: 12 "
pob 3.5 "
weight: 4 lbs
Price: $250
It feels very maneuverable despite its weight because of the blade tapering. I practiced moving from Albert to Vom Tag with ease. Not as easy as with the BlackPrince, but thats the trade-off for the extra length. The schilt also is a significant additional weight factor. The schilt is part of the hilt, not the blade. It is riveted around the base of the blade.
For most people I would advise they lighten the sword. All swords are made to order by Alchem. My thoughts would be to cut the blade down to 38 inches and loose the schilt. The version without the schilt is called Fiore Longsword on Alchem's site. If you want a wheel pommol you have to ask for it. You can also select grip color. The base model is $225.
After a few weeks of practice, I decided to lighten the sword up a bit and see how that works out for me. It was an easy matter of removing the schilt which took off 8 oz forward of the hilt. The removal of the schilt left a small gap which I filled with some tape. If I decide to keep the schilt off I will think of a more permanent solution.
Removing the schilt was very easy. All I had to do was remove a tension pin that went through the pommol and through the tang. I then banged down the crossguard with a mallet which slid everything down.
Here is what it looks disassembled.
One very cool feature of the pommol is that it is a pommol within a pommol. So it is an option to leave out the inner circle and make the sword slightly lighter and more blade heavy.
This is what the sword looks like without the schilt.
The reason for this alteration is that even while I had no trouble executing simple drills with the heavier sword, drilling combination strikes proved to be more difficult. I also cut the tip so that the length now is 38" instead of 43". The reason for this is that drilling is easier if everyone has roughly the same length swords.
This sword is proving to be an excellent drilling tool. The sword is very durable and the flexible blade is good for thrusting practice.
Reaver Basket Hilt
I had been looking for a reasonably priced basket hilt blunt for some time. I was considering some of Hanwai's options but after hearing many reports of inconsistent quality I decided to turn to Alchem. Alchem makes all their swords to order so I was able have a sword constructed to my exact specifications. Imagine that... a costum built sword for $180.
I specified that that I wanted the sword to be 1.5 inches at the base and tapering to 1/4 inch. I also stated that the sword have a point of balance between 3 and 4 inches below the hilt and weigh in at about 2 lb 14 oz. I left the overall length open as the adjustable variable to meet my other specifications. I expected the length to come in at about 29".
The final numbers turned out as follows:
total length......... 40"
blade length........ 32"
point of balance... 2"
weight.................. 2lb 13 oz
The sword turned out even better then I imagined in terms of its agility. Its low POB gives it near rapier level point control. I normally would be worried that such a low POB might not allow for good cutting actions, however, the long blade and light weight allows for very rapid tip acceleration. The result is that the blade strikes with authority. The tip is light enough so that in free sparring I can make very controlled cut at decent speed and not hurt my partner.
I did make some immediate modifications to the basket hilt. The sword comes standard with both quillions straight. After some pell work and striking myself on the wrist a few times, I decided to bend the top quillion up to allow for better wrist mobility. I also streched the basket hilt open a bit more. I probably gained quarter inch more room on each side. You will only feel the need to do this if you fight against shields and make high horizontal snaps.
The basket hilt is based on one found on the Mary Rose which sank in the English Channel in 1545.
Thick sandwich tang:
This view should never be neglected where basket hilts are concerned:
It looks good on my new couch
The blade is a high carbon steel but tempered to safely flex as a practice blade. The sword also come with a rubber safety tip.
Below is my prefered 40 inch rapier from alchem. The whole sword as about 48 inches at 2.5 lbs.
Here is the link for Alchem:
http://www.alcheminc.com
If you have any questions you may contact me at tsafa@aol.com