Arming sword

[Arbellason]

This is a picture of a sword I am thinking of possibly getting it's on kult of Athena for $129 it doesn't look half bad for the price. I have some experience in metal work so I was going maybe put some golden vines on one side with a something in tengwar on the other side. I'd half to do an inlay with brass as gold is just too expensive to put all that on.

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp ... ming+Sword+

[Peter Remling]

I've owned some Deepeeka products and wasn't pleased with them. They are generally very heavy, have no distal taper and are non-responsive in hand.

These are a few reasonably priced swords, I have or have had and they are all decent quality entry level:

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp ... eval+Sword

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp ... ight+Sword

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp ... rd+-+Brown

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp ... Half+Sword

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp ... pean+Sword

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp ... ming+Sword

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp ... VIII+Sword

I've owned or handled a good many different Del Tins, Darksword, Windlass and others like hanwei that were decent entry level blades and I think they are worth the price.

I don't believe myself to be a sword snob, I'm not suggestting you save your money and go Albion or custom. I do believe an individual needs to handle a variety of blades before deciding what they like. After you've experienced a god number of blades of varying sizes and styles you'll determine what works for you. If you then feel like Albions or customs, go for it, just take your time. Making a $300 mistake is acceptable, a $3000 one, not so much.

[Peter Remling]

For an inexpensive route try the Classifieds on MyArmoury, Sword Buyers Guide or Sword Forum International. All are forums with free membership and all are great reference sites.

http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/

http://www.sword-forum.com/index.php

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/forum.php

Good Luck, you'll enjoy the journey !

[Addreonynn]

After you've experienced a god number of blades...

Thats a BIG number!!!

But in all seriousness, I agree with you 100% I've handled many styles, and the thing that keeps me from saving up and getting a really good blade, is that I bounce around from blade to blade too much! Short broad to claymore, scimitar to falcata... You get the point! Much better to feel the steel of many blades in your hand before you commit to a style with you life savings! IMHO

[RikJohnson]

I've owned a number of blades myself and found that some feel alive, and others feel dead.
And example is that my Cold Steel Warrior Katana cost well over $500 but holding it feels like I am holding a dead bar of steel.
My $300 Hanwei Practical Pro (basically all katanas are the same design with minor differences) feels alive in my hand.

My Del Tin viking @ $500 or so may look nice but the handle is too cramped for me.
But my Cold Stel Italian longsword is a joy to swing.

And I LOVE my $99 oni Forge Ashigura katana!

Money is not the deciding factor.
It is a combination of what you will do with the blade (cut, fight, wear, show off, costume, etc)
combined with your outfit (please no katana & kilt combo) and will it match your Garb
combined with how much you want to spend
combined with.. ok this is the most important thing IMHO, how does that blade FEEL in your hand? does it feel alive or dead? Is the balance nice or tip-heavy? Can you swing that all day or get tired after a couple swings? Do you WANT to wear and hold it or will you leave it on the wall?

I'd love to sell my Del Tin Viking and a few of my other swords but.... in Arizona, people want to pay wall-hanger prices for decent steel.
So my favorites are:
...Oscar kablomovitch that I modified to two-handed use.
...Valient Armories that I modifieed to an Irish design.
...my Cold Steel italian Longsword.
...my first actual European sword from Toledo Sword Company that folded almost 40 years ago.

So get a blade that looks good with your Garb and Mostly feels good in your hands.
Try to handle as many as you can (we'll be happy to let you see our blades whenever we meet).
and worry about the money later.

and expect to make a LOT of mistakes buying clunkers<g>.

[Arbellason]

I've handled a few blades before well my style of fighting is more slashing than stabbing with a shorter sized sword in my right hand with a longer dagger in my left for quick stabs while the right defends. I just haven't found any curved blades I liked the look of yet.

[Arbellason]

I just found the site called strongblade reviews from SBG said that they sell good blades if you buy them tempered when they actually have them in stock.

new sword I might consider
http://www.strongblade.com/prod/sbdk-armingbattle.html

[Willrett]

I really like the way that looks... I don't know if I trust them enough to buy from them yet but I have heard good things