Medieval Swords: Side by Side Destructive Testing
"Destructive Side by Side testing of 4 replica medieval swords from 3 of the most respected, affordable sword manufacturers..."
Hanwei Forge, Darksword Armory and Valiant Armoury are three of the most respected, entry level sword makers in the business.
With their medieval swords typically selling from between $250 to $400, they all have solid reputations.
Hanwei's collobaration with Michael 'Tinker' Pearce resulted in swords with harmonic balance and the other qualities that Tinker looks for in a good medieval replica sword (read his article on SMG here!).
Darksword have always had a reputation for making extremely strong, sturdy blades that can take a truckload of abuse, but in recent years have also refined their designs, improving the handling and cosmetic apperance of their swords.
And Valiant Armory revolutionized the sword industry when they teamed up with Angus Trim and Christian Fletcher to produce their 'Signature Series' line.
The purpose of these side by side tests isn't to find which sword is 'best' - but rather simply subject each one to the same methods of evaluation and (what are effectively) ordeal to see how they handle, perform and deal with targets that would see a lesser sword rendered useless in a few short seconds...
So with our objectives firmly in mind, let the evaluation begin!!
THE SWORDS
In alphabetical order, we start with the 'Archers sword' by Darksword Armory.
ARCHERS SWORD (Darksword Armory)
While this is a single handed arming sword, and therefore the 'odd one out' from the other blades we will be testing (all of which are longswords) I added it to the mix just to keep things interesting and to see the difference between what an arming sword and a longsword can do (and withstand).
The Darksword Armory Archers sword is made from 1060 carbon steel with a peened pommel and feels quite heavy and substaintial in the hand.
Price: US$279
BLACK PRINCE (Darksword Armory)
Also by Darksword, the black prince is a type Xva sword, also made from 1060 carbon steel but not peened. You can read the full review of this sword on our sister site here:
SBG Black Prince Review
Price: US$284
KRIEGSCHWERT (Valiant Armoury)
Designed by Gus Trim, with 1060 carbon steel and an adjustable pommel, this is the most expensive sword in our line up, but only because of the leatherwork on the scabbard and the handle. Their Practical Longsword is basically the same blade, but with plainer fittings and is the same price as the other swords (cheaper than some actually) so it is more than justified lining up with the others here.
Reviewed on our sister site here: SBG Kriegschwert Sword Review
Price: US$416
LONGSWORD (Hanwei Forge)
A bit plain, but engineered to perform - the Tinker Pearce longsword is made from 5160 Spring Steel, so it will be interesting to see what advantages/disavnatages this steel has from the others, all of which are made from 1060 carbon steel (but with different blade thicknesses and tempering processes).
It is also the lowest priced sword of all the medieval swords being tested here.
Price: US$212
TESTING STAGE ONE: Handling
ARCHERS SWORD (Darksword Armory)
The Archers Sword is not the heaviest in our line up, but as a single handed sword, it feels the heaviest in the hand. Weighing in at 3lbs 3oz, it is actually around 6 oz or so too heavy for a sword of this type. But balanced at 3.5" from the cross guard, it actually handles quite well and feels very authoritive in the cut, but does tend to take a little more effort than what is ideal for it to recover.
HANDLING SCORE
BLACK PRINCE (Darksword Armory)
At 3lbs 13oz and with a point of balance just 3.5" from the crossguard, the Black Prince handles very much like it should and feels very natural in the hand. It's is perhaps around 2oz too heavy and the balance point is around 1.5" off from where it should be (ideally it should be around 2" from the crossguard) - but in practice it is not all that noticable and recovers quite nicely.
HANDLING SCORE
KRIEGSCHWERT (Valiant Armoury)
The Kreigschwert weighs in at 3lbs 4oz - which is almost the same weight as the single handed Archers sword, and combined with a 6" balance point, is actually ideal for this blade type (after all, it was designed to the specifications of Angus Trim, so it comes as no surprise that its handling will be exceptional).
Even in one hand, it is easy to use and change direction mid swing, and is a true joy to weild.
HANDLING SCORE
LONGSWORD (Hanwei Forge)
Weighing just 3lbs and with a point of balance 4" from the crossguard, this is the lightest and fastest of the Longswords. It does not feel as powerful in the cut as the Kriegschwert, but it feels a tad faster, recovers in a flash, and can be easily weilded either one or two handed, not to mention that when it comes to thrusting (which a blade with this profile is specialized in) it can snake out and stab a target before they can even blink.
