The
Dordogne Sword, found in the river
Dordogne near Castillon "From an
original drawing done by Ewart Oakeshott
and given to Hank Reinhardt". (History
Lives)
Dordogne
Sword - TYPE XV SWORD - The original
sword was dredged up from the river
Dordogne many years ago. Although the
blade was badly corroded, both the hilt
and guard were in good condition. This
sword dates between 1410 and 1450AD. The
Type XV was developed to oppose the
plate armor that had arrive sometime
before. Although plate armor would be
impenetrable to a thrust from a hand
held weapon, there were many junctions
and openings in the armor that the sword
could penetrate. Gripped with two hands,
both covered in mail gauntlets, with one
hand on the blade and the other on the
hilt, a very powerful thrust could be
delivered, splitting mail links and
forcing its way through the various
opening of the armor. Although the
primary purpose the Type XV was in
thrusting, many had well sharpened
blades as well, which could deliver a
disabling cut to a lighter armed
opponent. The drawing from which this
sword was made is the last drawing Ewart
Oakeshott sent me, and this is the first
chance I’ve had to have it properly
reproduced. The sword is hand forged
from a high carbon steel, and the steel
guard and pommel are beautifully formed
following the three dimensional
drawings. Sword is sold complete with
wood scabbard wrapped in leather with
steel accents.
Blade length: 36.5"
Handle/Hilt length: 7"
Overall: 44.25"
Balance Point: 4.5" from guard
Center of Percussion: 24" from guard
Weight: 2.75 lbs
Review
by - Brian K., Utah, USA
This is by
far my longest sword, and I had to
learn a little bit of adjustment on my
right to left follow through at an
angle. During dry handling of the sword,
every once in a while I scraped the
grass with the tip. I've also been wielding blades
of late that are much shorter, including
the Darksword Norman, and the Windlass
Oakeshott XIV Arming sword.
Initially upon holding the Dordogne, you get a sense of a fairly
well balanced sword, though not quite
light enough for an ideal one hander.
The suede on the hilt actually makes for
a very comfortable grip, and it feels
very nice to the touch. You
will immediately notice the length of
the blade, along with the dramatic taper
to a fine point. This would be for
thrusting the blade, and finding the
cracks and crevices of plate mail armor.
This is a very flexible blade, and I
imagine it being able to curve a bit
upon entry of a crack in the armor, and
finding it's intended target. With the
Dordogne's long reach, it made for an
ideal horseback blade for a slash and
stab battle sword. It isn't terribly
heavy, and with it's balance being
acceptable for one hand, I would imagine
it being a force on the battle field on
horseback.
Upon
dry handling, it made for a below average
one-hander for this length of blade for
a ground soldier, and
the hilt is long enough to be a possible hand-and-a-half,
if one needed it to be. Though slightly tight
for my hands, it was still comfortable
enough to use two, though if you were
wearing leather gloves, or even armored
gloves, forget about it. Now I am six feet
tall, and I found the blade to be a
little long on an angled follow through
and I needed to adjust to avoid scraping
the grass. I had below average
recovery speed and mobility of the
blade, but given the thickness (or lack
there of) of the
blade towards the end, I determined what
we had was a
light cutter, and an excellent thruster.
I want to start pointing out in my
reviews the particulars of a sword that
refer to a hobbyist's perspective. The
hobbyist being what has evolved into the
backyard cutter, and here is where the
bad news on this sword comes up. The
blade taper and 'whippiness' of the
Dordogne made for a horrible cutting
experience. Leaving no doubt, this is
the first blade I've tested that I
didn't like cutting with to any degree,
and with that I must mention I cannot
recommend this sword to anyone looking
for a cutter. With the fact being
medieval swords were never really meant
for bottle cutting, or katana like
results, this sword exemplifies what you
don't want in the backyard cutter's
collection. It is by far the most
'whippy' sword
I've handled, and quite honestly I did
not enjoy cutting with it at all. Just
about every target I felt the friction
of the blade going through the bottle,
as the blade would vibrate upon impact.
I turned my test's to thrusting, as this
is what I felt the sword would excel at.
