Red Dragon Armoury Synthetic Single Hand Sparring Sword - Silver Blade

My friend recommended these for our medieval competitions and practices. We use them for Maylee on horses and other games. Also so much fun to sword fight with the kids. With the silver blade from far away you can’t tell that they are practice swords. I’ve had horses step on them and they barely bend. They works great. I want to buy more so I can train with many more people. We wear gloves and protective gear when practicing as they still do feel similar like “real” swords but they are sooo much safer. They are great. Oh and I’m not worried about a child cutting themselves if they pick it up at an event. They are also usable for costume looks and you don’t have to worry about them breaking if someone hits really hard. It takes a lot to get them to bend but they flex without being rigid. They are awesome. 😌

This has been a solid training tool, but if you're looking strictly for an arming sword, you're going to run into a problem or two. First, the blade is 34 inches, which is a little on the long side for a typical arming sword. Wasn't a problem though, I took a hacksaw to the thing and cut it down by four inches, doing my best to cut the new tip to shape with the hacksaw. From there, I picked up a metal file and went to work until the tip was rounded again, and reasonably smooth. Go slow with the file, and do not file back and forth. Only scrape away from your body, then lift the file off the material, and scrape forward again. Do this until you get the shape you want. Don't worry about leaving an extra half an inch on thinking it will be taken off in the filing process. Unless you horribly screw up the filing, that won't happen. The only downside is that now there is, in total, less flex in the blade because I removed the most flexible part. Given how much flex these things have anyway though, it takes things closer to the realm of "realism," as much as one can get with a nylon sword. The downside is specifically regarding safety on a thrust, as the reduced flexibility will mean your partner will be more likely to get injured on a thrust.Second, mine arrived slightly bent. If yours arrives slightly bent, or even massively bent, there is a solution. You can either spend weeks slowly bending it to shape, because once plastic cools, it sets, and it is very hard, without heating it up again, to get it to unset. If you don't want to wait that long, then heat the blade up. Specifically, give it a bath in really hot water. You shouldn't need to take it to boiling, just simple hot bathwater should suffice. There is a Youtube channel out there called Scholagladiatoria, run by a guy named Matt Easton, and he actually has a tutorial vid on how to unbend plastic swords like this, along with a massive wealth of information regarding history in general, and historical swordsmanship in particular.These work great with the Red Dragon Armory gloves, you shouldn't need anything more protective than those if you're going to spar specifically using Red Dragon Armory synthetics. Do not use the Red Dragon gloves if you're using any other brand of nylon waster, or steel weapons. They just won't be able to take the damage, and your hands will be put at risk. Also, do not use anything less protective than the Red Dragon gloves if you're going to use these. Do not get lacrosse gloves, the Red Dragon gloves provide greater protection than lacrosse gloves. Can't recommend the other Red Dragon protective gear though.Once I worked out a couple of minor problems with my synthetic arming sword waster, it quickly dominated my practice time. Good training weapon. If you're worried about it not properly simulating the kind of binds that sharps get into, get some friction tape and put it on the edges. You will have to replace the tape frequently, but you will get a decent idea of what binds feel like. I don't recommend using the friction tape all the time, just when practicing a new bind that you're not familiar with. This thing is great for messer, sword and buckler, Bolognese swordsmanship, anything where you're using an arming sword or arming sword-like weapon. There are even other guards you can buy to turn this thing into a basket-hilted sword...you're going to need a new blade for that though if you cut this one down to size.

Though I think it's a bit overpriced, there's really no one else making arming sword trainers in this price range so I guess I can't complain. The balance is a little higher up the blade than I'd like, but it still handles surprisingly well. The pommel looks a little twisted once you tighten it to where it's not loose, which is a real annoyance. All gripes aside, I really like this trainer and have no regrets buying it. I'd highly recommend picking up the Hanwei Long Pommel as well, which turns it into a bastard sword. Then you're essentially getting two swords for the price of one, making it a great value.

I really like that the grip on this practice sword is one fingers width longer than most soit fits an armored gauntlet much better. The quality is good and after three practices, I have nothing but satisfaction for the comfort, weight, cost ,and the durability of this sword. My friends all say they like it as much as I do be cause it's pretty🙂

This is a very nice single handed practice sword for I.33 or Bolognese. Point of balance is about 3 inches out using the stock pommel. I screwed on the steel pommel of the Rawlings longsword which pushes the POB back to 1 inch in front of the crossguard. This makes the sword extremely quick to respond and now it handles like a dream.Arrived very well packaged, the blade was wrapped in paper and then packed in bubble wrap; straight blade, no complaints whatsoever. As with all Rawlings sparring swords you have to assemble blade, guard, grip and pommel, which takes less time than it took me to unwrap the blade.

The feeling of the sword in hand is excellent. Has a great balance with a little forward heft to give the feeling of an arming sword. Will buy again.

So I ordered was supposed to be a Red Dragon synthetic one handed sword which was a warehouse special and what I got was a Red Dragon synthetic two handed sword blade (you have to assemble them), and a Red Dragon synthetic one handed sword handle and pommel so now I will be having to order a proper handle and pommel that fit correctly. No biggie since I already have a two handed version and I really like it

No issues with pommel or tip everything fit like it should. Good weight, POB is a little forward of the guard but not bad at all. Great item definitely recommend, would buy again.