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Every sword Windlass® makes is proudly hand forged by master bladesmiths from a single ingot of high carbon steel. Windlass chooses the designations 1065, 1075, 1085, or 1095 depending on the application. After the ingot is heated and hammered (sometimes by as many as 3 smiths alternating different sized hammers!) into its general shape a highly experienced grinder gives it its final shape and the blade is polished.Tempering takes place to relie...

The sword (500020) was still the preferred weapon in the early medieval period and was used almost exclusively in tangent with a shield (801506). Two hand war swords were used as well (500794), and one could deliver heavy blows with one, but the user lost a great deal of protection that a shield provided, so unless you were the swinging justice of the headsman or breaking a pike line, you often times opted not to carry one with you....

The style of fighting with sword and shield varied little through out Europe and consisted mostly of cutting at the foe from behind the shield. With the sword drawn back it could be held out of sight of an opponent behind the shield so they could not see where a cut was coming from. This type of deception is why the quickest and most aggressive usually won an encounter- you had little warning where to move your shield to block a blow. It s...