Sword-like object
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Sword-like object (SLO) is a term originally coined by the Historical Armed Combat Association, and used by sword enthusiasts to describe cheap, non-functional, or inaccurate sword replicas, typically built as purely decorative pieces and impossible to wield the way a "true" sword is wielded.
The term's derogatory nature is strongly tied to the actual claims of the weapon's maker (or more often, its salesman); a salesman advertising impractical replicas as "battle ready" or "fully functionnal", or otherwise failing to point out the purely decorative nature of his wares, is said to sell SLOs.
Some basic guidelines to differentiate "real" swords from SLOs include the use of innapropriate materials (such as stainless steel or titanium alloys) or bad heat treatment of said materials, and improper design features or construction (rat-tail tangs, blade cut-outs, etc.).
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[edit] Sword replicas
- Further information: List of sword manufacturers
Many cheap modern sword replicas are built for decorative purposes, and are either too brittle or too fragile for any practical use. Simply swinging around these "wallhangers" can cause breakage, usually at the welded-on tang.
[edit] Stability
Another shortfall of most SLO is that they are made of industrial stainless steel, which cannot take very much stress, compared to the carbon steels used in historical swords. When a stainless steel blade with even a small flaw in the steel is struck, it has a tendency to break or shatter, often resulting in injury.
Recently, many SLO makers have been touting[citation needed] titanium swords. While titanium is indeed lighter and just as strong as steel, titanium is a bad material for swords for the same reason as stainless steel.
[edit] Weight
At the other end of the scale, sword replicas touted as "battle ready" are often unrealistically robust and heavy, so that while they will not break even under more stress than a historical sword could have endured, they are too heavy and unwieldy for effective use, and would qualify as a mace or club rather than a sword.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
Objects comparable to swords:
