Rolf Devinci

 Purchased a Pompei Gladius from Reliks as a gift to myself and as an addition to the existing Roman panoply in the armory. Years ago my son had bought a legionary kit and while most of the pieces were historically accurate (in a modern reproduction sense) the gladius was a stainless steel wall hanger.  I figured it was time to upgrade the kit with an appropriate blade for an enlisted Roman legionary. I opted for the Deepeeka gladius as it fitted the criteria perfectly - a simple but functional sword that was historically accurate. Made of EN45 carbon steel with a full tang diamond cross section, a guard, grip and hilt made of wood and a wood lined leather scabbard with simple bronzed accents. Nothing special but rather a working soldier's blade. The price was right as well listed at $153.99 CDN. That said the fit and finish is surprisingly good for such a budget gladius. The gladius is straight with some ripples upon the blade which denotes a hand forging. It possesses a poin...

Mid/late12th century armor prior to the introduction of early plate armor and great helms. The armor was based primarily upon a chain mail hauberk in the European 4 in 1 pattern worn over a three quarter length padded gambeson. The venerable nasal helmet was still being used in conjunction with an arming cap and chain mail coif. The lower extremities were usually covered by chain mail chausses that extended over the top of the foot. Leather gauntlets were often covered in chainmail as well for added hand protection. It was also the early beginnings of heraldry and the use of coat of arms - color patterns and symbols to represent combatants in the field. Found upon surcoats and the smaller, more agile heater shields it facilitated battlefield identification in the melee of medieval combat. The primary weapon remained the sword characterized by Oakeshott as the types XI to XIII having the cruciform hilt and either the brazil n...

Left the bows at home this mild Sunday morning and opted for my katana for some bottle cutting. I do collect swords but rarely practice with them of late simply because I do not have a suitable cutting stand. That changed when I picked up a bale of hay to use as arrow stop on my archery range. Turns out it makes a good bottle rest and is very forgiving upon the blade when making a "bad" strike. That said I had purchased a (cheaper) katana several years ago to use as my beater sword for drills and practice cutting. I had put it through some abuse in the past and does have some edge rolling, scratching and discoloration. Bought from Ryan Swords on Ebay it is forged from 1060 carbon steel and has held up fairly well. You may wonder why cutting bottles filled with water is appropriate for developing sword handling skills? In fact it is very effective.....if your strike is clumsy or your technique lacking the bottle is simply...

Finally got around to trying out my son's Roman Legionary kit....the primary piece being a reproduction of a Lorica Segmentata. I recall the Romans used a tunic version of a gambeson(called a Subarmalis I believe) but any kind of padded shirt(especially across the load bearing shoulders) makes it quite comfortable.

Unable to resist a good opportunity to pick up a hand and a half sword on Ebay I purchased a replica blade copied from A477 of the Wallace Collection. The modern replica mimics A477 quite closely right down to the flattened oval cross sectioned 30 inch blade, straight quillions, ringed guard, pear shaped pommel and blued hardware furniture. The blade type originated in an earlier Medieval period as a one handed arming sword and was retrofitted with the two handed hilt assembly during the 15th century. The resulting blade is a true bastard sword able to produce powerful two handed cuts but also capable single handed strikes despite weighing around the four pound range. This is a "blue collar" blade and I cannot help but think it was designed for men at arms, infantry or mercenary usage in the melee. I also see in the sword the roots of the side sword that became popular during the Rennaisance era possessing a cut and thrust capability and the elaborate ring guar...

With a life long interest in European history I had a unique opportunity to pick up a replica of a medieval Norman sword on a "scratch and dented" blowout sale from one of my favorite forges - Darksword Armory. http://darksword-armory.com/ Based out of Quebec Canada they are unique in that they forge their swords here in North America and create stunning replicas of medieval/renaissance swords, helmets and armor. Simply beautiful pieces of battle ready gear for surprisingly reasonable price points.   I have bookmarked the website and follow the Facebook page admiring the selection of blades for some time when I noticed they were having a sale of discontinued, used or "less than perfect" swords. "We are liquidating a bunch of swords with moderate aesthetic issues. The swords on the sale page have been reduced bu 150$-180$. " Since the blade was sharpened I suspected this sword was possibly used in film pro...

Just when you think Geo cannot get any more odd you happen upon my latest blog post. In essence I was in the woods hitting a small stick against a big stick. Things I do for fun? It occurred to me the last time out for archery practice that the dead tree adjacant my shooting range would make a formidable pell. I had purchased a couple oak bokkens last winter to practice some sword katas so figured it was time to actually put theory into practice. After some research on Google and video tutorials on You Tube I headed to the woods to start making a racket. I gotta tell you simulated sword play against a pell is quite the workout. Requiring movement, core strength, flexibility and accuracy it is challenging, fun and you work up a darn good sweat. Begs the question how fit the re-inactors are dressed in period costumes and armor. Shot some video to take home and compare to those on You Tube in regards to proper form and technique. Definitely need to work on my footwork and ...

It was a catch all kinda morning on a damp, blustery winter day. Ended up doing a real cornucopia of stuff in my outdoor playground with plenty of variety. After a warmup run it was some 50 metre sprints..... Followed the sprinting up with some deadfall squats. I really need to focus upon lower body strength this winter. Back on the softball diamond I opted to do some bokken kata. I picked up a bokken online to teach myself some sword play this winter just for the fun of it. Scratch another lifetime "must do" off the bucket list. As a historical reinactment fan sword play has always been of great interest.You Tube is great for these type of things. All kinds of instructional videos to self educate oneself. That said Aikido Ken-Gi is quite complex so my attempts are quite rudimentary to say the least.Things one does to help pass the winter away.....(wink) Followed up the katas with some sword spins. It took me the longest time to figure out the han...