Bill Grandy wrote:

You can't make too many generalizations about balance because there are so many other factors that one has to look at as a whole. I find that many people focus a little too much on the cutting power of a sword, when it is only one aspect. An important one, certainly, but so is the ability to recover after a swing, or to perform defensive actions, and these things are all different for different types of swords in addition to different types of fighters.


Bill, I think you are right. There is much more to a sword than its PoB. I can make a crowbar have a PoB 4-6" from here I hold it but it still does not feel like a sword. And this is the exact reason why I posted in the first place.

Jeanry Chandler wrote:

Now I have to go find a Viking sword with a close to the hilt POB that I can be comfortable with!


When I first read this, it appeared that Jeanry was using the PoB as the ONLY criteria when choosing a sword, and further more his desired PoB seemed off main stream. The Albion viking swords, as Chad mentioned before, have PoB significantly further away from the hilt. This does not mean that a viking sword cannot have a PoB 2" from the hilt (people certainly make such swords), but I would like to hear an opinion of whether such pieces of steel feel anything like a period weapon. They might or might not. I personally do not know.

The ONLY piece of actual advice I can give Jeanry is to make sure that the maker, whose sword you decide to purchase, knows what he/she is doing and they have done the research to back it up. And as I mentioned earlier, getting a second opinion about a sword and manufacturer is always a good idea.

Cheers,

Alexi