New review up on the Hroarr site

[Roger N]

Added another review of a synthetic longsword the other day. http://www.hroarr.com/articles/reviews-sparring-swords-synthetic-knightshop-syntls.php

I'll be turning to the steel reviews now instead.

[Magnus Hagelberg]

nicely done reviev.

in comparison to the others you have tested, where would you rate this one?
nr1? 2?

[Dithyrambus]

Agreed, I enjoy Rogers' reviews. It would seem that none of the synthetics are the end all, I have the Purpleheart gen 2 (which is now rendered nearly obsolete by the gen 3 ) and plan to purchase the Rawlings as well (if not two) they all have pros and cons and having a collection seems to be the only way to have the best of all that the synthetics have to offer.

[admin]

I would be surprised if anybody thinks that the proline xtreme blades are too flexible. They seem pretty damned stiff to me - they flex less than Regenyei feders, I think.

[Roger N]

nicely done reviev.

in comparison to the others you have tested, where would you rate this one?
nr1? 2?

It depends on how you look at it. There are two types of synthetics; milled or cast. The milled ones are more difficult to make and requires a lot of hands on work, which raises both the costs and the price. The cast ones are cheaper to manufacture for mass production and up until now have been pretty much useless (Cold Steel, Revival/Brian R Price). With the Rawlings/Knightshop wasters this has changed completely and in this category they are lightyears ahead of their competition. For clubs looking to buy larger quantities this is a good option.

Milled blades are better though, but looking at the range there, they also have some problems. I like the steel pommel and wooden grip of Norrlandswastern, but not so much the broad plastic cross, even if it doesn't have the problem described below.
Purpleheart's Longsword II has a too broad cross which makes it difficult to put your thumb against the flat of the blade. However, their new Longsword III looks like a somewhat improved replica of the last Penttis, including a simple steel cross and the same material that Pentti used.

If I'd been living in the US, then this would have been an obvious choice, if they in fact are as good as I think they are. But with custom's fees and shipping, the price will be dangerously close to buying a steel feder from Jan Chodkiewicz or Peter Regenyei.

[Roger N]

I would be surprised if anybody thinks that the proline xtreme blades are too flexible. They seem pretty damned stiff to me - they flex less than Regenyei feders, I think.

This has gotten me curious, since it is not my experience at all. In fact another member said he thought this Extreme had more flex than the previous Pro-Lines. It is a prototype though and perhaps it's characteristics are a bit different from the ones available for purchase. I'll ask Bryan at Knightshop regarding this.

Comparing it to the two versions of the Regenyeis I have, both of them are considerably stiffer.

Puzzling...