However, after my results of trying to
thrust through a 1/4" thick board came
up with just the tip going all the way
through, it occured to me it wasn't
meant for piercing armor, but as I
highlighted above, it was for cracks and
crevices. I thrusted as hard as I dared
before I felt the sword would either
take a set from the heavy flexing, or
outright snapping in half.
Never-the-less, I determined no matter
how many times I tried, it wasn't going
to thrust in the board any farther than
it was already, so I moved on.
Upon
normal flex
testing, it was determined that it was
well tempered, and it flexed quite well.
Especially in light of my heavy thrust
testing as mentioned above. During my
test to determine the
center of percussion, I noted that this
sword would probably be considered whippy, but I would imagine
that is by design. I'm picturing a blade
penetrating through a crevice in the
plate armor, and the blade curving
through to find it's intended target of
flesh.
I find myself having to review from a
different perspective than what this
sword was intended for, and for that I
feel a little bit torn between my
displeasure with my results, and
historical intentions that Generation 2
intended along with Hank Reinhardt. I
can't, and don't have a reason to get on
a horse to stab at bottles, and thrust
into targets. But that is what this
sword was designed for, but then again,
maybe there is a reason they found it in
a river bed.
To wrap it up, I'm stoked about having
one of Hank's swords. I like knowing it
is a re-creation of a historical sword,
and the more Generation 2 swords I get,
the more I appreciate the quality these
guys put into their swords for under
$300. But from a hobbyist's perspective,
and being a backyard cutter myself, I
cannot recommend this sword for anything
other than the 'coolness' history
factor.
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This is by
far my longest sword, and I had to
learn a little bit of adjustment on my
right to left follow through at an
angle. During dry handling of the sword,
every once in a while I scraped the
grass with the tip. I've also been wielding blades
of late that are much shorter, including
the Darksword Norman, and the Windlass
Oakeshott XIV Arming sword.
Upon
dry handling, it made for a below average
one-hander for this length of blade for
a ground soldier, and
the hilt is long enough to be a possible hand-and-a-half,
if one needed it to be. Though slightly tight
for my hands, it was still comfortable
enough to use two, though if you were
wearing leather gloves, or even armored
gloves, forget about it. Now I am six feet
tall, and I found the blade to be a
little long on an angled follow through
and I needed to adjust to avoid scraping
the grass. I had below average
recovery speed and mobility of the
blade, but given the thickness (or lack
there of) of the
blade towards the end, I determined what
we had was a
light cutter, and an excellent thruster.
I want to start pointing out in my
reviews the particulars of a sword that
refer to a hobbyist's perspective. The
hobbyist being what has evolved into the
backyard cutter, and here is where the
bad news on this sword comes up. The
blade taper and 'whippiness' of the
Dordogne made for a horrible cutting
experience. Leaving no doubt, this is
the first blade I've tested that I
didn't like cutting with to any degree,
and with that I must mention I cannot
recommend this sword to anyone looking
for a cutter. With the fact being
medieval swords were never really meant
for bottle cutting, or katana like
results, this sword exemplifies what you
don't want in the backyard cutter's
collection. It is by far the most
'whippy' sword
I've handled, and quite honestly I did
not enjoy cutting with it at all. Just
about every target I felt the friction
of the blade going through the bottle,
as the blade would vibrate upon impact.
I turned my test's to thrusting, as this
is what I felt the sword would excel at.
However, after my results of trying to
thrust through a 1/4" thick board came
up with just the tip going all the way
through, it occured to me it wasn't
meant for piercing armor, but as I
highlighted above, it was for cracks and
crevices. I thrusted as hard as I dared
before I felt the sword would either
take a set from the heavy flexing, or
outright snapping in half.
Never-the-less, I determined no matter
how many times I tried, it wasn't going
to thrust in the board any farther than
it was already, so I moved on.
Upon
normal flex
testing, it was determined that it was
well tempered, and it flexed quite well.
Especially in light of my heavy thrust
testing as mentioned above. During my
test to determine the
center of percussion, I noted that this
sword would probably be considered whippy, but I would imagine
that is by design. I'm picturing a blade
penetrating through a crevice in the
plate armor, and the blade curving
through to find it's intended target of
flesh.
