Archer's Short Sword? -- myArmoury.com

G. Scott H. · Posted: Wed 02 Mar, 2005 8:12 pm Post subject: Archer's Short Sword?

Does anyone own the Windlass Archer's Short Sword? Yeah, I tried the search feature, but couldn't seem to find anything. This sword is sold by ereplicas.com. The sword appears to have an almost identical blade to the famous, but no longer made, Medieval Short Sword (Drac), with a different guard, grip and pommel, and a threaded tang with pommel nut. I love my Drac, and would like to have another sword with the same blade style. I don't particularly want another Drac at this time (why own two of the same thing, unless it's a matched set of pistols Laughing Out Loud

) and this looks like a viable alternative. I am now quite familiar with the usual MRL/Windlass traits Laughing Out Loud

I'm just wondering if this particular sword has any unique quirks, etc. Happy

Alina Boyden · Posted: Wed 02 Mar, 2005 10:16 pm Post subject:

Kinda reminds me of the Sovereign...in a ummm...cheapified sort of way.

Greyson Brown · Posted: Thu 03 Mar, 2005 3:58 am Post subject:

I own one. Biggest let down in my opinion was that the grip is wrapped in wire that has brown plastic on the outside. I would strongly encourage re-wrapping the handle (something I will do with mine as soon as I am in a situation where I can have access to it). I might also take some sandpaper to the lower portion of the blade so that it has a more lenticular section rather than a strong diamond cross-section.

I am not that familiar with the dimensions of the Drac, but the Archer's Short Sword has a blade that is about 24 or 25 inches long. I think that is shorter than the Drac. The Archer's Sword weighs somewhere around 2 1/2 pounds and has a point of balance that makes it a good enough cutter while also being rather fast. Like most Windlass/MRL swords, the all leather scabbard doesn't fit quite right; mine is actually too tight.

All in all: decent sword. Worthy the money. Redo the grip.

-Grey

G. Scott H. · Posted: Thu 03 Mar, 2005 10:23 am Post subject:

Alina, it does resemble the Sovereign and the Sherrif. Very similar dimensions and styles. As far as being "cheapified" (is that a technical term? Laughing Out Loud

), it certainly won't match the quality of the Albion pieces, but consider that the the Albions cost approx. $600(Sherrif) and $800+(Sovereign) respectivley, while this sword goes for a cool $170. Cool

Greyson, thanks for the info. The grip/handle is no big deal, I can fix that. The Drac's blade is 27.5", so the Archer's blade is a bit shorter, but the width and other dimensions are nearly identical. I would think that the handling characteristics of the two are very similar, and according to your review, they are. I love the feel of the Drac (POB, etc.), so that's a plus. The Drac also has a diamond shaped tip (from end of fuller to tip), but it isn't very well defined.

Thanks again,

Scott Happy

Roger Hooper · Posted: Thu 03 Mar, 2005 10:53 am Post subject:

If you want to look at some much better quality short swords than that MRL that cost more, but not as much as the Albions, go to www.Atrimasa.com and check out AT1212, AT1411, and AT1425. They're on sale at around $360.00. You can also find them at www.Christianfletcher.com, along with AT1557, where you can get them with some hilt upgrades.

G. Scott H. · Posted: Thu 03 Mar, 2005 12:03 pm Post subject:

Sean Flynt · Posted: Thu 03 Mar, 2005 12:26 pm Post subject:

I also think of this as a poor-man's Sovereign. Before I decided to focus exclusively on 16th & 17th c., I wanted to get one of these and do a nice cord/leather grip with risers. I still want to do that, in fact, but I'm going to stick with my personal collecting discipline. Good luck! Be sure to post the results of your upgrade.

Greyson Brown · Posted: Sat 05 Mar, 2005 1:52 am Post subject:

Sean Flynt · Posted: Sat 05 Mar, 2005 5:17 pm Post subject:

If you want to pick up the round-trip shipping I'll do it gratis. Big Grin

Sean Flynt · Posted: Sun 06 Mar, 2005 8:01 am Post subject:

NOTE: I'm not playing favorites or anything with my offer to upgrade this grip. I just really like this sword, and this is a chance for me to check it out and compensate its owner for the "test drive". It's kind of a special case, too, because although I'm a big promoter of DIY, the owner is geographically unable to DIH. Big Grin

Chris Lampe

I ordered the Archer's Short Sword several days ago. It was a compromise choice for me because I liked certain characteristics of the Archer's Short Sword and the Italian Short Sword but didn't completely like either. Luckily, I found my way into the world of Angus Trim swords. The 1427 Short Sword turned out to be exactly what I was looking for so I cancelled the Archer's Short Sword.

