The largest collection of swords, weapons and more from the Bronze Age to World War II

Cold Steel – English Backsword

$242.99$269.99

Battle Ready
(6 customer reviews)
SKU: CS88SEB | Categories: Tag:
Battle Ready

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    This English Backsword is fitted with a blade of sharpened 1055 high carbon steel. The steel hilt has been treated with a darkened, antiqued finish. The grip is faux rayskin inlaid with twisted steel wire. The scabbard is of leather and finished with an antiqued steel chape and locket.

    What a brave weapon is short sharp light sword, to carry, to draw, to be nimble withal, to strike, to cut, to thrust both strong and quick. – George Silver, from his Paradoxes of Defense – 1599

    The Elizabethan George Silver was a major proponent of the English backsword in lieu of the rapier. Though he was quite familiar and able with the rapier, he preferred the cut-and-thrust versatility of the backsword over the thrust-oriented rapier and he extolled it as a weapon suitable for street self-defense and the battlefield over the rapier which was optimized for the duel, but unsuitable for the battlefield. He even called it a dangerous weapon because it could not offer enough protection to its user.

    Silver believed that the swordsman should be paired with a weapon and a fighting system suitable for all situations, instead of focusing ones efforts into gentlemanly duels at the expense of other, more practical martial applications.

    Silver extolled the virtues of native English swordsmanship over the fashionable swordsmanship of the rapier duellists from Italy who taught duelling in England at the time. He prove their methods impractical and inferior he once challenged Italian fencing master Vincentio Saviolo to a duel with a variety of weapons in a public event. Though Silver and his students drummed up much publicity for the event, Saviolo himself did not appear.

    Cold Steels English Backsword has a well-tapered blade well-suited for both cutting and thrusting. It can hack decisively whilst maintaining a notable degree of practical agility. The mortuary-style hilt provides excellent protection for the hand and the tempered blade is thick and flexible enough to capably parry even the harder-hitting swords of the Elizabethan battlefield whilst keeping the thrusting agility needed to ensure it is a capable dueling and self-defense blade.

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