all round solo training.

[Jake Norwood]

I despise wheel pommels, and so could not be paid to purchase one of these Hanwei practical hand and a halfs...that's a personal thing, though.

Seriously, though, what do you want the sword for?

Solo practice - should be fine (if you can stomach short handles and wheel pommels...I can't!)
Drilling - not horrible...but your partner will need one, too.
Sparring - oh hell no. Buy a Hanwei 2nd Gen Feder instead, for that kind of money. That would probably be my recommendation, anyway, based on initial reviews.

I know Mike Chidester's club used the practicals for a few years. I'm sure he can chime in with some pros and cons.

Jake

[Jeffrey Hull]

Yes...that reminds me my friend did say the wheely pommel on that was a bit excessive and that the grip was a bit short.

That said, since I probably hate wasters as much as Mr. JN seems to hate those wheely pommels, then I would still recommend a steely thing with a wheely pommel than a waster. I guess there is not a perfect thing to recommend.

[nathan f]

well there is one perfect thing breaking into a museum and taking a fully intact sword but thats just a tiny bit illegal.
i have heard mixed reviews of it so felt it right to ask i mean i can get the Practical Federschwert for about ten pounds more which aint bad is this the one you mean? http://www.theknightshop.co.uk/catalog/ ... e00d3ce5c3
i handled one of the single handed swords and was greatly unimpressed so im not sure.
but which is worth im getting a single hander made in the summer so a double hander would be nice but i would rather a hand and a half if i could simply buy the blade and get the rest made how i want it would be nice. this weapon will be used for all of the above really solo practice partner drills as well as sparring. so its a tough choice.
and im quite a fan of wheel pommels although the one on this is a bit chunky and from what i hear weighs far to much.

[Jake Norwood]

For the most part I agree with JH on wasters. But I'm a snob.

The link you provided is the Hanwei Feder I referred to, yes.

The closest thing to a "perfect" training tool seems to be the Albion line (Meyer and Liechtenauer particularly). But they run $500.

Jake

[nathan f]

so the hanwei feder is the way to go hmmm ok then but you better be right
i guess it gives me time to save for a decent hand and a half in the mean time i guess if anyone with experience with the hanwei hand and a half would chime in ti would be handy.

[Ken Dietiker]

For a hundred bucks USD, the Hanwei hand-and-a-half are okay. I have two of the earlier generation which are less whippy and better balanced. The new ones are safer as the older ones had a bit of a tip on them and I wouldn't ever thrust with them. Having said that, these are now redesigned for stage combat and they are best used only one against another, not against better, higher grade weapons. Problems that are sort of the issue with these is the overly fat pommel and inconsistent tempering. One of mine is holding up great, the other is flaking on minor edge contact so, yes, inconsistent. However, if one is on a serious budget, for the price and working mostly solo, they ARE steel and still beat wood wasters for getting the feel of your cuts and movement. Though if you're looking for a mid-range priced blunt, between that and the Albion, you could move up to the Tinker longsword. A little on the light side but well worth it as they hold up fairly well against other sword blunts.

Ken

[Mark W]

A holdover from my musical career with regards to learning:

On the days you can't train, it is very important that you at least touch your weapons. Pick it up, assume a guard or two and put it away if that's all you have time for. That way your subconscious will get the message that "hey, this is important". It helps to keep the subject matter in the back of your mind all day.

Sounds artsy-fartsy, but it works.

Best regards,

-Mark

[Jake Norwood]

Interesting. I'll have to try that.

[Bill Goodwin]

The majority of people in our study group use the Hanwei practical h&h (including myself when starting out) but for a good while now I've been using a Valiant Armory / AT I-Beam blunt. I have grown attached to it quite a bit and have been impressed with it's service. At $189.00 from Kult of Athnea, it's certainly well worth having a look at. If I had a large budget, personally I'd opt for a blunt trainer from Czech maker Pavel Moc. Don't care much for the Hanwie / Tinker trainers, the edge's are way too thin for a blunt trainer in my book.