Fortunately, I learned about AllSaints status and contacted Anthony at ASASwordworks. The 1427 is discontinued but is due to be resurrected and I was told I could have one in 8-10 weeks.

To make a long story short I began to browse through all the ATrim swords and absolutely fell in love with the 1518hp.

After numerous information requests to Anthony I placed my order on Saturday.

This will be my first real sword. In highschool I borrowed an old reproduction sword from a friend of a friend and it ended up staying in my hands. It wasn't all that heavy or thick and certainly wasn't stainless steel but unfortunately the tang broke while I was swinging it in the air! The guard was lost and my dad eventually fabricated a crude guard and welded the sword back together. He also tried (unsuccessfully) to polish the base of the blade.

My second replica was a $30-40 stainless steel Katana.

The closest I've come to even holding a realistic sword is my friend's Museum Replicas Medieval Sword.

I can't wait to recieve my 1518hp and I'm already planning future purchases including a short sword (probably the 1427 which I'd love to have match my 1518hp), a Danish axe, and a spear. After that, who knows?

Ken Jay · Posted: Mon 07 Mar, 2005 6:35 pm Post subject:

Here's a 1518 and the 1427 together...

Chris Lampe · Posted: Mon 07 Mar, 2005 6:47 pm Post subject:

Ashley Welborn · Posted: Tue 08 Mar, 2005 9:50 am Post subject:

I've always been curious about this one. What exactly qualifies some medieval short swords as "Archer's Swords". Does is have some form of historical significance? I was under the impression that generally archers were poorly equipped aside from their bow and quiver. Just curious as most of the time when I see a really cool looking one hander it turns out to belong to some theoretical archer Cool

.

Sean Flynt · Posted: Tue 08 Mar, 2005 10:56 am Post subject:

Medieval isn't quite my bag, but I will point out that many contemporary paintings (see Froissart image below) depict archers wearing relatively short swords, falchions and what would later be called hangers, messers or cutlasses. As far as I know, the term "archer's sword" was never used to distinguish a particular size or form of sword. However, a short, multipurpose chopping weapon such as a falchion makes sense for someone who might be expected to use his sword for foraging, pointing stakes and other such grubby infantry chores. Why a short blade? Because a shorter weapon isn't as likely to get in the way on the march or in a massed formation, but will still serve at close quarters. Notice that the weapons worn by the archers in this image have s-shaped crosses that form simple knucklebows, while the swords of the Men-At-Arms have simple curved crosses. The latter would soon fade as the dominant form (this image is late 15th century).

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Ashley Welborn · Posted: Tue 08 Mar, 2005 11:12 am Post subject:

Thanks Sean Big Grin

. That makes since. I actually have that picture saved on my computer along with much of the Maciejowski Bible. Good references.

BTW, Hello My Armour.com! Nice forums and I love the sword by sword comparrison section.

A+++

Nathan Robinson · myArmoury Admin

Sorry, pet peeve here.. please indulge me ... we're myArmoury.com not "My Armour.com"

Welcome aboard, Ashley (in reference to your cool pirate flag avatar...)

Ashley Welborn · Posted: Tue 08 Mar, 2005 11:22 am Post subject:

Sorry about that. I really need to learn to proofread Wink

.

Thanks for the welcome and acknowledgement of my Jolly Roger.

Greyson Brown · Posted: Wed 09 Mar, 2005 9:18 am Post subject:

Today when I checked my mail, I had a box full of sword handles that my dad sent to me so that i could rewrap them. In that box was the handle to my Archer's Short Sword (so Sean won't be re-doing it for me after all Blush

).

Now that I have seen the handle in this form, I have discovered that MRL/Windlass was not mistaken when they claimed that the handle on this sword is wrapped in leather. It actually has a round leather lace wrap. I will still be rewrapping mine as I don't care for the original handle (it has a plasticy feel to it, even if it is leather), but it not wire as I had incorrectly stated before.

Sorry for the misinformation.

-Grey

Jeremiah Swanger