Albion Baron - Powerful Grete Swerd of War - put to the test and reviewed
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- čas přidán 24. 07. 2024
- #sword #medieval #review
The Albion Baron is representative of an Oakeshott type XIIa sword, a kind of sword that was sometimes referred to as a grete swerd of war. This iconic sword type was among the first swords from the Medieval period that moved into two-handed use. This Baron features a new grip wrap done by @MatthewCross2. In this review, I take a close look at the sword, compare it to another Baron, cut with it, and finally give my thoughts on its value.
Thank you to my friend Brian for loaning me this sword!
Check out @dlatrexswords's initial impressions of an Albion Baron: • Albion Baron: Initial ...
@Phil.Martin's video: • Double cuts with Joshu...
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Albion - albion-swords.com/product/the...
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Sword measurements photo gallery: photos.app.goo.gl/8EDa3rQFLjw...
00:00 Intro
02:44 Model Comparison
06:54 Hilt
12:11 Blade
16:44 Cutting
19:03 Handling & Comparisons
27:27 Bottom Line
31:11 Outro
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Thank you for a thoughtful review. It is fun to see this early Next gen model still receiving a good bit of attention. It answers to the basic design concept of the Next generation line that is to offer swords that correspond well in form and function to actual historical counterparts. The idea is that enthusiasts through them can develop an appreciation and understanding of the reality and tradition of the European medieval sword.
The Baron is a perfect example of this design philosophy of the Next Generation line. It is one of your most iconic designs in my opinion, and exemplifies my concept of a grete swerd of war.
When Peter Johnsson is watching your YT channel, you know you’re doing something well! Thanks for the review!
I'm always humbled when he stops by!
You are right on point that the Baron is not a longsword but a grete swerde of war. Funny thing is that in pop culture, something like the Baron is probably the first thing that pops up in people's mind when you mention a longsword. On Wikipedia's page, it's the first image that shows up on the "longsword" entry. This image is so ingrained into the public perception that when Elden Ring modeled their longsword item, they basically used the Albion Baron's model.
I have the Baron, and when I compare it to not even an average late medieval longsword like the Regent, Ringeck, or Atrim XVIa.4, just comparing it to another likely war sword--the Albion Principe. Both are heavyweight beasts, mine weigh almost the same at 3 lbs 15 oz. They handle almost nothing alike. The Baron need to you commit yourself where as the Principe would lend you a hand while still easier to stop and redirect. Proportion and size wise we can perhaps call swords like the Baron a longsword still, but the usage must be wildly different from the swords prescribed for those techniques from the longsword treatises.
I suspect you are one of the few reviewers that actually went honest on the one handed use of this weapon. It’s only some 5-8cm away from a two hander like a Claymore
I love this sword design so much, but unfortunately it’s almost impossible to order an Albion sword in my country, and that’s why I made one myself 😁
To this day, still one of my favorites from Albion. Well done.
Awesome review I've been waiting for someone to review one of those bad boys on CZcams, I want one so bad it sucks that Albion's waiting time is so long
Thanks! It definitely is a trial of patience to wait for the order to be completed. On the plus side, it means you can just pay the deposit and then set aside some money each month to pay for it!
Awesome review as always! My Baron will hopefully be arriving in the next few months.
I wanted to ask a question about that grip test using the guard to try and twist the sword in the hand. Do you and Matthew grip the guard at the end? It seems to me that a wide crossguard would have much more leverage in that test and it would make sense to "standardise" it by always holding it the same distance from the grip, if that makes sense
Whenever I've done the test, I grip it in my right (dominant) hand at approximately the same place I would grip it with that hand naturally when using it.
@alientude sorry, I meant what distance along the crossguard you're gripping. If you lever from the end of the crossguard you would get inconsistent results depending on the width of the guard, because a longer guard would create more leverage
@Sam_Arwas Ah, gotcha. I haven't put that much thought into it, and my (totally uneducated) guess is that Matthew is the same. It's already a very imprecise and subjective test - I'm not measuring the force on the guard or my grip strength at that particular moment, so I'm not sure if there would be much value in standardizing only one factor.
Matthew Jensen mentioned in one of his videos that you can opt for the spiral grip like the Principe has on any Albion sword. What do you think the Baron would be like with the spiral grip? The grip might be thicker and better for handling the weight?
It's probably a matter of preference. I have the Principe which has that spiral grip, and I'm not sure how I feel about it - I haven't used it enough to really get a sense for it.
I have one of these.
My very old Baron is 48 g lighter than Brians, with a PoB of 100 mm.
Interesting. I wonder if there might be a bit more variation in Barons that normal for Albion.
Baron Harkonnen approves!!!!!
I have a question! If I want to get a type XIII sword, who would I go to? I understand the parent type XIII is rare as all hell, lol
@PajamaPantsStudios What's your budget, where in general are you located, and what's your intended use of the sword?
Do you know of any reason Albion's wait time is so long? It seems like they would hire more people to keep up with demand. I'd like to own one, but I'm not waiting that long for something that's, at the end of the day, a non-custom production item. I guess until they address that I'll be a Valiant guy.
I would imagine there's a few reasons they don't hire more people - they're probably pretty happy with the size of the company; training new people takes quite a bit of work; they're based in New Glarus, Wisconsin, which probably doesn't have an abundance of people who are talented and interested enough to make this their career.
If you don't want to deal with the wait (I can hardly blame you), Kult of Athena does have a good number of Albions in stock right now - www.kultofathena.com/brand/albion-swords-ltd/?_product_stock=instock?koa=74 - and you can also try going to Combat Con (Las Vegas) or SoCal Swordfight, which Albion attends with swords ready to purchase.
Of course, you can't really go wrong with Valiant Armoury either!