I can only totally agree with you. Buying from them was the best experience i ever had. Everything is as discussed, there were the first and still only onces keeping there ETA and the swords bring tears in your eyes. He made the 2020 version of the Early Sidesword (Alexandria Sword, the repica version, not the sport version) for me, and i never had a sword comparable to this! But one thing: such a clickbaity title, i was super worried that there is something wrong with them.. :D :D
1000% agreement -- a favorite maker and a company run by two of the nicest and most customer-focused people you could ever hope to meet. Their longswords are just as wonderful as their sideswords and daggers -- now I want that arming sword!
I bought two Chevalier II sideswords from them recently, together with a clubmate - that model has their heavy/broad blade, as well as a relatively complex hilt. My previous sidesword was a Kvetun Sidesword I, which is a considerably daintier design. The MM swords, though they weigh ~200g more (1150-1200g), are still beautifully agile and pointable, with excellent blade presence too. The heavier blade in my view is more suitable to Bolognese fencing, as it really encourages you to use proper body mechanics, whereas with the lighter Kvetun, I always had to stop myself from fencing "lazily". I can also confirm that the customer service is superb. In my case, we had a lot of trouble with the parcel service. Long story short, screw DPD. MM support went to great lengths to get the parcel back from them so they could resend it via a different service, and always kept me informed during the whole ordeal. Excellent company through-and-through.
I picked up one of their messers recently (the extended grip version) and I’m really happy with it. Wonderfully agile little piece, with a good balance between flexibility and stiffness so that it feel assured in the bind without making you worry that you’re going to injure your sparring partner with a thrust. Very friendly people too.
I didn't see it mentioned in the video, but the reason why MM doesn't offer sharp swords is because they legally aren't allowed to. To quote their page, "Following Italian legislation (Art. 45 della legge del 18.6.1931 n° 773 (G.U. 26.6.1940 n° 149, approvato con R.D. 6 maggio 1940, n° 635; G.U. 26-6-1940, n° 149 Suppl. ord.; art.5 della legge n° 36 del 21.02.1990), our products are NOT arms: they’re blunt" (from Terms & Conditions).
That's Italian legal system for you right there. They're bound not to produce excellent sharps based on a Royal decree dating back to the time when people were likely to put sharps to use (the last not-so-legal duel in Italy was between Ungaretti, the poet, and some folk who offended him in the 40s, if I recall), which was again implemented in the '90s. Heritage is a gift and yet sometimes a burden :(
Thanks for doing this excellent review. I have been looking at MM swords online for some time and thought that they seemed quite exceptional but unfortunately the shipping costs to Australia make every HEMA purchase an expensive experiment. I can now quite confidently place an order with them. Cheers.
great gear. Had him build me a type XIX Alexandria sword a year or so ago, they have a ver2 of it now too. Targa is awesome and waiting on a dagger slightly wider than their common dagger (slightly shorter). Exceptional quality, go to gear maker.
I first heard of Malleus Martialis when i saw Marco Danelli comment on the quality of their work & that was as good a recommendation as i could ask for. So far i have a pair of sideswords & daggers & a pair of messers. Their customer service is second to none. After buying their Einhorn messer i asked them to make me a custom version. They ended up making us 5 as several other people in the club (Medieval Combat Group) wanted one too, one of which has ended up with the York School of Defence. They are now selling it as the Einhorn V2. They are a pleasure to deal with & everything i have got from them is of the highest quality. Fully expect to buy from them again :)
When mentioning to go training in the Park, may I ask if people bother with it? Because here in Bavaria it can happen that Police might challenge you for swinging a sword if any other citizen feels threatened from afar and calls them on you.
Thankfully, not everywhere is like that. We trained in parks or on campus all the time and never had any negative interactions with public or police. It did happen to me in the UK once though. I am still in disbelief that people can be such easily frightened busy-bodies.
Best blunt makers out there. For reenactment and for fencing. They are the only ones getting type XVs and XVIIIs etc to look like a sharp. Always recommending them.
insert multiple swear words here, you're gonna make my wallet thinner yet again, first you had me in the box with the arming sword, which looked like a type xiv which is my drug of choice, and then you had the sheer audacity to wrap my box with gold trimmer fancy wrapping paper with the greatsword. for this, i love you, and hate you.
Great video. Love the history and detailed breakdowns. I also saw your "reactions" on sword fights in movies. The work you did with Insiders. I would love to see your comments on the sword combat The Last Kingdom.
Ordered one a couple of weeks ago, after drooling at them for weeks. Can't wait for it to come. fair to say dealing with them has been great - they were honest and said its going to be July as they had so many orders. Very friendly.
Though I do appreciate your typical brevity, a longer video from you is always a treat! If you get the chance in the future, I would love to see a video from you about the new Kvetun sideswords
Hm, their stuff looks beautiful but their site isnt really usable as a store front: cant find a single price anywhere. I just gotta assume everything is basically "too much"... Im a complete noob in all this, coming from a love of history and the idea of swords, got some decorative fantasy and medieval swords and am beginning to develop an interest in "using" them and join a local group/club maybe... but being an enthousiast for the objects themselves, finding a one-handed broad blade medieval sword (like the one you show at minute 6:00) that isnt just pretty but also "usable" and knowing how much it'd cost would be lovely. Anyone know?
@@LondonLongsword I went back and checked: you're right, it's there at the end on some swords, but not all. I was looking at one-handed swords with medieval crossguards and they all lack it. I guess it's all too high end for a beginner anyways.
@@richardforsman A fellow in our salle wanted to buy an antique sabre (which should be legal, as opposed to new ones) and asked the police what to do to obey the law. The police suggested him to declare that he found it in his family's attic and that it belonged to his great-granddad or something like that… The state of the law here is so pitiful that even the police doesn't want to deal with it. I think that katanas are somehow magically exempted from this crap but I'm not sure how that works.
@@emarsk77 Weird. Overall it seems katanas still have some more respectful stand worldwide than European swords for some reason. Here in Finland, all you need is to be over 18 years old to buy sharpened swords. Currently, due to the covid situation, I've only focused on cutting practice because our gym has been closed for most of the time.