Armart S5a Viking Sword Review.
Well I just got this sword today and I must say i am growing fonder of it by the minute. My first impression was "wow" my second impression was "kick ass!"
Very nice sword, This is my first viking style sword. I really love the lines on the pommel of this sword. I feel that the pommel is the most distinctive part of a Viking style sword and when i first saw the S5 i fell in love. Then they came out with the S5A, and i ordered the day i saw it.
Anyways, lets get down to some specs shall we?
From tip to tip this sword is 38 1/2 inches.
The blade is exactly 32 3/4ths of an inch
The grip, from the bottom of the cross guard to the start of the pommel is exactly 4 inches.
The fuller is about a half inch thick, tapering very slightly. It is 19 and 3/4ths inches long.
Point of Balance is just over 6 inches from the guard. The guard is 1/2 inch thick. (I include this information because obviously how you grip the sword affects the balance if you use the "fingering" method)
Center of precussion/Sweet spot is just about 12 inches from the point. Which puts it about an inch away from the end of the fuller, this makes it easy to judge where the COP is when cutting, i LIKE that.
I cant get a weight measurment as i have no scale, but the armart site says 1.2 KG, which is around 2.5 pounds. that feels about right.
The blade starts off at 2 inches wide and tapers to about 1 inch, an inch from the point. Nice smooth tapering from the base of the blade
There is obvious distil taper, but i cannot get a measurement nor even guess on that. I am thinking maybe starting off at 5/16ths of an inch thick (very thick at the base) and it tapers to what i guess is about 3/16ths of an inch thick.
Once again, very smooth tapering starting at the base of the blade.
The sword was very well packaged when i recived it, it was in a box made of chip board i think it's called. Which is somewhere between cardboard and wood in strength. Good stout stuff reinforced with little blocks of wood in the box. The sword came wrapped in plastic wrap (which i ripped off like a madman on crack to get at the sword) with a little peice of plastic over the point. Very nice packing job in my opinion.
Handling-
The sword handles like you would expect a good cutting sword to handle. Especially one that is meant to be used in congruence with a shield. It's not a finesse sword by any means, just a good stout chopper!
Albeit i am not extremely strong being that i have only two handed swords i havent developed the muscles to use this sword as well as i'd like as of yet.
I would deffinitly be taking a sheild to the fray, though with some practice i feel that i could use it single sword reasonably well. As is I am a bit to sluggish on the recovery because i lack wrist strength. But the chop feels so good! Withen a few weeks i think i should be reasonably quick with this sword for offense and defense.
They say a good sword will "want to be used" this one deffinitly wants to cut, and i deffinitly want to let it! Like i said, i am a bit sluggish with it at the moment, but it deffinitly feels "alive" to me. Much more so then my KC two-hander, even though the POB on the two swords is the same the armart deffinitly feels more alive while the KC feels like dead weight.
Which is to say, the sword is very easy to get up to speed when handling, it accellerates quickly in the cut. Very nice. (i handled it a bit more after typing this, the recovery time isnt bad at all, just not quite as fast as i'd like to be, my fault, not the swords)
My only gripe is a common one with swords of this type, the pommel tends to dig into the base of my palm a bit. I simply finger the blade (which helps a bit) or wear gloves (helps a lot) and it isnt a bother, but with dry handling earlier before i figured out the gloves thing i rubbed a raw spot on my palm. Also the leather wrap of the grip is a bit abrasive on my hands but it is very stiff leather, i imagine it will soften with time, and my callouses will build up till i get used to it. So not a problem there.
Also, the grip is a little thick for my hands, which aint big by any means, but this is a non issue that insofar as i can tell hasnt affected use. If i were to strip the leather off i'd imagine it would be perfect, but i dont want to do that as i like the leather...
Fit and finish- Very nice, the lines are straight and even on both sides, the fuller is perfectly mirrored. Lines nice and straight. There is some ever so slightly visible wobbling in the bottom of the fuller (i'd imagine this is from the forging) But you really have to look to see it. running a finger down the middle of the fuller with a peice of cloth it all feels pretty smooth with the ripples being very slightly feelable.
The blade itself has a nice satin finish, no grind marks or anything. I am tempted to polish it up some, or maybe i will leave it as is, or maybe i'll blacken it, not sure yet! But it's good as is. A nice even working polish.
The lines of the guard are nice, no sharp edges or anything. it's seated very tightly to the blade, will not move a bit. I like that. The Pommel is much the same, nice smooth even lines. And as i mentioned to my eye, very attractive. I suppose the peening could have been a bit better blended. But it's fine as is, just very obvious.
The pommel like the guard is also rock tight. The sword has the ring of steel, albeit very quiet, but it's there.
All the parts are extremely tight, even the leather wrap wont budge a bit. I doubt anything will be coming loose anytime soon.
The fittings arent as dark as they appear in the photograph on the site. In fact they have the same satin polish as the blade does. Which was slightly disappointing because i really liked the dark appearance of the fittings in the photo. My intention is to blacken the fittings, assuming they're not made of stainless steel (which i doubt as this would be a-historical, and historical seems to be Armarts prefered method)
I would also like the leather grip a bit darker, it is not quite as checkered as it appears in the photo, with light and dark strips going perpendicular to eachother. As you can see i have very few gripes with the sword. It is very nice as is, just not quite as I had expected because of the satin finish on the fittings. The light/dark leather thing i could care less about. I would just like the grip overall to be a bit darker.
I guess what i am saying is i would like a more "aged" look to the sword.
There is an armart makers mark near the guard, a very small black square with a Double A logo inside.
The blade has a very nice convex cross section with no bevel, it isnt as sharp as i'd like, but this will be fixed, i will be trying very hard not to impose a bevel on the edge. As is, the sword would probably cut fine on moderate/heavy targets, but I was unable to cut a two liter waterfilled bottle. Instead i simply knocked the bottle for a loop twice. Got frustrated, and skewered it 5 times with the point, in true viking fashion, i'll kill it one way or another!
As i said, i intend to sharpen it when i get the opportunity. The cross section is great, i know it will lend itself well to cutting once the edge is honed a bit more.
So far i have tried to cut three things. The first thing i cut was a 3/4ths in sapling that was at an angle perfect for a nice downward strike, it was sort of bent in the middle, the tree, not the sword
The blade was/is perfectly straight.
Anyways, i rared back not knowning what to expect, my cutting with my KC- two hander has been less then impressive.(i am much better with japanese style swords) I struck a 3/4ths or so powered blow which must to my surprise sheared through the sapling with no resistence, i dont even think i felt the impact, i swung and burried the point of my sword into the ground actually. The cut was clean with some minor splintering, better then i expected. Obviously i wasnt even sure if i was going to be able to cut with it. Boy was i wrong. Even only semi-sharp the sword cut great.
My second target was the chipboard box the sword came in. it was approx 4 inches wide and 3 inches thick. Once again, i wasnt sure if i was going to be able to cut very well, so i rared back and sliced through the box with a nice clean cut that went all the way through except for i hit one of the wooden reinforcements on the inside of the box. Otherwise i think it would have been complete. I did this twice more with the same results, unfortunetly i hit the little wooden things every time, arg! But the sword cut all the way to them regardless, which is still great.
My third target was the aforementioned 2liter bottle. I was unable to cut it with the edge as is, couldnt get a bite. I think i could have tip cut it, but after two failed tries i just skewered it repeatedly. The sword thrusts good by the way
I think the sword has good harmonic balancing and i dont remember much if any un-due shock being transferred to my hand on the botched cuts, i should have paid more attention i guess.
Anyways, soon as i get an edge proper i will be cutting some more, i know yall have to be eager to hear how these things cut...I sure was
The blade has good flex without being "whippy" at all.
I ordered the sword in november, about this time of the month, so i had a 9 month wait. Which wasnt a big deal at all. I emailed Genise maybe 4-5 times throughout the wait to check on things, and she was always very helpful and friendly, kudo's to her!
I paid $260 for the sword, and i am more then pleased with what i got. True, the wait isnt fun, but it's tolerable considering the price, and the fact that the sword is completely hand made to order.
As i said before, the sword is worth the wait and deffinitly worth the price.
I hope to get some pictures withen a few weeks, and do some more cutting as well, so i will update this review.
Now, if i had it all to do over again i would do a few things differantly. I would have the guard made a little longer, maybe a half inch on each side, just to help with fingering.
I might consider getting a bare-wood grip but i like the leather too.
I would probably have the fuller made longer , ending closer to the point. Albeit the way it helps indicate the COP is very nice.
And i might alter the pommel just a bit, having it curve down slightly more, so as to help with the tendency to dig into the hand. I would also have liked the fittings a little darker, not sure how they'd accomplish it, but i think i can manage on my own.
All in all i am happy with happy with my experiance, and i am VERY happy with my sword regardless of the little minor nuiances
If you can tolerate the wait, then i deffinitly recommend Armart, i think i shall do business with them again, probably on another more "custom" sword.
Wait on second thought, i DONT recommend armart, i dont want all these extra orders pushing up MY wait time!!.... Ok kidding...i do recommend them
to the guys at Armart- Great work!
Closer explanation & thanks -
07-20-2002, 01:53 PM
As the fittings are made of mild steel, you can expect that the time will work on the color... BTW, stainless fittings?! Oh, nooooo!
08-01-2002, 11:15 AM