HANDLING SCORE
HANDLING AND BALANCE VIDEO SUMMARY
TESTING STAGE TWO: Flex Tests
ARCHERS SWORD (Darksword Armory)
The Archers sword is seriously STIFF and quite hard to bend. Because of this, it was actually quite hard to determine its level of tempering as I could not physically bend it far enough to push it past a point of no return due to the thickness of the extra meaty blade (you can see from the picture that I had to put more weight on it than any of the other swords to get it to flex enough to try and measure the result).
As such, it is kind of hard to rate it - though due to its stiffness, I had little doubt that it would pierce its target extremely deeply.
BLACK PRINCE (Darksword Armory)
Like the Archers Sword, the Black Prince does not flex easily, though the longer blade flexed far enough to determine that it was very nicely tempered, springing back to true as soon as pressure was released.
With the thin and narrow pointed tip sticking into the wood, the entire blade proved itself to be evenly tempered and stiff enough to theoretically pierce a target to the bone and beyond..
FLEX TEST SCORE
KRIEGSCHWERT (Valiant Armoury)
The Kreigschwert proved itself to be the most flexible blade of the four tested, able to flex to 30 degrees and really snap back to true the instant the pressure was released.
While very flexible, it is far from 'whippy' during dry handling (most truly 'whippy' swords actually sag when held out horizontally, but the Kriegschwert certainly did not). The quality of the tempering actually surprised the designer, Angus Trim, and as such can only be described as exceptional.
FLEX TEST SCORE
LONGSWORD (Hanwei Forge)
Hanwei often have a good reputation for tempering their blades, and the Longsword is no exception.
The best way to describe it's flex was somewhere between that of the Black Prince and the Kriegschwert, though it tended to flex at a point lower down than either of these two other swords.
FLEX TEST SCORE
FLEX TESTING VIDEO SUMMARY
TESTING STAGE THREE: Cutting and Thrusting Tests
ARCHERS SWORD (Darksword Armory)
The Archers sword had the most authoritive thrust of all the swords tested, splitting the target and burying itself up to half way into it. While I did not video the cuts, they were almost as good as the Longswords.
CUT/THURST TEST SCORE
BLACK PRINCE (Darksword Armory)
Out of all the longswords tested, the Black Prince proved to be the most versatile, with powerful shearing cuts and a decent penetrative thrust, though nowhere near as strong as the Archers sword, which was something of a surprise.
CUT/THRUST TEST SCORE
KRIEGSCHWERT (Valiant Armoury)
The Kriegschwert was easily the most powerful of all the cutters, slicing effortlessly through the target as if it was barely even there. It's thrusting capability was average, not quite as good as the Black Prince, but still very respectable (due to its flexibility, I was slightly concerned that it would not pierce the target very well, but these concerns proved to be unfounded).
CUT/THRUST TEST SCORE
LONGSWORD (Hanwei Forge)
The Longsword was a bit of a disappointment here. While its cutting performance was fine (though I did not get it into the video) - it's thrusts were decidedly tentative. Because it is a sword designed to deliver a deadly thrust, this disappointment was the more acute and amounts to something of a design flaw in my opinion.
CUT/THRUST TEST SCORE
CUT AND THRUST TESTING VIDEO SUMMARY
TESTING STAGE FOUR: Heavy Testing on Armor
ARCHERS SWORD (Darksword Armory)
As expected, the Archers sword continued its impressive thrusting power, penetrating easily through the maille armour. Striking against the helmet and the maille did not damage the sword at all, nor loosen the peened pommel. While the maille held up against the strikes, the shockwaves were significant and some of the chain links were damaged, weakening the armor.
ARMOR TESTING SCORE
BLACK PRINCE (Darksword Armory)
The Black Prince REALLY had some serious thrusting power, literally burying itself in the target.
Cuts against the maille burst several of the links, and a cut to the empty sleeve cut it wide open. Blows to the helmet were particuarly telling and would have caused severe concussion. In all cases, the blade showed no signs of damage whatsoever. Extremely versatile and impressive.
ARMOR TESTING SCORE
KRIEGSCHWERT (Valiant Armoury)
The Kriegschwert suffered some minor edge damage when contacting the lip of the helmet, but other strikes made it ring like a bell. Even though the armor was a bit weakened, the Kriegschwert literally tore it apart in two to three cuts!
Despite its flexible blade, thrusts were also very powerful, easily penetrating the maille.
ARMOR TESTING SCORE
LONGSWORD (Hanwei Forge)
The Longsword demonstrated good cutting ability on the maille and impressive durability when used against the helmet.
However, a single thrust against the maille resulted in a bent tip, which was really quite a shock to be honest...
