sharp pointy things

[yoippari]

Ok, so the portland meet thread got me thinking. How many knife guys do we have on this board? Or even better, how many sword guys do we have?

Whats your involvement in knives/swords? what style do you like? Do you collect, use, or just oogle?

I would enjoy making swords and knives but lack of funding (with a good amount of procrastination) has kept my forge at a standstill. I am a semi active poster over at sword forum international and that is where most of my knowlege comes from.

I'll start. I am mostly interested in longswords, type X swords (viking, scottish basket hilts, and some schiavonas), katzbalgers, and khukuris. I'm not much for little knives. Well, I would like what is called a Pen Knife that is offered by himalayan imports and by comparison it is a small knife at only 13" overall length.

Usually I can just oogle swords online (the local sword shop might have a couple of real swords (instead of sword like objects) but I havn't handled enough to be able to identify a good sword) but I am starting a collection off by a custom one designed and made by me (and someone who knows what he is doing). I also have two himalayan imports khukuris: one Kobra, and one Ang Khola.

[jfellrath]

Ok, so the portland meet thread got me thinking. How many knife guys do we have on this board? Or even better, how many sword guys do we have?

I'm a user - I am a member of the Association for Rennaissance Martial Arts, which (IMHO) is the foremost organization for the re-creation of the martial arts of medieval and rennaissance Europe. Our goal is to re-create these arts using the most realistic methods possible, while keeping safety at the top of our list of priorities. We work to re-discover the sword and armed arts (armored and un-armored), as well as the combat grappling of those ages. We use translations of the original manuals by the masters of the day in our work and have made a great deal of progress.

I've been doing it for a couple of years now, though I've always been interested in the era. I've been on hiatus from it lately, due to the birth of our first child.

As far as swords I own, I have two wooden wasters (practice swords), a couple of homemade padded sparring swords, and a Paul Chen Practical Austrian Longsword, which is a blunt but has excellent weight, and is great for light free-play and solo drills/floryshing.

If you're interested in this, let me know and I'll try to hook you up with a group in your area. ARMA is a very martially-oriented group - no titles or role-playing involved whatsoever. We are interested simply in the fighting arts of the era.

[GMan]

At present I only have a claymore.

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

At present I only have a claymore.

But what do you do when it blows up by being stepped on?












OK, OK, I could not resist, give the new guy 50 lashes with a sgian dhubh!

RJI

[Brasilikilt]

Hey all

You can certainly call me a blade lover! I actually like old weapons and tools in general. My big thing has been practical blades which I can use for their intended purpose such as machetes, double bit axes, hunting/bushcraft knives etc etc.
Thing with a sword is that I DON'T want to use it for it's intended purpose!!!
I do own a Darksword Armory (big mistake) Medieval combat sword which needs some repair work!
I have several carbon steel "sheath knives" of varying sizes, some which I made/modified myself as well as production blades such as Mora knives, Kinsfolks, Schrade and the big 'ol 15" Western Bowie knife!

[Iolaus]

I've got a functional broadsword/rapier (kind of a cross-over blade, but I forget the actual designation), a "dueling bowie", a couple of large generic blades, a cheap battle axe my step-son gave me, and an assortment of smaller hunting and quality pocket knives. I'd also like to get the pirate's cutlass with the basket hilt in the Museum Replicas catalog.



When I got married, my wife was shocked not to find a knife clipped to a pocket somewhere and said so (she didn't find the small knife in my tux jacket). I've never fought with a knife and don't expect to, but I just feel naked without one; I use it at least once or twice a day.

I also have an assortment of canes, several of which could be a bludgeon weapon (one from Cold Steel that is actually designed for such).

If you're interested in this, let me know and I'll try to hook you up with a group in your area.

Know of any groups in Orange County, Calif.?

[James]

Must assume claymore-command detonated- or could cause slightly red face if went off in hand!

James

[An t-Ileach]

We used tripwire detonated claymores in Borneo as well as command detonated ones.

I've got 3 sgian dhubhs now (one beautiful one, courtesy of Ranald), 3 sheath knives of varying lengths left over from Scouting days, a lok-7 kris, two khukris (one a hill khukri, the other an issue one), a golok (seems to have been locally manufactured in Sarawak by a Chinese workshop out of a vehicle spring), and a child's toy mock sabre.

[bikercelt1]

I have several reproduction blades from the Lord Of The Rings collection, but they're just wall hangers - not the "museum grade" functional blades. I have a Paul Chen practical Basket Hilt Broadsword that I will eventually use for fencing once my skill level gets good enough. ( I'm a member of the Bailey Academy which is affiliated with the Association for Historic Fencing) I can't imagine being silly enough to bringing a knife to a gun-fight, but I feel ill prepared if I don't have a knife on my person as a utilitarian tool.

My daily carry blades include a couple of Ken Onion assisted openers from Kershaw, Cold Steel Mini Culloden, a Damascus gentlemans hunter from Russell, a couple of sheath knives from Schrade and Buck, and a good old Buck 110. No, I don't carry them all at the same time! :smile: I have several other knives that I thought were pretty cool when I got them but now that I've learned more about knives they're almost embarassingly crude.

Jamie

[jfellrath]

Know of any groups in Orange County, Calif.?

I'm asking around now. I don't see a listing for a group there, but we may have some individual members looking for practice partners.