[Chris Artman]

That is a wonderfully detailed sword.... beautiful, especially if that is your first sword... Way not to mess around and go stright for the good stuff!

[Joe Fults]

Peter,

Your new toy looks brilliant.

A wonderful way to start.

[Peter Samow]

Thank's for your nice posts, and excuse my bad english (got quite rusty)
The sword was made by Stefan Roth.(http://www.seelenschmiede.de/). He is really an artist.
I think that it is also a great advantage for me that Stefan is also very good in sword practice; so he's not only making swords.

My Idea was to get two swords from Stefan-like brother and sister. One sharp sword for cutting tests and one (not sharp) 'fecht'-sword for partner training. So there should be nearly no change in the handling when i switch the swords.
I hope, that i get the training sword next week.

Here are some technical Data, but you have to try it by your own to see and feel the entire beauty.

blade length: 92 cm
Gehilz lenght: 33 cm
Kreuz width: 24,5 cm
weight: 1420 g
Point of Balance: 6 cm ahead of the Kreuz
Center of percussion: 51 cm ahead of the Kreuz

the blade is damast made of three modern steel sort.
Stefan made the blade very sharp; he said that would be nearly as sharp as a katana.
But after the first cutting test and the first contact with another sharp blade (we just tried some 'winden", no zornhau ) the super sharpness is now more like a normal sharpness.

[Joe Fults]

Don't read German so I can't make out anything on his webpages. Not huge amounts of content and eye candy but he does have some nice photos of other interesting looking creations.

[Paul Watson]

My new Machiavelli with Dark Plum grip.

My intial impressions are that this is even faster than my Knight, I know they are centuries apart but they are all I have to compare.

When static in hand you can notice the further out POB of the Mach, the grip is narrower than the Knight and the pommel thinner so there is less purchase when just holding the sword, the Knight seems to sit easier in the hand when just held, but once the Mach is moving it seems much easier to accelerate and guide.

Once you slip a finger through one of those rings, the Mach becomes even more comfortable to hold than the Knight and the difference in the POB in relation to the hand is significant. With ether grip when recovering the sword from a strike it very natural and quick, the sword does exactly what you want it to.

I have had limited chances to handle so far, so those are just some of my basic perceptions at this time.

[Roger Hooper]

My birthday was coming around, no one else was going to buy me a sword, so I bought an in-stock Albion Valkyrja from the always reliable Kult of Athena. It actually showed up on my birthday

It is indeed a beautiful sword. Mine has a black grip, which blends well with the rest of the hilt, as you can see from the photo below (this photo was taken by Karl Knisley, I swiped it from his thread, I hope he doesn't mind). I thought I might be able to sheath it in the campaign scabbard I got for my old Gotland. Unfortunately, it is a close but not perfect fit. The Valkyrja's guard has a more acute angle, so there is about an eighth of an inch of blace left showing where the scabbard's throat bumps into it. The Valkyrja feels better in my hand than the similarly shaped Gotland. I have to use the handshake grip to wield it, but that's no problem.

I wonder how many of the run of 100 Valkyrjas are still unsold? I read somewhere on this website that half were preordered before it was released last December. It wouldn't surprise me if this model was gone by the end of this year.

[Eric Myers]

I recently received an Arms & Armor Serenissima rapier, with a slightly longer nail blade instead of the standard blade. I love how it handles :-) I should probably take a picture of it....

Also, it's not a sword, but one of my students made me a 3-headed flail, based on a picture from the frontispiece of Perez de Mendoza's Resumen de la verdadera destreza de las armas en treinta y ocho aserciones (Madrid, 1675) The old rusted car in the back lot has really taken a beating since then :-)

[Edward Hitchens]

Wow, Paul, I love that grip color! Dark Plum. I'll have to remember that!

Let's see, my last sword was an A&A German rapier that I acquired from a brilliant gentleman we know as Mr. Schnatterly.

[Paul Watson]

Ed, the Dark Plum grip does look good, it is lighter than the images would suggest, but still quite dark. From a distance it can look black or dark brown, but there is a definite plum tinge to the colour. The problem is since I received this sword we have had bad weather, so I only get to see it at night or on poorly lit cloudy days.

I have to back track on my initial impressions a little. It is not enough to simply say this sword is faster than the Knight and that it recovers quicker. I think the foible of the Machiavelli moves quicker due to the additional length of the blade and somehow due to the difference in mass distribution it seems to reach a greater velocity or speed than the Knight but the Knight is initially quicker off the mark and I am beginning to think marginally quicker to recover. This is hardly surprising because this is exactly what Peter Johnsson has said about the possible difference between these two types of swords. Either way the difference in speed is negligible although the feel of the handling between the two is noticably different. These comments should only be taken for what they are, the impression of someone with an uneducated sword arm swinging these swords.

If it is not too off topic...if 1:33 is a suitable source for training with a sword like the Knight, what would be suitable for learning how to use a type XIX like the Machiavelli.

