Destructive Testing of a Generation 2 Medieval Sword

Historically, a medieval sword was designed primarily to cut into human flesh and bone. But naturally, in the course of a battle, other - much harder - targets would be struck that would dramatically reduce the life of the blade (such as a shield or armor to name two of the most common ones).

And as anyone who has studied even a little history would know, the medieval battlefield was often scattered with many a broken sword that has failed in the heat of the moment..

And just about all the old ones have a few good dings in them from where they made contact with the edge of another blade...

Of course, these days - there isn't really any utilitarian need for a 'battle ready' medieval sword. But then again, its kind of reassuring to know that the replica sword hanging on the wall at home isn't just a flimsy piece of steel, but could outlast even the toughest swords of the past...

So in this spirit, and for the sake of experiment, I prepared a replica medieval sword to "take one for the team" just to see how far the modern steel (forged the traditional way) in my second favorite Generation 2 medieval sword, the Maximilian, could go...

Now I should mention that before I conduced these tests, the Maximilian Sword had already been subjected to some pretty torturous tests...

It had been used to cut broomsticks in half, sustained repeated chops to a solid wooden chopping block, cut up huge water filled plastic drums, split woodblocks and numerous other very rough, untraditional targets designed to push it, and another Generation 2 medieval sword - the Black Prince - to the edge of their limits...

While these tests had done little other than to cause a few cosmetic scratches and scuffing of the blade, the time had come to really do some damage...

So it was pretty obvious that to be able to destroy this sword, it was going to take some pretty heavy duty targets above and beyond what it had already been subjected to...

THE SWORD...

I selected the Maximilian Sword as I believe that it was pretty representative of your typical Generation 2 blade. A strong, razor sharp and nicely tempered 5160 spring steel blade with tightly assembled fittings and peened pommel for added structural integrity.

Below you will see a pic of the sword just before the tests were conducted. As I took the photo, I felt just a little sadness to see this tough medieval sword whole for what could be the very last time...

Sure, it wasn't in pristine "out of the box" condition. This sword had already seen a fair few sessions, and if you look carefully you may notice a few minor scuff marks on the blade from my last woodblock chopping session... :-)

But apart from that, the blade of this replica medieval sword was pretty much as structurally sound as the day I received it (I estimate at around 90 to 95%, because the previous tests would have no doubt caused some metal stress that was not obviously apparent, but that would have caused a lesser sword to fail dramatically).

LET THE TESTS BEGIN!

I could have jumped straight into the heavy damaging stuff straight away. But instead I decided to warm up with a straight thrust to a laminated plywood board.

With almost no effort at all, the board was snapped clean in half.

And as you can see, the blade itself suffered no damage whatsoever, with just a little cosmetic scratching where the tip buried itself through the laminate and plywood before cracking open the board...

I probably could have warmed up like this for several more tests. But to be honest, they had already been done. It had split broomsticks, slammed into a woodblock probably something like 20-30 times (at least) and all the other light targets.

No, it was time to jump right in, do some REAL damage - and see just how tough it really was...

So for my second target I selected a length of tough steel alloy tubing that was a left over structural beam used in the construction of one of the large sheds in our garden, placed it into a bracket on my home made cutting stand, and prepared to strike it edge on edge, steel on steel...

Basic physics guaranteed that there would be damage to both blade and target - with the thinner edge of the blade more vulnerable than the right angled steel corner. But how much damage would be done to each one?

The answer came soon enough.

The first strike was a heavy glancing blow that slid down the length of the tubing. But the second and third blows landed with full force against the edge of alloy tube - the impact of each strike traveling through the length of the blade, into the hilt and jarring my hand. If there were any flaws in the hilts construction, this test would have made them fatally obvious. But the sword still felt as solid as ever.

VIDEO: Medieval Sword vs Steel Tubing... Finally, some damage... But what do you expect...!

As expected - both blade and steel tubing had been damaged. But the nicks and burrs on the edge of the sword were not as deep or as bad as I was expecting, and side by side - it looks like the tubing came out second best.

Never the less the blade had been damaged. And now that it had taken its first real hit, I was ready to push it all the way to failure with a classic target that no medieval sword was ever designed to withstand...

Placing a solid cinder block on my homemade cutting stand, I raised the blade and prepared to devastate the edge (after all, this wasn't a highlander movie)...

"I really did not expect what happened next...."

But there it was - with a single overhead blow, the entire cinderblock literally split in half before my eyes!!!

VIDEO: Medieval Sword vs Cinderblock! I certainly wasn't expecting THIS...!

