Revisited: Landsknecht Emporium "Dorothea" 

Oh I would love to see those! - Peter

3 other Dorotheas to fence against, oh I am jealous! I never had a problem with my knuckle-bow, even after all the use it has seen, but I can see it getting in the way depending on your glove, yes, especially if it caught a number of cuts. It kind of is a common problem with knuckle-bows in general, but as you said, here you can at least fix it and I would rather be able to bend it than having it break. - Peter

Let us know how you like it. - Peter

How did you modify the handle? - Peter

@@die.freifechter the original handle is glued on, it’s synthetic leather over wood. I dremmled it off, and made a two piece wooden replacement that was a little larger and more squareish. I glued the two halves together. I wanted more feel for blade alignment

@@robertvondarth1730 No synthetic leather have ever been used on our workshop, not just because we prefer period and organic materials whenever possible, but also because synthetic leather can not be worked to the shapes needed for our products. Sometimes the hides we get from the supplier are a bit more "soft and strechy" that might give the feeling of being synthetic, but be assured; each piece of leather we use for our standard products is vegetable tanned cow. In fact we've been asked a few times over the years if we're willing to use synthetic leather because of the customers view on animal products, but had to turn down these reuests as we just can't work with synthetic leather the same way we do with the vegtan hides.

@@landsknechtemporium6616 Thank you for the clarification, your swords are excellent . (I ordered a two matching set)

If somehow possible, we would love to :) - Peter

Oh do tell me how you like her! - Peter

I ordered her in time for this year's price hike, but haven't received it yet because of other things I ordered together at the same time that needed production time.I really like the simplicity of her hilt and look forward to getting my hands on it!@@die.freifechter

If by "a page on Tessak of Norway" you mean the blogpost by Keith Cotter-Reilly of the Atlanta Historical Fencing Academy (fencingatl.com/blog/2018/8/9/the-tessak-of-norway), then that is the page I used and referenced for this video and linked to in the description. (It is a really nice article) I also go through which type the Dorothea is and where it stands in the average taken from measurements of complete examples. From talking to LE, they made the Dorothea a type G because that they like the type, and it is what they wanted to make. Taste is subjective of course, theirs usually aligns pretty well with mine, so I am biased, but I do not see a problem with that approach. I like the type G, because it is pretty versatile. It can fit a number of contexts just fine. As for why the Dussack was so popular in Norway, as far as I am aware it pretty much boils down to "They were available". To just quote Keith Cotter-Reilly: "In 1604 King Christian IV enacted the “Den norske Landslov”. This was an update of the Norwegian laws and was partially based on the earlier laws put in place by Magnus VI Lagebøte's. A part of this law was the requirement of all farmers to own weapons in accordance with the size of their properties. Starting in the late 1580s King Christian IV had already been importing swords from Germany to supply at cost to his Norwegian subjects and with this law the importation was widely expanded. The most popular weapon was the Tessak (also known as Dussack, Dussage, etc)." - Peter

@@die.freifechter I remembered seeing you with the Dorothea a while back, so I skipped to final thoughts since I wanted to find out if there were any problems after using it for so long (but not expecting any). I still need to see (and I will) parts of this video. But when I heard you saying that you like it, I immediately felt like bashing a little LE. 😅Not because I don't like them (I love my sharp Gottfried messer with a walnut grip and a CC1 pommel option; your video from years back was partly responsible with going for that model), but because I think they make excellent stuff and I want them to make what I like. You and LE are too selfish talking and making things you like, you should be more generous, like me, and look at the things I like. 😄 In all honesty, years back, when I saw the Dorothea, I thought it was a fantasy design. I wasn't looking at dussacks, so I never thought twice about it. When I found out, only last week, that it's actually historical, my jaw dropped. And yes, indeed, I do mean that blog. I think I saw it before, but only last week I started looking for dussacks, re-found the blog and the digital museum, and things came as a revelation to me (which is also why I got back here). I saw Björn Rüther on one of his videos use a type F trainer, I believe. So I do wonder why LE is not making a sharp version of that (and a trainer combo). I think it would be very popular (well, it's not like their messer production is standing still). But in all seriousness, slight preferences amplified for comedic effect aside, it's nothing wrong with type G. I do think that a type H would be better for gloves (one without a knuckle bow and with just a shell guard on the side; why I mentioned I associate it with the Italians, it has that aesthetic to it), but that's more a HEMA consideration true for all closed guards around the hand. P.S. Don't think for a second that I don't like your content because I didn't see this video in full. I usually come back to it when I want to search for an opinion on a particular product (e.g. I don't care about cavalry trousers now, but when I need to buy a new pair, I'll sure see the video for info what Spes is doing as a company, if not the model per se). Keep up the good work! 👍

@@die.freifechter I don't know how the algorithm counts consecutive comments, but here I go... I've finished watching your video and cannot believe that all my comments were already addressed in your video. 😅 Including the fact that I would prefer the Antonia because its blade and grip combination are such a good design. 👍

Well, I do not know what YT thinks about them, but we sure appreciate them :) Thank you very much for the kind words, and thank you for taking my initial reply in good spirit. I fear I might have come of a little confrontational, but I was honestly just a little confused :D. I get the feeling of having your mind blown discovering the Norwegian Dussacks. I certainly felt like mine was. For the longest time (too long really in hindsight), I just thought of them as the leather or wooden things in Meyer. And I agree, it WOULD be nice to have more Dussack trainers out there, and I am sure LE could make another great one. The good news is that if you want them to make one, they are generally available for customs (Though admittedly I am not sure if at the moment, because of the whole mystery of steel they had to solve) and that COULD turn into a model of theirs. ...It worked for the Antonia (Which is like advising you to play the lottery because it worked for me, I know). - Peter

@@die.freifechter Don't worry about your reply, it was 100% OK. But now that you mention it, I cannot believe that I mentioned in my comment "unless you study Meyer, and for you dussacks are pieces of wood and leather" and you literarily addressed this point as well. 😅 So take my entire comment before watching the video as a clear sign that you are in perfect sync with your audience. 😇 I for one, am mainly studying Bolognese sidesword (I understood it's annoying to use a messer against it, because a sidesword with a simple side-port ring can be used as a longer messer). But I like messers, and I just started to look at dussacks. So I was/am gathering as much info on them. I think there's still some debate if in English we should call the sharp ones Tessaks and keep Dussacks for trainers, but I think that's a false debate. It's akin to debating between calling a curved sword a Sabre or a Szabla; same thing, different language. And at this point, the term Dussack is rooted in. But one does need to be aware of the term Tessaks, because that's what the Norwegian museums use as a precise designation (then again, the digital museum classifies the type as a "Thing"; what would I do without scientific rigour, I would have never found out that a Tessak is a thing 🤣). But hey, so many pictures! For now, LE still has the no custom jobs sign on their page. And I have 5 other sparring pieces on order with other makers, with 3 more to place (I'm going wild since I was a more antique and sharps collector, and now I am focusing more on learning fencing). After that, at least a year in the future (that's what you do when you have different hobbies that compete for your money), I think I'll plan 2 sharps and 2 trainers from LE. And I will try to convince them at that time to make me the dussack I want (either a type F or a simpler H; I will learn more until then). Looking at some custom LE pieces that others people on RU-vid have, they should find a way to increase production and expand, because they are fantastic at bringing great designs to fruition. And you, keep interacting with them, and never say no to accepting a piece from them at no cost (blue handle or otherwise 😉). We need the reviews! 😇