Research and Discussion Forums

Yes, it looks like the Sudanese kaskara ; it's probably also a good idea to check out some information on the similar Tuareg takouba , even though it's less likely that your blade would be one. Thanks guys... yes, I agree that it looks like a Kaskara, and that write up in your links seems to sugges...

It could be a Takabouba Is that Persian? I'm not familiar with that name. I've found some pictures of Persian swords that have a similar hilt/crossguard style, but not so much the blade. I called it "Arabic" script but it certainly could be one of the Persian/Pahlavi or something like that.

A friend of mine showed me this sword that he has... it came from his father, now passed away, who was an antique dealer. I have no idea what knowledge of swords his father may have had, though I don't think it was necessarily great. His specialty is told to have been clocks, watches and the like. T...

After some further experimentation, there seems to be more about it than just the blade... I tried again with my swords and it seems that the long-lasting tune is in fact produced by the quillons. If I hit the swords while leaving the quillon free, I get a long sound, whereas if I hit the sword wit...

what a tragic mess. Having been trained as a specialist with old manuscripts, currently unemployed regularly, and easily happy to be in Germany, I feel compelled to go see if they are hiring any additional staff to address this disaster. thank you for the info. What a wonderful thing to do. I don't...

From the above article: [...] If they are ever recovered, the documents will almost certainly be irretrievably damaged. "We are talking here about 18 kilometres of extremely valuable archival material, of absolute importance to European culture," Eberhard Illner, the head of the city archi...

While it's disastrous across the whole spectrum of historical research, this must have some impact on us too. I don't know what specific documents might have been there. As one of the oldest and largest collections (as was said by another story I read) it seems likely that some important things have...

I would suppose that hundreds of years ago when medical practice wasn't quite so advanced (medieval barbers and leeches come to mind...) any injury grievous enough to leave a scar might also be reasonably likely to become septic and (eventually, if not immediately) possibly fatal. So to have survive...

The tone of the steel is likely going to be related to how well the sword blade was hardened and tempered. [...] Thanks, yes, that makes a lot of sense. It almost has to be some indication from the treatment of the steel. And thanks Stacy... I hadn't considered whether there's a dampening effect fr...

[...] Related to your discussion, I really don't see why there is not a 50$ option for a beginner long sword student. [...]. I was just visiting the Cold Steel site and noticed that they have pushed out the date that they'll have these until 3/31/09. If it goes like some other products I've gotten ...

I've been noticing something that's got me curious about the differences between various swords I've handled. Being a newbie and neither a metallurgist nor a swordsmith perhaps somebody can enlighten me: Does the sound that a sword makes when struck mean anything? For example... Some swords, noticea...

[...] What I would like to know is if there are some good techniques I can prctice alone to begin to hone my perception without a partner. Keep in mind I would mostly be using a 36" wooden sword. I am also interested in the history and manufacturing of swords, so any source suggestions would b...

I've handled a few of their products. There are two important conclusions to consider from my point of view. 1) Cold Steel products are very durable. They can take a beating. This is what they are designed for. 2) There is no serious research behind their design and they consequently do not perform...

I would throw in my own agreement that it was an excellent NTP! Lots of material that really put it all together for me. My own workouts and our group practices will be that much the better for it. Thanks Stew! I don't think I'm alone in saying that I found some interesting (if painful) new muscles ...

any manuals on this sword :D There's a 1904 Navy manual on the cutlass here: http://goatlocker.org/resources/cpo/history/cutlass.doc Hope this helps? It's short and doesn't cover much but the basics, but it's interesting, I think. It's more contemporary than most of our other materials but I think ...