[Kjell Magnusson]

I had some cash I could do without, and thus ended up walking away from an arms auction with this one. Auction house said Tibetan, I suspect Bhutan instead (based upon item #73 in LaRocca's "Warriors of the Himalayas"). No date given, possibly 19th century?

[Simon G.]

Well, as stated elsewhere I was finally able to lay hands on the Baron I had ordered and which arrived at my parents' house (where I am for the summer vacations) three months and two weeks early (!).

This early homecoming is, of course, the first thing I want to praise Albion for... A very good surprise indeed !

As Jean Thibodeau asked me for a quick review, I'll throw my newbie two cents at it.
(The interesting thing is that today I received cheap China-made repro swords I bought mostly for looks, so I can make some kind of comparison despite being new at this sword-owning hobby.)

The Baron sure is a big blade ! But it is very well-proportioned, visually, and well-balanced, physically... Despite it being much taller and larger than the repro European sabres I received from China, it feels better in hand (even in one hand). This is, undoubtably, due to the far better-shaped handle, and to the good balance of the blade. However, I still feel the weight a bit too much. But I'm quite convinced this is due to a) my poor handling method and b) my muscles' punyness (combined with the fatigue from yesterday's move, which involved loading and unloading boxes full of books... These are heavier than swords !). So I do not despair truly handling this beauty like she deserves, with a bit of training. She sures makes me want to.

Same goes for cutting. I only did a light cutting test with a coke bottle. The Baron managed to cut it slightly while the bottle was empty (and thus offered little resistance) ; when filled with water, the cut was far deeper and, while not complete, was clean. Again, these results must be taken with the fact that I am new to sword-handling and very possibly have a poor cutting technique.

As per worksmanship, it is very good. The blade is fine and the guard is gorgeous, simple but with gracious lines. Overall, I really like the looks of this sword ! It is a knightly sword indeed (now if only I was a worthy enough knight... But that will come !). I only have one small observation to make : there was some brown material (I suppose it was some of the colouring used for the leather) smearing the pommel near the handle on one side. Nothing serious and it was easily wiped away with a kerchief. Still, I am a bit surprised that this very, very light but quite obvious defect passed QC at Albion.

However, this nitpicking aside, I throw all my newbie sword-owner and long-time history buff enthusiasm at praising the Albion folks. I do not have much to compare with, but the Baron is, on its own, a gorgeous sword with a well-made blade. If I was to sum up my feeling towards it in my present state of newbieness (I know, my makingupwordiness is excessive ! ) I would say it is inspiring. It calls for training sessions, research, more enthusiasm and... more sword-buying, eventually (poor bank account !).

[Morgan Butler]

I have capped off my collection with this M.29 Artillery Saber. I have wanted one for a good long while! I believe it was made by the Chatellerault Arsenal but the markings are worn off the spine of the blade. Can someone tell me if that is unusual? And does anyone know if anywhere else in france made this Artillery model? I am also curious about the markings on the hilt. If anyone can tell me what the meanings of each marks are and the marks on the forte of the blade let me know. It has been a great pleasure sharing my collection with the people here.
Peace,Love,Swords!
Morgan

[Chad Arnow]

[Justin King]

Not a complete sword, but my long-awaited basket hilt by E.B. Erickson has arrived. I opted to find a blade for it myself which will probably not be an easy task.
The hilt is based on one shown in "British Basket Hilted Swords" by Mazansky, example D10 (the upper one on p. 81), and although not intended to be an exact copy, it compares very closely with the photo. The style is dated from the mid-late 1600's, and to me marks a high point of basket hilt development in Britain, being fully developed, with additional rear-guards, but not yet decorated to the extent of many later Scottish basket hilts.
Many thanks to the very talented Mr. Erickson, I have coveted one of his hilts for years and am very happy to finally own one. If I could just figure out where to find an approriate blade....

[B. Stark]

After some long consideration and the fact that the market for lower priced production katana has broadened I decided to purchase one. I am very pleased with the result:

[Chris Artman]

Well, this isn't what I was expecting, but I am very pleased nonetheless! I suspect tomorrow I may have another post to make...

I would have loved to have owned the limited edition, but that sold out many years ago apparently...

[Chris Artman]

[Chris Artman]

Just picked this up from Wal Mart, it was lying in the discount bin....

[Scott Kowalski]

[Jean Thibodeau]

Chris;

We have all or almost all read the reviews here on " myArmoury " and I notice that there isn't an official " Svante " in the review section. ( Unless it's there but I can't see it for some reason ).

I know I have read something about it somewhere ? Maybe just the Albion site ? Or just a more informal review of someone getting one here ? ( Haven't tried a search on the Forum yet: The obvious thing to do by the way ! ).

In any case a " First impressions review " would be nice in general and handling in particular would be nice.

( Oh, you could get in touch with Nathan if you wanted to make an official review for the site for this sword or any others you have that haven't been reviewed ).

The Svante is a well known sword but I always find peoples personal observations interesting to learn.

Quite a nice collection you are building up there ! ( A little envious but mostly just happy for you ).