Windlass – Signature Series Erbach Sword

Introducing the Signature Series by Windlass! All-time favorites, reissued by Windlass Steelcrafts® with several upgrades! The Erbach has been improved over its classic original by giving the blade a better degree of distal taper to improve its balance and overall handling. The steel has been improved with a higher carbon content steel paired with quality tempering and a sharpened blade. Resilient steel was used for the guard and pommel and the grip of wood was bound in leather with a wet-wrap and cord overlay technique – when dried and the overwrap removed, it left a cord grip imprint on the leather which makes for a notably better handhold for the swordsman. A final, significant upgrade was switching out the older, soft leather sheath for a fine hard core scabbard of wood which is wrapped in leather and completed with a steel chape and locket.

The Schloss Erbach sword from Windlass is a replica of an excellent and well-preserved German bastard sword from c. 1480 – it is now a highlight of the Oakeshott Institute collection in Minneapolis, but it takes its name from having once resided in the armory at Schloss Erbach. In true late-medieval German style the hilt has some naturalistic gothic elements matched with a blade that is well suited to the cut and thrust alike. This was clearly a sword for a knight or a professional warrior and it is a treasure to modernity that the original was preserved in exemplary condition.