Windlass Erbach Sword Review

The Windlass Erbach Bastard sword is a replica of a 15th to 16th century blade formerly in the Schloss Erbach collection in Germany.

While it may not come close to the kind of quality of the $710 Arms and Armor version version, as you will see, this $200 functional replica seems to be well worth the price tag – though with a few flaws that are not uncommon at the lower end of the market...

Windlass Erbach Sword

Lucky for me, there were two companies that made a replica of it. After drooling over Arms & Armors version of this sword for a while I decided to stick within my price range and pick up the Windlass model.

Price: $209.95 + $18 sharpening + $47 shipping + $90 customs = not quite sub-$300 but my punishment for living in Europe.

The first thing that surprised me happened as soon as the post office lady slid my long awaited package over the counter.

The box felt so light! I was worried that they may have shipped a different sword. I rushed home and eagerly opened the box.

Oh yes, this was the sword I've been waiting for! Even with the scabbard on and all the packaging paper on it the sword felt very light, this doesn't feel like a 3 lb sword. The sword was shipped in the scabbard and with Kult of Athena’s usual massive amount brown paper.

I might as well talk about the scabbard right away, this was really a disappointment. I always thought that Windlass swords included wood-core scabbards (I don't recall why I thought this), but this one was leather and felt really cheap. The metal fittings are glued on in a very sloppy way. Mine also had some rust on the top part. It holds the sword just right though.

"But, who really cares about the scabbard, thats not sharp, pointy and fun. Lets take a look at the sword!"

Swinging this is just amazing, the handling is great, with one hand or two. The grip gets a little cramped with two hands but it is a bastard sword after all. Gripping the slim round pommel is very comfortable, and it also stays out of your way when swinging one-handed.

As I mentioned, this sword feels a lot lighter then the 3 lbs its listed as being, but this may be because of the way it handles. Unfortunately I'm not able to actually weigh it.

Swinging it through the air it makes a very satisfying "swish" sound, somewhat different to what I've heard before.

Edge alignment is fairly easy on this one, the upper part of the grip is rectangular in shape, and rounding off past the double risers and becoming perfectly round at the pommel.

The leather is stitched on, and is finished rather poorly.

It ends in a big ugly knot by the pommel, and you can see the wood core through several of the holes.

The guard and pommel both have a "twisted" theme similar, but not identical to the original.

I was surprised to see that it appears to be peened and not threaded. Personally I prefer the threaded type for maintenance reasons.

Being a Windlass, I was anxious to see weather the blade would be a whippy as I've heard. I found that it wasn't too bad, it sure wasn't a stiff blade but I didn't find it too whippy either. When held horizontally the blade does sag a little, and I have no problems flexing it quite a bit.

I ordered this sword with the sharpening option, and I have to say, they did an amazing job on the edge. This thing is literally razor sharp, and I can shave hair fairly easily with it. Its evenly sharpened the whole length of the blade, however one side has a slightly larger bevel then the other.

Cutting with this sword was just great. It's so easy to control, and since its so sharp it makes cutting small, light targets easy. The targets I use the most are watter filled milk cartons and rolled up newspaper. The rolled up newspaper has always been a problem for me with euro swords, I've always had to break out a katana to get any good cuts. Not with the Erbach though, the picture to the left (This was an old dried out newspaper "tatami" that I found. Surprisingly I was able to get a fairly clean cut) speaks for itself.

All in all, I don't regret this sword purchase for a second. The scabbard was a bit of a let down, but other then that I'm very happy with the Erbach.

PROS

• Excellent handling for such a large sword

• Sharpening Option is exceptionally sharp

• Decent historically accurate blade that is quite close to the original

• Some areas that are cosmetically sloppy, especially the scabbard

WHERE TO BUY

The author of this review bought it at Kult of Athena for $209.95 while most other sellers offer it for around $225-265, and until recently it was definitely the lowest price it could be picked up for (plus they also have the elite Arms and Armor version here for the connoisseur with a bigger budget).

However, since this sword has recently been discontinued, you can now pick it up for even less using the special SBG Discount Coupon Code at MRL (Museum Replicas), one of the oldest (actually the FIRST) and most respected sword selling companies in the business..

They list the Erbach sword in their Last Chance Section here for $215, but enter the coupon code sbgweb (or tell them the code 'sbgphone' for a phone order, 1-800-883-8838) and the price will drop by 10% ($21.50) down to $193.50 - so if you like the look of it (or just like a good bargain from the closeout section in general) it is definitely worthwhile checking it out!