Ravnstad Hand Forged 51CrV4 Feder Trainer with Flat Parallel Ricasso & Discrete Schilt Lobe | About 48 Inches Overall | Black Cord Wrapped Grip and Care Card | HEMA Gift | RK-3042

The Ravnstad is the clearest feder in this line to read. Start at the cross and work outward and every part of the anatomy is separate and obvious: the straight cross, then a flat ricasso with parallel sides, then a discrete schilt lobe standing off that ricasso, then the narrow blade running all the way out to a broad rolled tip. Nothing blends into anything else.

That matters more than it sounds. Most people learning the form meet feders where the schilt and the ricasso merge into one flare and it is hard to tell where the fencing tool stops and the sword shape starts. On this one you can point at each element and say what it does, which makes it a good piece to learn on and a good piece to teach from.

The tip is a plain broad rolled tip. The last section of blade is turned over and widened into a flat head rather than being swelled into a knob, which is the older and more common of the two solutions. If a feder is new to you read what is a feder and then synthetic versus steel trainers if you are still choosing between materials. The rest of the purpose built sparring steel sits in feders. What the flex tiers mean in practice is set out in HEMA sword flex explained.

Specifications

These are the proportions of the piece rather than certified figures. It is hand work and the numbers move a little from one to the next.

Reading a feder from cross to tip

Take the piece from the hand outward. First the cross, straight and plain, sitting square against the grip. Then the ricasso, which on this feder is a genuine flat section with parallel sides running a short distance above the cross. Its job is to give the off hand somewhere to sit in a half sword grip and to give the blade a stiff base that does not bend where the load is highest.

Then the schilt. On this piece it is a discrete lobe standing off the ricasso rather than a smooth flare growing out of the blade. You can see exactly where it starts and exactly where it ends. The schilt is the part of a feder that replaces the width a real sword carries at the base of the blade, and its purpose is to stop an opposing blade sliding down into your hands during a bind. A distinct lobe like this one reads clearly in a bind and gives you a positive stop rather than a gradual one.

Above the schilt the blade narrows sharply and stays narrow. That is where the weight has been taken out and it is why a feder moves the way it does. At the far end the blade turns over into a broad rolled tip: flat, wide and thick enough that a thrust spreads across the surface instead of stacking on a point. That tip is plain and rolled, not a flared knob, and it is the shape most historical feders used.

Ricasso, schilt and the way 51CrV4 carries a bind

The steel is 51CrV4 spring steel hardened to 49 to 52 HRC. Every blunt in this line uses it because spring steel bends and returns instead of taking a set or snapping under a hard bind. A feder takes more repeated flex than anything else in a club bag and a blade that held a bend would be out of service in weeks.

The flat parallel ricasso gives the blade a deep, even section right where a bind loads it hardest. Because the sides are parallel rather than tapering, the stiffness there is constant along its length, which is what lets you take a strong bind low without the base of the blade flexing under your hands. It also gives the off hand a defined place to grip in half sword work, with a clean edge to set against.

Above the schilt the section drops away fast. The narrow blade is where all the flex lives, and on this piece it sits in the medium tier: enough give that a thrust folds instead of driving, enough spine that the point still arrives where you sent it. Flex is sold in bands running from light through medium to strong or tournament, with stiff blades kept for harness work, and we give you the tier rather than a number because we do not test each blade on a scale.

The edges carry a flat land of about 3 mm, above the usual minimum of 2 mm for a longsword trainer. The tip is rolled broad and flat. Between the two there is nothing on the blade that behaves like an edge or a point, which is the entire design intent of the type.

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. On this feder the schilt lobe and the flat of the ricasso are the two obvious places for a rune line, and the pear pommel will take a symbol if you want both of those left plain.

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

It is long and it is light, because the steel that would be in a sword’s forward blade has simply been left out. The point comes up quickly and it stays up, which is the whole reason a feder can be fenced at speed for an hour. Anyone coming off a blunt longsword should expect the first session to feel loose until the hands calm down.

The broad rolled tip is flat and wide, and unlike a swelled knob it adds very little mass at the end. The balance therefore sits closer to the hand than it does on a knob tipped feder, and the blade feels quicker and slightly less settled in a thrust.

In a bind the distinct schilt lobe is useful in a way a smooth flare is not. You feel the opposing blade arrive at the lobe and stop, rather than sliding into a gradually widening section. Set your binds low and the hands are covered. We do not publish a weight or a point of balance, because there is no scale in the photograph and every piece is finished by hand.

Care

51CrV4 is not stainless. Wipe the blade down after every session and keep a light film of oil on the steel between uses. Mineral oil or a light gun oil is enough.

The step where the schilt lobe meets the ricasso is a trap for moisture and the cloth will bridge it every time. Get into that shoulder with a corner of the cloth, then oil it, and do the same where the cross meets the ricasso. Those two junctions are where a neglected feder starts to pit.

Check the rolled tip before every session. Look for cracks along the roll and for burrs on the edge of the head, because that is the one fault that takes a feder out of service on the spot. The cord grip should be allowed to dry after use rather than sealed in a bag, and a loose turn in the wrap is worth rewrapping before it unwinds in your hand. The full method is in the knife 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.

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 schilt lobe is ground by hand, so its exact outline and the depth of the step where it meets the ricasso differ piece to piece. The rolled tip is formed at the anvil and no two are identical across the head. The cord wrap is wound by hand and its pitch varies along the grip. None of that is a fault and none of it changes how the feder fences.

Frequently asked questions

What a schilt is

The widened section just above the cross on a feder. It replaces the width a real sword carries at the base of the blade and stops an opposing blade sliding down into your hands during a bind.

How the tip on this one is shaped

It is a plain broad rolled tip. The last section of blade is turned over and widened into a flat head. It is not a flared safety knob, which is the other common solution.

Whether this feder has a proper ricasso

Yes. There is a genuine flat section with parallel sides above the cross, with the schilt lobe standing off it as a separate element.

What flex tier this is

Medium tier. Flex is sold in bands from light through medium to strong or tournament, with stiff blades kept for harness work. We give the tier rather than a measured number.

Whether a scabbard is included

No. Feders do not come with a scabbard and we will not promise one. It arrives wrapped for transit with a care card in the box.

Whether it can be engraved

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

What is in the box

• One Ravnstad feder, hand made in the Czech Republic.
• A cloth wrap for transit.
• A care and storage card.
• Your warranty and returns information.

Explore the range

The rest of the purpose built sparring steel is in feders, the blunt longswords are in HEMA longswords, the whole training line is in HEMA swords and the wider catalogue is in longswords. Every guide we have written sits in the guides hub.

Others in the same line

From the same run, look at Vandrekt feder, about 49 inches overall, Brimhalt feder, about 50 inches overall, Vindlaur feder, about 50 inches overall, Myrkvald longsword, about 47 inches overall and Valkspire hand and a half, about 48 inches overall before you decide.

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