2nd Generation V.A. Signature Castile (with video)

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Avery P.
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2nd Generation V.A. Signature Castile (with video)

Post by Avery P. »

V.A. Signature Castile Review
by Avery Pierce

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Stats

Blade length - 32 3/8"
Grip length - 4 1/2"
Cross guard length - 5 3/4" (tip to tip)
P.O.B. - 5 1/8" from guard
C.O.P. - 19" from guard
Blade width at base - 2 1/8"
Blade width 2' from tip - 1"
Fuller length - 22 1/2" from guard
Weight 2lb 12oz


Introduction

A few weeks ago I happened to noticed a thread in the "Manufactuers/Vendors" board. Sonny, after many adjustments to the first generation Castiles. was offering up 2 blades to be reviewed by experienced reviewers. Odingaard and I were chosen to review the new and improved models. Odin was picked due to the fact that he had reviewed the first generation and was somewhat less than impressed. I was chosen because...well I haven't damned clue why I was picked, but I'm sure Sonny had his reasons.
This is a sword that I've been excited about since I'd heard it was to be re-introduced and count myself lucky to give it a try.

Upon Arrival and First Impressions

The box arrived in the below picture, well taped and very solid. Sometimes you'll get those boxes that rattle and shake as you pick them up; this wasn't one of those!
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As expected there was another box within. One holding the ominus warning " CAUTION:SHARP. NEVER CUT ALONE.

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As a side note, this is like telling the troublemaker in school to be quiet; it just adds to the encouragement!


Upon opening the second box I was greated by that wonderfull smell of freshly dyed leather and the Castile lying snugly in its bed, held in place by styrofoam blocks.
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My first impression of this sword is "Great presentation." The overall packaging, scabbard and suspension belt makes for great eye candy. Since this is a loaner I can't speak for anyone who plans to own this, but if I knew I had spent my hard earned money on this blade, I can say that this moment would not've disapointed me.
After taking a deep breath of that sultry leather I pulled the new Castile from its resting place. Holding it by the scabbard I drew the blade. I found the blade to be coated by the usual oil, which was quickly wiped off. The first thing that struck me was the weight. Perhaps I've handled too few well made type XII blades to be an authority, but this one felt.... if I'm to honest, good.
But, I'll leave this for the "handling" part of this review.



History
This sword gets its name from King Sancho IV of Castile, and I assume it's patterned after a sword used by, or affiliated with Sancho; but thats just a guess. The oiginal Castile was a type X, while this one is a type XII. Both would have been weilded by knights, soldiers and crusaders through the middle ages. That is, if you could've afforded one or stole one on the battlefield.

Scabbard

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From the start I really liked this scabbard. Now, I'm a south paw; a left hander. This is a right hand suspension system, but as a man on youtube will tell you, it's not hard to draw from your strong side and I agree with him. As personal preference, I like this type of suspension. I like how it rides close to my hip and is tight to my body. Nothing against baldrics here, I have a lefty baldric I've worn for years, but I've found that baldrics can wear on the shoulder after a lot of use.
I will say that if this were my sword, I'd cut the belt down; I've never been one to wrap a large knot with the left overs from the buckle. This belt will fit, I'd say, a very large to a very skinny man.
The scabbard itself is nicely finished, as is the belt. The only flaw I can see with the scabbard is with the bend in the chape. Where it wraps around the tip it doesnt lay flat to the leather.

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This is purely cosmetic, but it caught my eye and after looking at my hedemark scabbard I figure it can be avoided. Then again, as it is cosmetic, I wouldn't be too worried if I had bought this.
The one thing I truely like about ths scabbard is the risers. They give a bit of charecter and simple flair to the overall look of this sword when worn. The lines of the risers are very clean and neat, as is the leather joint on the back. The sword fits tightly in the scabbard. Actually it's very tight on this one. as you can see in the below picture, I held the sword upside down and it didn't budge in the least. The scabbard mouth is cleanly done and the rainguard lays nicely against the hilt.

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When I said that it's almost too tight, this is how I look at it. When you get a new pair of boots, they're tight and need to broke in. I'd feel the same way about this scabbard if it were mine.


