Langmesser Mauricius de Luxe

I just got this sword a day prior to writing this review. I have owned a few replica messers but most of them were lower end with over-sized brazed pommels and guards with faux shell guards that weren't riveted through the tang. Let me say this... This is the strangest most unique messer I have ever seen and owned. With that last statement, it is very very good and I will explain why I wrote that and separated that sentence from the rest of the review. First off, if you notice in the shown pictures it only shows off the top side of the long knife with the nail or nagel sticking out but, not the bottom side. The pommel is only on one side of the grip, which is made apparent by the photos. What is not made clear by the photos is that the fuller is only on the nagel side of the blade and not bottom side. Yes you read that right, the fuller does not exist on both sides of the blade, just on one. However with that written the sword is extremely well constructed, has modest flex but too stiff to thrust safely in sparring in my opinion. I could be wrong on that. The handle which is long for a single handed sword like most lange messers is extremely well contoured and actually gets wider the closer it gets to the peen. The handle is squarish with the edges just slightly rounded off to prevent the wood from chipping. I have not seen a messer like this but the only other ones I owned were from Fabri Armourm, Wulflund, and Darksword. I really do like the shape of the wood on the grip going form about 1/4 inch thick wood, right at the guard, to almost 1/2 inch thick by the end where the peen is. The messer pictured here is an older rendition of Pavel Moc's messer. He has the newer version photos on his Facebook page and I got that one when ordering a blunt version from Outfit 4 Events. The solid rivets as show in the photo are now replaced with hollow brass tube rivets. Also I think the nagel, or shell / nail guard, is not peened through the tang but is instead welded to the cross guard. This brings up another point I wanted to mention as I cannot confirm this without knocking out the rivets and removing the wooden slabs. I believe this hilt is constructed in the same fashion as many Islamic sabers. Let me explain, many Arab sabers have a grip frame that is welded to the cross guard with a carefully shaped outline that the grip slabs (usually wood, ivory, or buffalo horn), cover. I think this messer is the same way. I think the guard has a grip frame welded to it and that's what you see on the sides of the handle and that the half pommel is also welded to this frame and that the tang is slightly narrower than the walls of the frame sits in between the rails of the frame. The tang is then peened over the end of the this frame holding it firmly on the blade and finally the wood slabs are riveted with hollow brass rivets through the tang. The blade itself despite being an unusual design with a fuller only on one side and not the other is extremely well shaped and has modest distal tapering. The point of balance is not far out and is very close to the guard making it feel less like a machete and more like a precise cut and thrust arming sword. The edge is very strong, it might be thick enough for armored combat, HMB and BOTN type use. I tested this sword against a HMB style bastard sword I own bashing the true edge against the bastard sword and the edge held up very well. This blade is extremely well tempered. I originally bought this sword to sharpen it however I am debating on using it for stage combat instead as I belong to an armored re-enactmentcombat group in the US. I will need to think that over. So if the blade being very asymmetrical and unique doesn't bother you, this is an excellent messer and is rather atypical. The point of balance is close to the guard rather than further out like a machete or cavalry saber and the pommel and fuller are only on the top side. If you don't mind these things the build quality is very good with excellent temper.