Knowing that the camera was running, I suppressed my initial impulse to shout something like "Whoohoo!" and my wife came from behind her safe hiding spot to get a close up of the blade (the camera was mounted on large plastic container, and she was behind a steel fence as each of these blows were delivered for obvious safety reasons).

Naturally the blade was damaged a little more - with a few ragged chips out of the side that would be considerably less than the kind of damage expected when a medieval sword meets cinderblock. But still the damage was essentially superficial.

I repeated the same experiment, this time with a sideways strike to a household brick! But again, the damage to this medieval sword was much less than expected, and the brick was left with a 1/2" deep chunk out of the side...

This medieval sword was proving to be a lot tougher than I ever imagined!

So now I thought would be a good time to try a bit of a sword versus sword experiment I had wanted to do for sometime. A well made and relatively sturdy stainless steel blade was put into a clamp on the side of my stand - the flat facing the edge of the Maximilian. I was going to determine if ALL stainless steel swords were brittle was true or not...

I would up and struck out twice: BANG! BANG! Deformed and twisted, the stainless steel sword did not actually snap or break like I was half expecting - but was clearly not happy about being subjected to these fierce blows...

I carefully examining the Maximilian for any damage. And while there were no further marring of the edge, I noted a slight stress curve to the edge of the blade, pushing it ever so slightly to one side. So now it was time to make or break it...

With all the hits it had taken previously, I was certain that the blade must be on its last legs by now.

And while it pained me, I lined it up against the biggest tree in our garden (I know, the poor tree - but this branch was about to be cut back in the next few days anyway) and proceeded to strike out 4 full power blows...

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Each blow transferred massive shockwaves into the entire sword assembly - deep into the tang, the peened pommel and finally my hands. But still it held tight. And when I examined the edge, there was no further damage whatsoever, only the sticky residue of the sap...!

I stepped away from the tree. What else did I have that would break it? I had tried it on a length of steel, a section of cinderblock, a household brick, another sword and now a massive tree - and still the only damage was a few chips and burrs on the edge and an ever so slightly bent tip.

This medieval sword had my respect!

But what about the steel - surely it would have now been stressed close to breaking point?

Taking the blade to a huge round chopping block, I stuck the tip deep into the wood and proceeded to flex it a little over 10 degrees to the left and 10 degrees to the right. But the heat treated blade sprang back to true each time... Surely if I bent it further, it would take a set...

I knew that if I forced it that it would stay bent: every medieval sword that was ever made would take a set if you bend it too far - it's basic physics, only a few modern swords like Howard Clarks L6 steel swords and Cheness Cutleries 9260 Spring Steel blades could bend as much as you want and never take a permanent set.

But my heart simply wasn't in destroying this sword anymore...

I gave it a good wipe down, cleaned off the sap and dust from the cinderblock and the brick, and gave it a good once over inspection.

The scars and deformations on the blade were nowhere near as bad or as deep as I had been expecting.

So I took around 5 minutes to clean it up with a little filing down of the burrs, a quick once over with some medium grit abrasive paper and then some scotch brite before holding it to the sky to inspect the damage...

Even after only the smallest touch up, the damage was hardly noticeable.

Yes, it was battle scarred - but now it had some real character!

This medieval sword had been to hell and back, and was still ready for more!!!

Sure, I thought about a few more ways that I could surely destroy it. Maybe I could take an axe to it in the woodblock. That would almost certainly do the job...

But what was the point? It had survived targets that no ordinary medieval sword was ever meant to encounter and come back to tell the tale...

My thoughts had shifted away from any further tests and were no longer on how to destroy it, but instead were turning to perhaps purposefully and carefully rusting the blade to give it and antiqued look and feel, after all with small dings in the edges, it could look very, very attractive in a rustic kind of way.

After all, this medieval sword had exceeded my wildest expectations - and deserved a decent place on the 'wall of fame'! :-)

VIDEO: Documentation of ALL tests performed. 3:20 min Vid of each and every test as it was performed - I'd never imagined that this medieval sword would take the abuse it did...

ADDENDUM

This Generation 2 medieval sword and many others just like it are available at Arms of Valor.com

Enter the coupon code SBG in the 'redeem coupon' field of their checkout, click on the button and Arms of Valor will generously take 10% off the price of any and all Gen2 swords in your order making it the lowest price for these blades anywhere on the internet. I should also note that these swords also come with a 1 year warranty against breakage under intended sword use.

And while these tests are not recommended as standard sword usage, its pretty clear that they can do a lot more than just about any other battle ready medieval sword on the market...