My husband is a swordmaker. Been doing this for over 50 years now for reenactors and collectors. Also makes other historical edged weaponry. He uses Spring Steel (5160 alloy) for his blades and tempers them using traditional methods.
So for me, it would be a sword of his making. I all ready have a couple of tomahawks and axes of his. As well as a few knives. A good spear (the head being handforged/tempered Spring steel).....should do it.
Not all blade steels are alike and not all carbon alloys are suitable for the demands a good sword blade requires. What would make a nice Knife blade would do poorly when hammered out into its longer cousin. A well tempered sword blade must be "tough"....not "hard" which may make it brittle. There should be some "give" so it will spring back to "true". Not annealed to where a low tempering makes it soft and stay bent.
I have seen sword blades made of tool steel that snapped. Stainless or "Rost Frei" was developed for exactly that.....a "rust free" steel that will keep its' "brighteness" and you don't have to worry about cleaning rust off it. But the heating/tempering process is more difficult. I know armourers who make helmets using Stainless Steel sheet and it's far harder to hammer into shape.
Any "Live Steel" reenactors are leery of using swords of this stuff.
There ain't nothing wrong with a western style sword (and they came in soooooo many different styles depending on the period and design) They were NOT clumsy "hack" and "chop" weapons. They were not "five, 10, or 15 pound "dead bars of steel" only a muscle bound warrior could wield like so many bad fantasy books and movies have led most to believe. Depending on the period and style, a single handed medieval or viking blade weighed under 2lbs. But IF you aren't used to holding one....it would feel heavier.
A well made, tempered sword should feel "alive in the hand" as Ewart Oakshott described in his "Archaeology of Weapons". It would positively "woo you to strike".
Samurai swords have gotten a lot of the "press" from so many popular movies the past few decades. Oriental martial arts includes different weapons and these do require a high degree of skill. Unless you are a reenactor or find a decent movie showing how western martial arts are or were used (and there have been a few)....most are left clueless.
Because by Shogun law.....and the Bushido Code, Japan was left stuck in the 17th Century after their various wars were finally crushed. The Portugese and Dutch traders were kept pretty sequestered and out of Japan proper.....by then, the Western Sword arts had evolved in different ways from the Samurai style. The Rapier fighting style usually won. But by then, Western Military tactics and gun usage was becoming more the fore front in the West. Some Japanese Nobles/warlords, especially the Christianized ones, were beginning to follow their lead and wanted change. At one point, there was a rebellion but the Shogunate crushed them and executed thousands of christianized Japanese at the time.
When USA came in 1857 and there was a famous duel between a samurai and an American Naval officer. The officer used his saber .........guess who won
No, it wasn't the Samurai.
Japanese sword arts is wonderful to watch and the making of their blades is a sacred art. Truly those who create them, traditionally, are "Living Treasures". But there were very good reasons Why Western Swords arts were held in high regard and so were their makers. Why sagas and troubadours would include tales of particular "Magick" swords, their makers and owners. But movies and TV shows showed a different "more modern" view (meaning the producers/directors didn't know a pommel from a sword point)....and all swordplay was done "samurai style" Or just "hack, slash n' chop" was all the "heavy western sword" was good for.
Sorry for going on about this. I'll get off my soapbox now.
