Hanwei Hand and a Half Blunt- Grip too short for longsword?

[Sam Gabel]

Greetings good scholars and swordsmen,

My training partner and I have been practicing with wasters, but are considering making the jump to steel blunts.

Having some financial limitations, and being a beginner, I was naturally attracted to the deal below:

http://www.knifecenter.com/item/CISH210 ... igh-carbon

However, I am concerned that the short grip and the round pommel may prove uncomfortable and lack leverage for practicing most longsword techniques. Is this a legitimate concern or do you think it should work just fine?

[JoeyNaeger]

For a little more, you could get his one.

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

A few guys in our group use these and they are pretty decent. Their dimensions match the NSA waster better than the hand and a half.

[Sam Gabel]

Thanks for the suggestion, Mr. Naeger. I looked up some reviews, and it looks like a reasonably durable sword for it's price. However, from the video review below [ at 1:40], it appears that the blade might be a bit too whippy for proper parrying. I'd be interested to hear what you or other members might think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWwLw4IOqPI

[Stacy Clifford]

One of our guys cut his Practical Bastard blade down by a couple of inches and reduced the flex enough to where he's fairly happy with it.

[BroChrisHolloman]

Hey Howdy Hey!

I have used both of these swords and like them both.

My friend and training partner had the bastard sword and I later purchased the practical bastard sword. We have had many hours of free play using them against each other...and to be fair, we could swap swords since one has several inches in length and weight over the other. A member of my ARMA study group also has the practical bastard sword and another has an albion meyer.

Here are my observations so far:

The hand and a half has a great feel but the wheel pommel is a bit large. From images I have seen, the newest generation seems to have the same pommel as the practical bastard, which is the perfect size. It is a bit short for a longsword and you feel it when fighting against the hand and a half sword.

We did some free play using half-sword and murder stroke. At the end we noticed a slight "bend" in the blade. We were able to bend it back out but it does speak to the blade quality. The practical was unaffected.

The edges on the hand and a half are twice as thick as those of the practical. They are on par with the albion. As to durability, the albion seems to have the best combination of edge thickness and hardness. The albion left some nice dings and nicks on the practical. I noticed my edges where a bit thinner than the other practical in our group, so my sword could be out of spec.

As to the flex of whippi-ness of the practical...I watched the same video you mentioned and had the same concern. I have not had a problem with it in training or free play.

The cross guard on the practical was made for the sharp version of the sword. It has been made wider at the tips for safety. The sharp version has a ricasso but the practical is diamond tapered all the way down. This leaves a bit of wiggle room for the cross guard. I am planning to try to remedy this with some epoxy.

Hope that helps. Happy to answer more questions if you have them. I have also seen both swords cheaper from Kult of Athena.

Jesus blessings!
Bro. Chris

[Sam Gabel]

Thanks to all for your input. I always feel better about buying expensive equipment when I can make informed decisions.