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Reenactment - What Equipment Is Best?


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I take it you aren't going to do combat demonstrations, just march and display right? Windless/Atlanta Cutlery makes some good looking stuff, but it can take forever to get if it isn't a popular item.

 

Also Del Tin makes good stuff, and used to be good prices even with overseas shipping. Haven't order from them in years so I don't know how they are now.

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From what I've talked about with the group I'm joining, we will do a bit of everything. I wouldn't want to use a gladius for more than a swing or a thrust, however - They've given me a few reccomendations for where to get a quality gladius (including Windlass, which I also came upon), as well as other equipment, but I just wanted to see what the UNRV community had to say :huh:

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Well I would recommend Len Morgan. The only problem with Depeeka gladii is that we were told that they would be too sharp for battle reenactment also that they would snap if hit with another gladius.

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  • 2 years later...
Too sharp? ::grins:: I guess for reinactment that's a bad thing :)

 

Snapping is definitely a bad thing. Mean's they aren't tempered right.

The trouble with them is they're not made for contact drill. The tang is welded to the blade, right behind the brass at the guard. The originals were made from a single piece of metal. It's more work for the factory to do it the "old way", so they don't.

 

Most of the reenactors use a special variety of gladius if they're going to contact mock combat. They typically have a large, blunt point, so nobody gets pierced.

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Whatever type you use, the tang and blade MUST be of one piece - otherwise it cannot be considered a proper weapon. Even if the weapon is only for display, this should still be the case. Thus speaks an old campaigner from the Regia Anglorum (Saxon, Viking and Norman) re-enactment group.

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Whatever type you use, the tang and blade MUST be of one piece - otherwise it cannot be considered a proper weapon. Even if the weapon is only for display, this should still be the case. Thus speaks an old campaigner from the Regia Anglorum (Saxon, Viking and Norman) re-enactment group.

 

Having done both "combat" and "drill" re-enactment in the past I would agree that it really does depend on what it is going to be used for as to what type of weapon should be bought.

 

If a group is long established it should have built up a recommendation list that works for their style of re-enactment and that should generally be any potential re-enactors guiding principle about who to go to for their equipment. My own knowledge is out of date but Deepa used to have a reputation for reasonable prices but variable quality and authenticity of equipment they produced.

 

Irrespective of how sourced a display quality "sharp" will be totally unsuitable for "contact" re-enactment combat and vice-versa, while there are also variation in design depending on the precise period that is being represented - although to a great extent more so with armour than weapons.

 

Once you know what "type" and "style" of weapon is needed the main problem will probably tend to be down to your own group's recommendations on suppliers, the length of a particular armourers order book and whether their price ranges are within reach of your pocket. I suspect that the last two may be the final arbiter of which source you end up using rather than any supplier that we may recommend. :)

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The trouble with them is they're not made for contact drill. The tang is welded to the blade, right behind the brass at the guard. The originals were made from a single piece of metal. It's more work for the factory to do it the "old way", so they don't.

 

Tang...welded...to...blade???? :thumbsup:

 

My brain is melting. That is SO wrong. I can't even figure out why they would do that. There's no reason to do that. It's really NOT hard to make it all one piece. ESPECIALLY if you're not actually forging the blade but cutting/grinding it (which most mass production makers do anymore.)

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