Vernholt Hand Forged 51CrV4 Spring Steel Hand and a Half Blunt Sword with Broad Fuller & Globe Pommel | About 47 Inches Overall | Tan Cord Grip and Care Card | Sparring Gift | RK-3002

The Vernholt is a hand and a half sword, the length that sits between the arming sword and the full two hand longsword, built as a blunt trainer in 51CrV4 spring steel. The blade is broad and double edged with a fuller running from the cross to about mid blade, which is where the weight comes out of it and the stiffness stays in. The pommel is a faceted globe, the cross is straight, and the grip is wrapped in tan cord long enough for both hands or for one with the heel of the other on the pommel.

This is the shape the German masters called a bastard sword, and the art it belongs to is Liechtenauer. The blade is long enough to fence in the vier leger and to work the meisterhau, and short enough that a single hand can drive it when you want the reach. Broad and fullered means it cuts, so the sword answers to the Zornhau and the Zwerchhau rather than sitting on the point. In a bind you have plenty of forte to press with, and winden from that bind is what a blade like this was made to do.

Before you buy, read how to choose your first HEMA sword and our piece on blunts against sharps, then look across the HEMA longswords to compare fullered blades with the stiffer diamond sections. A broad fullered blunt and a narrow diamond blunt fence the same plays and feel nothing alike in the bind.

Specifications

Every length is given as about, because this is ground and fitted by hand. We do not publish a weight or a point of balance, because we will not print a number we have not taken.

The hand and a half sword in the Liechtenauer tradition

Liechtenauer built a system around a blade of this class. The four guards give you somewhere to stand, the five master strokes give you a way to arrive that also defends, and everything after that happens in the bind. A hand and a half hilt matters here more than people credit, because the second hand can come on and off the grip. You can throw a long single handed Oberhau for reach and then bring the off hand to the pommel to win the crossing by leverage.

The broad fullered blade tells you what the sword prefers. It wants to cut. The Zornhau, the Zwerchhau and the Schielhau all put a wide edge into a line, and the mass behind that edge means you can displace and strike in the same motion rather than parrying and then answering. Once you are bound, winden with a strong forte is easy, and versetzen against a hard cut does not leave you standing in a shaking blade. Halfswording works too, with a blunt land broad enough for a bare hand.

Broad blade, mid blade fuller and how the flex is set

This blade is 51CrV4 spring steel hardened to 49 to 52 HRC. Spring steel is chosen because it bends and returns instead of taking a set or snapping under a hard bind. Our cutting swords run 1095 at 54 to 58 HRC, which holds an edge through tatami but will not tolerate a bad parry. A sparring blade is drawn back deliberately so it gives, absorbs and comes home straight, session after session.

The fuller is the reason this handles the way it does. Running from the cross to about mid blade, it takes steel out of the half that does not need it while keeping depth where the bind happens, so you get a broad cutting profile without the club feel. Ahead of the fuller the blade is a flat section that tapers, which is where the flex comes from. The bow sits from mid blade forward, so a thrust bends the front half and leaves the forte steady.

Say this plainly, because it decides whether you can enter with it. Many longsword tournaments ban blunt longswords outright and allow only purpose built feders or sword shaped feders. A blunt sword like this one is a club and drilling sword, good for technique, paired drills, slow work and controlled sparring under rules your club sets. If you are entering an open event, check the ruleset for that event first and expect to need a feder.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the grip. The flat of the forte takes a line of runes cleanly on a blade this wide, and the faceted globe pommel will hold a small mark on one face. Text and runes are $19, a symbol is $39 and a family crest is $49, all cut in the United States after the piece has landed and been inspected.

If you would rather have your own design than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. More on the engraving page.

Handling and balance

No weight and no point of balance from us. The photographs carry no scale and these are ground by hand, so a printed number would be a guess. What is honest to say is that a broad fullered blade of this length carries its mass further forward than a diamond section of the same length, and that you feel it most in the recovery rather than in the cut.

