The Armour Archive

Greetings and Well Met,

Locally, we have been using Paul Chen Practical swords almost
exclusively, mainly due to price and availability.

Today, I picked up a CAS Iberia sword from a local shop for just a
little more than I have been spending on Paul Chen blades. The weight
seemed really good and the feel seemed good for our use. The blade is
dull, but does need to be dulled some more to increase the bluntness
of the edge.

Does anyone have experience using these swords for Adrian heavy
fighting? If so, what has your experience been? Good, bad?

Regards,
Christopher
Viceroy and Minister of Joust & War - Shire of New Exeter

Well Met Viceroy,

My name is Lord Viceroy Etienne LeGuerre (Stephen)
Of the canton of Portsmouth in the Great Kingdom of York (Orlando,Florida)

I not only use the Paul Chens but sell them I have used the knightlys and hand and a halfs and will continue to do so. I will not however use them against starfires. I own a starfire, a knightsedge, a kerry, a darksword two handed beast, and paul chens plus diff size and length rapiers. the thing I do is try to evenly match up weapons with my opponent.
The think you have to realize (which you do) is for 130 buck for a hand and a half and 115 for knightly you cant go wrong. They are spring steel full tang peened over at pommel and with a wooden and steel scabbard.
I have vids of me and others using them on my myspace. Which by teh way is for re-enactors and please feel free to add yourself on if you even go to myspace that is. http://www.myspace.com/chivalryfirst
I will probably be using one at the east coast Adria steel invitational here in Jan.

Ok I know next to nothing about Adria combat regs However I can say that Cas Iberia sells swords made by several differant makers (Paul Chen being one) . Without knowing the type or maker I can only guess at which sword you have,so in general if it does not have a horse logo on the blade its prob one of the older Spanish blades. They can have problems for use in reinactment. Some are stainless steel,a Very Bad thing for use,, as stainless steel in a sword lengh blade tends to be brittle and prone to breaking, its best to use them as wall hangers. Others are Carbon steel and can be well made or not , some with rat tail tangs and sloppy welds,so a close look before use is recommended,, the Paul Chen practial line of swords was designed for use as a reinactment sword as Stephen has said. Not the best swords in the world but hard to beat at those prices.

As a side note Paul Chen Swords has bought controling interest in Cas Iberia so I would guess that other Cas Iberia sword lines would ether inprove or be droped from the catalog. I also am a Cas Iberia dealer and know that there are far better swords out there but for the price they tend to be good deals.

Thank you Stephen and Gordon,

The tang seems to be pretty wide. The pommel is attached by the end of the tang being hammered over (much like a rivet, and similiar to the Paul Chen), so its impossible to take the pommel off for a better inspection.

Im going to have to just try the weapon out on a pell and during some practice fights and judge it after some use.

The main reason I purchased the weapon, is because the Paul Chen's are in short supply right now. Everyone I talked to says they are on back-order. So I thought experimenting with something else seemed like a good idea.

Thanks again for your responses and help.

Regards,
Christopher

In my experience, Iberia's run the gamut, from really really GOOD swords, to really really CRAPPY swords.

Without knowing which particular blade you have, and which type of that particular blade, I can't say much more. (If you ever have a chance to compare a couple of their Agincourt swords that were made over the years, you'll see a gulf of difference.. the old ones, made from sawblades used to cut Mahogany after they wore out, were amazingly good, solid swords.. the later runs were more stainless, and ridiculously whippy (we called em "Wubba swords" cause they went wubba-wubba when you wiggled em) and the most recent runs I have seen seem to be getting better again.

CAS is no longer linked to Iberia or Denix. They are now CAS Hanwei and are now partnering with GDFB. They may be partnering with another company soon, from the looks of it.

Does anyone have experience with this http://www.casiberia.com/product_details.asp?id=SH2250 sword in steel combat? I am trying to find something of similar length.

Thanks,
Tom R.

Buran wrote:CAS is no longer linked to Iberia or Denix. They are now CAS Hanwei and are now partnering with GDFB. They may be partnering with another company soon, from the looks of it.

They are collaborating with Michael "Tinker" Pierce on a new line of swords (both sharps and blunt trainers). Blake Pogue represents CAS/Hanwei in the US, and he is a member of Sword Forum and has posted on the topic of partnering with GDFB and Tinker.

Jonathan

Tom Richardson wrote:Does anyone have experience with this http://www.casiberia.com/product_details.asp?id=SH2250 sword in steel combat? I am trying to find something of similar length.

Thanks,
Tom R.

It's a great sharp...

I don't think it would translate very well to a sparring sword. It's not made for that kind of abuse/fun.

Been a while since I posted. In fact I am no longer the Viceroy of what is now called the Canton of Sheffiled (Formally Portsmouth). I have been Knighted in Ministry, Combat and soon as an Archer. I sell CAS, and knightsedge products and fight steel combat and rapier combat with both.
If you fight with CAS Practical series swords with same or similier spring steel blades that have close to accurate weights and are full tanged peened over at pommel weapons then they are a very decent weapon to use. Especially with the price factor. If you take the field with one against a starfire,stage steel, kerry stegmyer,or such type you will probably get your CAS sword broken. I have a CAS war sword for those type battles. It is carbon steel and thick not spring steel. It holds up very nice. I have also replaced a hand and a half practical for a fighter who blocked with the flat and had it snapped in the middle. Another fighter has fought with the same type blade for 2 years. My personal recomendation besides the above would be to replace your paul chen practical series every two years if you fight once a month.
I will continue to sell and use CAS equipment and use them how they are designed and be happy.

Hey Stephen,

I'm an SCA guy also in Orlando and just did Adria fighting for the first time a few weeks ago at my friends Jeff an Jennie's house over in Melbourne. It was fun but I had a borrowed Paul Chen and was constantly afraid of breaking it. Being used to rattan (and to breaking rattan routinely) it was a bit distracting.

It was fun. Some of the armour rules seem a bit odd. Also couldn't understand why people want such heavy axes and such for what is essentially a touch game. The swords were great but the rest of the weapons seemed clunky and a bit too "Conan meets Mad Max". Seems the main appeal of using steel is being able to use weapons that look and feel cool, but maybe I'm missing something.

Anyway, I want to do some more Adria stuff from time to time. Should I buy a Paul Chen or might I be more secure with something else? Also, are there good swords of other weights and shapes available? I'd like something a bit shorter with less weight in the hilt and more weight in the blade. Also would like to play with like a scimitar or something curvy.


Gaston

Thanks for your opinion iomtalach. I was afraid that might be the case.