I'll say this for this suspension system; If one were to have the scabbard and belt commisioned by a third party, the cost of just that would rival the cost of this whole sword and system.


Hilt

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As Odin said in his review, this is a type 4 crossguard, which is essentially a curved guard. This one has a bit of "file work" done to it. I say file work, but I can't tell if the small double cuts on both sides of the guard were filed in or milled in. Either way it adds a bit to the over all asthetic of the guard. As far as I can see, there are no tool marks in the polish; all I can see are the tell tell signs of a machine polish which, to me, is no big deal at all.
The pommel is a simple wheel pommel, quite a bit heavy and just acts as a counterweight. Again, no discerning marks aside from the finishing process.
Now, to the grip itself.
The grip is dyed the same brown color as the scabbard and belt. The length on this one is four and half inches, more that enough for my hands. The leather is cord wrapped and the joining of the leather, the termination of the grip is very smooth; I don't know what it was like on the original, but this one is barely discernable.

The only thing I saw on the grip is where the leather must have been a bit loose and when it was wrapped it squeezed between the cord.
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It's just a small place and I think that with use it would flatten and disapear, so it's really quite minor; and I doubt it'll be on many more of them.
The overall assembly is held together with a hex nut construction.



Blade

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As has been said, this is a type XII blade. Which means it has flared shoulders and the tip is steeper and not as spatulate as a type X. The finish on the blade is a satin polish, which I like. I can see no tool marks or imperfections in the blade at all. The cross section is basicly a squashed lenticular bevel The edge is advertised, very sharp! The fuller is done neatly with no deviations I can see. My calipers blew out on me so I couldn't get a certain meassurement, but it has a definite distal taper.
I believe this blade, with the steeper tip, would do well as a thruster, especially for a type XII.

Heres a comparison shot of type X tip and the type XII tip on this blade. First the Type X

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Now the type XII

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As you can see, the tip is is sharply executed and makes for pretty good thruster for this type of blade.


Handling

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Sorry for the adding this picture twice, but man I like it!
So, on to the handling; The first thing I did before some dry runs is break the hilt down to have a look. I would never doubt a sword from Sonny would have any internal problems, but it's just a habit. The tang is every I expected it to be. Thick, beefy and solid.

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Satisfied that everything was in order, I reassembled it and started to have some fun. The blade is just a tad heavy on this one, but doesn't hinder recovery too much. When holding this sword I had a good feeling about the blade presence and power it could deliver. Granted, I'm not as experienced with handling a type XII as Odin is, but this one feels good in hand to me. The grip is very comfortable and has plenty of room for large hands.

I went ahead and did a cutting and thrusting video, which stands to show me and any one willing to watch how out of practice I am. In my defense when I made this video I was sick and just came off a 14hr shift. Still, you can see that I made no real effort to recover the blade after cutting and my edge alignment is very sloppy.

Now that I've made enough excuses, I'll let the video speak for itself....




As the video shows, the blade did just about all the work and did a pretty darned good job of thrusting.



Pros

I agree with every thing Odingaard said in his "Pros" section.
The overall package you get with this sword is well worth the money spent. Having never handled the first gen Castile, I can't compare the two; but I can say that this is a sword in a line of swords that truely does set the bar. It a solid, overall package which shows that its makers stand behind their blades.

Cons

1)minor cosmetics with the chape and grip

There really isn't much to say in this part and if I'm to be totally honest I'm struggling to find cons for this sword at this price point. Plus, knowing Sonny and V.A. as a whole, any issues I would've had with this sword I believe would have been addressed and repaired very quickly.

Bottom line

Again, I agree with Odin on this. I wouldn't hesitate a bit to reccomend this blade to someone looking for a good, well done arming sword package. What we are beginning to see from the new Signature line is truely making great blades affordable to someone on a tight budget!
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Fallsofdragon
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Re: 2nd Generation V.A. Signature Castile (with video)

Post by Fallsofdragon »

Nice Sword, great review Avery 8)
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Beornmann
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Re: 2nd Generation V.A. Signature Castile (with video)

Post by Beornmann »

Great review. Thanks
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