Two reviews Jiri Krondak
One hand and half
Review:
We are going to review a one-and-a-half sword made by Jiri Krondiak. The model reviewed here is the "gothic".
The sword appears to be well done and quite strong, with a thick blade, well balanced and light enough to allow the wielding of the sword with just one hand (although for brief time).
THe hilt is well built, with a polygonal pommel mounted over the tang, which is directely wrapped in light brown, thick leather, that assures a strong grip and a resilient handle. The crossguard is curved and thick, with a typical horizontal plate over the blade. There are wielding haloes around the base of the pommel.
The blade tapers towards the end, and the fuller is marked and occupies more than 3/4 of the blade itself. There is no sharp point and the edges are thick, thus the safety during sparring combat is assured.
In Combat:
The blade is very strong, suffering little or no damage at even the heaviest impact with other blades. The thickness of the edges avoid notching and the flat of the blade is strong enough to withstand even serious strikes.
The sword is balanced well, and this allows for both heavy attacks and agile maneuvering, and with the curved crossguard shape even disarming maneuvres are quite easy to perform. The blade never vibrates, and after more than a month of testing in medium and heavy combat there is but the slightest notch to testify for the strenght and resilience of this sword.
The handle is comfortable and the thick leather suffered no damage at all during the tests, granting a long life to one of the (usually) weakest parts in the swords we have tested so far. Again, this is not the case with this product, as the leather is wrapped directely around the tang, thus making a very resistant handle.
The well rounded tip and the thick edges assure safety in every kind of combat, and with the due amount of heavy armour even thrust attacks can be performed, without any damage for the sword. Grasping the blade even with bare hands is easy as there are no sharp notches or edges caused by the edge hitting other edges.
Conclusions:
Overall, this sword is very good for those who study or perform with the hand-and-a-half. Its shape is similar to those represented in German manuscripts such as Liechtenuer, and allows for safe combats, with great durability and little or no damage to the sword even in the hardest fights.
If I may ever find a problem with this sword, then I'd say that the blade is a bit short - but this is not a flaw, and the lenght of the blade does not affect the very good performances we have found so far.
Finally, two things should be mentioned. One is the price, which is quite low for such a good production, and the other is the ease of contacts with the swordmaker, whihc is very available, very kind and very quick to send the sword once done. In any aspect I strongly suggest this sword for the practitioner and the collector due to its performance and its very good cost/performance ratio.
Gallery:
http://www.battlesword.net/public/openasp/default.asp?modulo=pages&idpage=66
One hand Gotic Lux
Review:
Many people know Jiri Krondak's swords, fair priced, light and strong,and so we have decided to find out if all these qualities are really present together in each sword.We have contacted the smith, quite rapid to reply and very rapid in sending us our choice, a 1-hand gothic in Lux version.
Possibly most of the items in his catalogue are actually stored so to avoid a long wait, as instead happens for producers who work on reservation only.
We received the sword after about 1 week, by courier, and the package is a folded cardboard sheet in which is wrapped the sword.
The first impression is a simple yet carefully planned design, with the only concession to the aestethics represented by a metal wire wrapped around the handle, perfetly fitting in the
groves of the leather wrapping. The grip is strong and comfortable.
Once wielded, the low weight and good balance can be appreciated (thanks also to the reduced lenght of the blade).
The pommel is small, with a bowl-shaped top, which is not made by the tang, as in all the swords from this smith the tang is welded in the pommel.
The guard has straight and flat "quillons".
Both the pommel and the guard seem to have a "laquered" surface; this, coupled with the different materials used in the handle, and the polish of the blade make the difference between the "standard" and "lux" versions of this producer.
The blade is of average lenght, tapering towards the point, and the
(slightly asymmetric) fuller is about wide 1/3 of the total widht of the blade, and ends at less than 9 cm from the tip of the blade. The tip is perfectly rounded and flat.
The sword is polished with a middle-to-fine finishing that makes the blade "antiqued", while the shape of the edge is peculiar, with flattened edges.
If a blow lands on the edge with an angle of more than 45°, the surface on which the stress is discharged becomes wider, thus deforming the metal less.
The thickness of the edge is fairly constant up to the tip.
The brand of the smith is at about 1 cm from the guard, on the blade (the J and K letters with a stylized sword). The blade is hard to rust, unless is not cared for for a long time.
In Combat:
Lightness and balance are the qualities that can be immediatly appreciated with this model, that is perfect also for women or for those who seek a blade which is not too heavy.
The control of the blows is very easy. In edge-to-edge contact the
vibrations are minimal, and both pommel and hilt are quite strong.
Even if struck on the flat, the blade is solid, transmitting very little
vibrations; this also eases the control.
The notches on the edge are minimal, even after very strong blows, and passing a finger on the edge after a severe combat gives no problem at all.
After almost two months of continual use pommel and hilt show no sign of weakness; but of course we will keep testing this aspect through the next months and years of use.
Conclusions:
It is very easy to obtain this sword and the only time to wait is the actual shipping. The safety aspect is at the highest levels, with thick edges and optimal hardness of the blade that allows for very little deformation and no splinters.
Weight, balance and overall resilience are very good, and make this sword suitable for practice in total safety for all the forms of combat, from choreography to heavy combat.
If you are looking for a strong, light and quite well balanced blade to be used in any type of historical combat, this sword is a great choice. On the contrary, if you look for a museum quality replica, this is of course not your prime choice. While the finishing is not exceptional, the quality and the low price more than compensate this
Gallery:
http://www.battlesword.net/public/openasp/default.asp?modulo=pages&idpage=65
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