Sword Review - Balaur Arms Type XIV Arming Sword with Bronze Pommel 

Thanks! The Kingston Arms sword is definitely on my list of swords I'd like to check out some time.

Sounds like a great customization project!

I've heard quite a few good things about that model.

Warning: on mine, POB was 5", making it blade-heavy for the weight, and someone did a spectacular butcher job on the edge. Very uncharacteristic for Kingston or CAS Iberia.

Thanks ✌

Yes.

Your form is pretty good, . You are not moving quickly, you could get a lot more speed, but your motion is a nice slice,, its cutting from a nice cutting motion, not an enormous force.

I definitely don't have callused hands or anything, though I think you'd be surprised at how many cuts, nicks, bruises, and the like come from working inside the computers themselves (not that I do that much these days). I'm sure if I used swords more, my hands would certainly adapt.

I'd been eyeing it for a few months before finally pulling the trigger.

Socrates was right...the only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. I think the "problem" with the Oakeshott typology is trying to classify what is honestly a small subset of surviving swords. Imagine how many more there were that haven't survived to this day, and how many different types of swords there would have been to classify. Classifying swords in such a manner is, I believe, a much more modern trend.

@@alientude Absolutly, it is a modern thing. But there are quiet a lot surviving swords in european museums,I guess it is just hard to find the time and funding for researchers to look into it. James Hester, curator of royal armouries, seemes to do some great research traveling all over europe and is just waiting for his phd to be published. It would be interessting to ask him how many swords he could find in museum storages that will probertly never be shown in an exhebition. I like your form, when cutting by the way.

It's a beautiful piece, that's for sure. Thanks for the sub! I really appreciate it.

Please keep in mind I'm not a historian. I'll give some speculation here, but it's purely my amateurish thoughts. I found the original sword on the Metropolitan Museum in New York's website (www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/23367). Much better picture, and more detail too (which would have been nice to have for this review...). Interestingly, the original sword is listed on that website as 3 lbs 11 oz. That's extremely heavy for a one-handed sword, which does make me question whether it had distal taper. It's pretty much impossible to say without seeing the blade up close, whether in person (more up close than a museum would allow) or lots of good pictures, so I can't say for sure if it did have distal taper. In my amateurish opinion, a nearly 4 lb one-handed sword is nearly unusable, however. That, combined with the ornate decoration on the original, makes me wonder if it was more of a show piece. Scholagladiatoria is certainly right that some swords didn't have distal taper (and he knows FAR more about swords and history than I do!). For instance, the Windlass Arbedo I reviewed has very little - it's a generally broad but thin blade that tapers to an acute point, so the profile taper already does a good job of lessening the weight, without needing to distally taper as well. In terms of home defense, I wouldn't recommend a sword. They're not particularly good for indoors use, as they require sweeping movements that walls interfere with. If you're really looking for a home defense melee weapon, I'd go with a short spear.

Thank you again for giving me some good feedback and advice I really appreciate it !