Swords, no sorcery, Part 2

Ok. So where was I?

Oh, right. I was voraciously reading about swords, after the fact. So I’d made my purchases and then realized how stupid that was.

I already own two scale-model replica swords, and now I was thinking I just ordered more off of eBay.

Keep in mind, wall-hangers still look nice, they’re inexpensive to own, they require little maintenance (stainless doesn’t rust and doesn’t require oiling), and visitors will probably be just as impressed seeing them if they have little knowledge of swords also.

However, if you ever want to take them down and pretend to be Sir Galahad, or one of the Three Musketeers, or maybe even Conan, you have to be aware that they could become a dangerous flying object if they aren’t of good quality.

I mentioned the tang in my last post and showed a video of a katana attacking a HSN salesman.

So, the things I’ve learned so far: a quality sword is made of carbon steel and it has a full tang not a welded on metal rod (although I also learned that full tang is incorrect unless the tang is actually sandwiched between two handle pieces so you can see the metal edge, like on most kitchen knives)..

And real swords, quality swords, often called “battle ready” cost money. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If someone is selling something on eBay and they can’t answer even the most basic questions on it (who is the manufacturer, what it it made of, does it have a full tang, is it battle ready) chances are they’re selling a wall-hanger. Odds are very slim that you’ve lucked onto that rare find of a genuine antique offered by a naive seller. Things like that don’t happen. And since quality swords cost a few hundred dollars, don’t think that anyone is selling their collection for pennies on eBay. You might find a sword made by a quality manufacturer, but expect to pay for it.

So after learning more about swords, my first pre-knowledge purchase rolled in. I had picked up what had been described as Vintage Colada del Cid. Well, it was another scale-replica with a dulled blade of only 22 inches. Sure, it fits right in with the other two and really, it is kind of cool with the swept hilt (which is funny because swept hilts didn’t come into vogue until 4 or 500 years after El Cid died), but its still pretty much a wall-hanger. I’m not even sure how safe it is to swing.

Still, I’m polishing it up and it is still fun to ghost fence with. But I was disappointed it wasn’t a real sword.

So I waited for my next purchase. When it arrived I was fairly happy. These I knew weren’t battle ready swords. They were three “dueling” swords as eBay called them. But I could tell from the description they were old fencing foils with blunted ends. One is in pretty sad shape with the handle material unwrapping, but the other two look pretty nice with decorated cup hilts and a good sized foil blade. If I get some masks, maybe we can play in the back yard with them.

So that left one more sword. By now I knew not to expect much. I hadn’t paid much. All three purchases came to about $70. But this one was a tease. This is the one I wrote about a few blog posts ago that took weeks to arrive.

So now I’ll tease you in turn and tell you about that next time.

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