The hand and a half grip is the part that changes your fencing. With both hands on it the sword turns tightly and winden costs nothing. Drop the off hand to the pommel and the arc opens out, which buys reach at the cost of control. Cord gives a firmer bite than smooth leather when the hands are wet, and it lets you feel exactly where the edge is pointing without looking, which matters more in the bind than anywhere else.

Care

Spring steel rusts. Wipe the blade down at the end of a session, not the end of the week, because salt from the hands sits on bare steel and works overnight in a closed bag. A thin film of oil on the blade and nothing on the cord is all it needs.

Check the pommel every few sessions. A peened globe that has started to move will give a small click at the top of a cut long before anything comes loose, so treat a click as a warning. Sight along the blade for a set that has not come back, and take contact burrs off the blunt land with a fine file. The routine is in the care guide.

Made in the Czech Republic

Made by hand in the Czech Republic and imported by Ransack Viking. Nothing here is drop shipped out of an importer catalogue straight to a customer. Every one is checked for hilt tightness, pommel seating and blade straightness at our North Babylon, New York warehouse, and ships from there. Shipping in the United States is free, returns run for seven days, and the lifetime warranty against defects in the forging, the grind, the heat treat and the fittings has no end date and needs no receipt.

We do not name the workshop and we do not print a town on the box. The same hands make the whole run, the blades reach us in batches rather than by the container, and anything that turns up with a loose hilt or a bend in it goes back. More on the country of origin page.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand forged. It is not machine made, not cast and not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page. The cord wrap is laid on by hand, so the count of turns and the exact swell of the grip move a little, and the facets on the globe are cut rather than pressed.

Grain in the wood, the turn of a finial and the shade of the cord all move a little from piece to piece, and lengths are given as about because a hand made blade is ground to a shape rather than to a tolerance band. None of that is a defect. What is covered, for as long as you own it, is a failure in the forging, the grind, the heat treat or the fittings.

Frequently asked questions

Whether this sword is sharp

No. It is a blunt trainer with a flat land of about 2 mm or more along both edges and a blunted point. It is not for cutting and should never be taken to tatami.

Whether it is allowed in longsword tournaments

Often not. A great many longsword events accept only feders or sword shaped feders and ban blunt swords. Read the ruleset for your event before you count on entering with this one.

The difference between this and a full longsword

Grip length and reach. A hand and a half is fenced with both hands most of the time but will take one, which is why it suits mixed drilling and sword and buckler crossover work.

Why the fuller stops at mid blade

Because the front half does not need the depth. Leaving it out forward keeps the cutting profile broad while letting the blade flex from mid blade, which is what you want in a trainer.

Whether a scabbard is included

No. Nothing in the HEMA range ships with a scabbard. You get the sword, oiled and wrapped.

Whether it can be engraved

Yes. Runes, a name, a date or your own design, cut in the United States after the piece arrives and is inspected. Text and runes are $19, a symbol is $39, a family crest is $49.

What is in the box

• The Vernholt hand and a half blunt trainer, one piece, full tang.
• A light film of protective oil on the blade for the journey.
• A printed care and storage card with the wipe down routine.
• Your lifetime warranty record against defects in the forging, grind and fittings.

Explore the range

Compare it across the HEMA longswords, look at the feders if your club runs tournament rules, drop to the arming swords for single handed work, or start from the HEMA sword hub. Everything we have written on choosing one sits in the guides.

Others in the same line

From the same run, look at Vardholt hand and a half, about 47 inches overall, Myrkvald longsword, about 47 inches overall, Tevrand nylon waster, about 47 inches overall, Vulkbrand flame bladed greatsword, about 66 inches overall and Ravnstad feder, about 48 inches overall before you decide.

The whole HEMA longsword category and the HEMA sword hub carry everything else in this range, and the custom sword builder will take a spec of your own.