Description
Details
These latest additions to the Red Dragon Combat Range feature 3mm re-enactment safe edges and rounded tips. The blades are formed from tempered high-carbon steel and fullered to ensure they are swift in the hand. Indeed a lot of time and effort has gone into make these blades as agile as possible whilst retaining a re-enactment safe edge. The steel hilt fittings neatly sandwich the leather wrapped wooden grip and are held in place by a traditional peened tang. The leather wrapped wooden scabbard features a protective rain guard and metal chape. If you are part of a re-enactment group we recommend consulting your safety officer for guidance before purchase.
Additional Info
Additional Info
| Brand | Red Dragon Armouries |
|---|---|
| Product Use | Display, Battle Re-enactment, HEMA Sparring, Stage Combat |
| Edge | Blunt |
| Specification | Overall Length: 107.5cm Blade Length: 86cm Blade Width: 4.3cm Blade Thickness: Guard Width: 20.5cm Point of Balance: 11cm Weight: 1.25kg Material: High Carbon Steel Blade, Leather Grip Edge: Blunt 3mm edge Scabbard: Wood, leather, steel |
Reviews
- Overall pretty good, but a couple of notable flaws.Review by James
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I haven't used this in sparring yet, but have done some basic tests. I'll cover both the fine details, and list pros and cons.Quality Price Value
The blade seems to be high carbon steel as advertised. I'd have to do a spark test to know for sure, which I'd rather not. It has a nice amount of flex to it, and springs back nicely. The edge is flat, and 3mm wide along the majority of the blade, ~5mm at the very bottom. The tip has an 11mm diameter. It has fullers along both sides that cover most of the blade, reducing weight significantly. It is full tang, again as advertised, goes all the way through the pommel, and is peened down to affix said pommel, and by the looks of things ground flush and polished. The pommel on mine is slightly scuffed next to the peened section, presumably from where it was ground down.
The scabbard seems to be hardboard (a.k.a. High Density Fibreboard) wrapped in leather rather than regular wood. In my opinion this is fine, as hardboard is fairly strong, and it's not visible. The only downside is it deposits wood dust on the blade, but this is easily wiped off. The leather wrapping has ridges to ensure it's nice and secure in a frog, which is nice, but it does slightly restrict where the frog can be attached. The chape seems to be stainless steel, which is ideal for an exposed part.
The fittings are all common tried and true designs:
* Simple square quillions with the ends bevelled, with a slight dip on the blade side to catch blades better. There is a notable gap between the inside of the guard where the tang goes through, and the flat of the blade. This isn't a problem structurally and the guard doesn't move at all, but moisture could become trapped there and rust the blade. Some kind of sealant in the gap would likely solve that problem. I imagine the guard was milled rather than forged, and that'd be why it's like that.
* Leather wrapped handle, not sure what's backing it, but presumably wood or more HDF. It's comfortable to hold, but shorter than I like on a 2 handed sword.
* An oval shaped pommel, bevelled like the quillions. I prefer these to the mushroom kind (Oakeshott type T5 for example)
Pros and cons:
Pros:
* Balance is nice for a 2 handed sword.
* Comfortable overall weight
* Good flex and springiness to the blade. Not so much that everyone hates you and your floppy sword (like the very old versions of the Red Dragon polypropylene longsword, that thing was a floppy menace), but enough that it definitely won't snap.
* Edges are nice and wide and the tip is very rounded, so it's rather safe (insomuch as a metre-long piece of steel can be).
* Big ol' fullers for weight reduction.
* The fittings feel secure (barring the issue mentioned at the end).
* Guard is a nice shape, a caught blade isn't too likely to slip off.
* Rain guard on the top of the scabbard.
* Ridges on the scabbard for secure mounting.
Neutral (a.k.a. I don't care but someone might):
* HDF instead of wood in the scabbard.
* Scabbard ridges restrict how you can mount it.
* The pommel is scuffed a bit.
Cons:
* The grip is shorter than I'd like. The point of balance on this suggests to me that this sword is meant to be used in both hands at nearly all times (as opposed to e.g. a hand and a half sword), and my preference on such is to have roughly 1 palm's width between my hands to allow greater maneuverability. This one forces me to either have my hands to be right next to each other, or grip the pommel with my lower hand, something I've been taught not to do. I have average sized hands for a guy, so this would be less of a problem for women or men with smaller hands.
I'll likely remove the fittings, extend the tang, and replace the grip at some point, assuming there's enough material to draw out, but not everyone has the facilities or skillset to do that.
* There is a gap between the guard and the flat of the blade on both sides. It's not a problem structurally, but could trap moisture, leading to rust.
* I'm informed by a friend who is into re-enactment that the tip may be a bit narrow for some organisations, but you can wrap it in tape. It's possible he's incorrect though.
Overall:
I should preface this by saying I'm much more familiar with the pricing on traditionally forged swords than training swords like this, but for £135, I think this is really good. I've purchased some Red Dragon branded protective gear before, and it seems the brand is consistently good quality. There are definitely flaws, and stuff I personally dislike, but what you get for the price is excellent.
Note: The batch I purchased from has a known flaw where the grip becomes loose very easily due to wood shrinkage. It was advertised as such, and sold at a discount, so I've ignored it under the assumption it'll be fixed in future batches. If it's not, I'm sure someone else will leave a review saying so. (Posted on 08/10/2022)