ARMOR TESTING SCORE
ARMOR TESTING VIDEO SUMMARY
FINAL TESTING STAGES FIVE AND SIX: Testing on a steel pole and blade on blade contact
ARCHERS SWORD (Darksword Armory)
As it has done with all previous tests, the Archers sword held up extremely well to several hard strikes to a solid steel pole, biting into the steel of the target without leaving so much as a scratch to the sword.
With a peened pommel for added durability, all fittings remained tight.
STEEL POLE TESTING SCORE
BLACK PRINCE (Darksword Armory)
As expected, the Black Princes blade suffered no damage as it hacked into the steel target.
However, the fittings became SLIGHTLY loose in the hilt after the second strike. While the sword was in no danger of coming apart any time soon, the threaded hilt is hard to adjust and repair and the continued slight rattling annoying.
STEEL POLE TESTING SCORE
KRIEGSCHWERT (Valiant Armoury)
Like the Black Prince, the shockwaves of the strikes against the unforgiving target caused the hilt to loosen slightly at this point. However, because of the Angus Trim designed pommel nut assembly, it was easy to tighten back to good as new with an allan key.
The blade itself was undamaged (the only damage sustained during all tests was caused by the lip of the steel helmet.
STEEL POLE TESTING SCORE
LONGSWORD (Hanwei Forge)
With the same styled (modern) assembly as the Kriegschwert, I expected that the hilt would come loose. However, Michael Tinker Pearce's emphasis to Hanwei about the sword having harmonic balance paid off here, with the shockwaves not going into the handle at all, and the whole assembly remained tight.
The blade itself took no edge damage and cut deeply into the target.
ARMOR TESTING SCORE
STEEL TO STEEL, EDGE TO EDGE, CHALLENGE RESULTS
Each sword was banged edge to edge with the other. All tests were not recorded on video (some of them were, with the rest to be filmed at a future time) but the results were as follows:
- Archers Sword and Black Prince Damaged by Kriegschwert and Tinker Pearce Longsword
- Kriegschwert Damaged by Tinker Pearce Longsword
- TINKER PEARCE LONGSWORD WINS!
STEEL POLE AND EDGE TO EDGE TESTING VIDEO SUMMARY
FINAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
ARCHERS SWORD (Darksword Armory)
Overall, the Archers sword was one of the most robust, with extremely powerful thrusts and a very high level of overall durability. It was let down somewhat in the handling department however.
FINAL SCORE: (4)
BLACK PRINCE (Darksword Armory)
With excellent handling, durability, cutting power and tempering, the Black Prince was only really let down by the threaded hilt assembly, which loosened slightly during the final stages of testing and is hard to tighten (though to be fair, the looseness is minor - many lesser swords would have probably broken apart).
FINAL SCORE: (4.2)
KRIEGSCHWERT (Valiant Armoury)
Suffering minor damage to the blade when striking the lip of the helmet, and loosening slightly during the final stages of testing like the Black Prince (though it is extremely easy to re-tighten), the Kriegschwert was a formidable cutting machine - tearing all cutting targets to pieces, which is extremely frightening considering its super fast speed and handling capabilities.
FINAL SCORE: (4.4)
LONGSWORD (Hanwei Forge)
Tinker Pearce Longsword had the potential to be the best all round sword, winning the steel to steel challenge, having amazing handling characteristics and harmonically balanced to avoid the hilt loosening from severe impacts (as well as the ability to quickly and easily tighten it if it should happen).
However, it was let down badly by the tip - which performed dismally on thrusting targets.
FINAL SCORE: (4.2)
CONCLUSION
These four swords are some of the best of the best in their respective price range (approx $250 to $400), and it was no surprise that overall, they came in fairly evenly, but some conclusions can certainly be drawn.
The Tinker Pearce swords are probably the best, but this particular one was badly let down by the tip - which was the same basic type as the Black Prince, but nowhere near as effective.
The Kriegschwert is a lightening fast cutting machine. And the Archers sword is a tank.
Each sword will appeal to different collectors for different reasons, though I honestly think that next time, I will test one of the
Tinker Pearce BASTARD SWORDS instead of the Long Sword, as these will have ALL of the characteristics that make this swords great, without the problems that plagued the tip...
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What Other Visitors Have Said
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Kreig and DSA swords owner $0.02
Not rated yet
I find that if I want to inflict some serious damage to a heavier target I ALWAYS reach for my DSA Black Knight sword. I really love my Kreig as well, but ...
H/T LS tip strength
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Hey guys,
Just wanted to chime in, I have the H/T longsword and tested it against metal plate armor. Unlike Paul Southren's sword, the tip suffered ...
My experiences with the Tinker Longsword
Not rated yet
I have the Tinker Longsword and I was also quite shocked when I saw the bent tip.
But I must defend the Tinker,on the photo you made, it looks like ...
