We purchased these hand and a half padded weapons in May 2004 and other than a couple of punctures in the blade covering material and some loose edges, the weapons on the blades is holding up to a lot of punishment.
The overall feel of the weapons feels a bit blade light. Would recommend a bit more "heft" in the blade.
While the blade length is about right, the length of the hilt is very snug for two-handed applications. A side-by-side with a Del Tin hand and a half showed that the hilt was in fact on the short side. With padded gloves, the sword is really a single hand fit. Would recommend approximately 2" on the hilt. The slats on the hilt give the weapon a good feel approximating a sword hilt.
The cross-guard on all three weapons arrived loose, so we assumed that was intentional. However, the padding on the guards is not sufficient to allow for their use in combat. We beefed them up with additional padding. Further, the cross-guards do bend. Would look to a stronger alloy in the metal there as well. We have straightened one of the cross guards, but we are not sure how much longer it will hold up.
The pommels came padded and covered with duct tape. However, would also recommend additional padding there to allow for pommel use in combat. Using the same material used on the blades to cover the padding on the crossguard and pommel, the finish on the weapons would improve dramatically.
The cores have held up extremely well. We break our padded weapons on a regular basis. These three bastard swords have held up well over nearly 4 months of use during our study sessions. One of them actually left quite a dent in a three-weapon mask. With a bit of attention to the coverings as mentioned earlier, these look like they will hold up for further use by our study group. The material used for the covering of the blade is very tough.
More updates to come with further use.
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