I posted about HEMA equipment in another thread and realized I should post a review of BKS, since I believe I'm the only one who has one of their feders. They are, as I understand, new to the market this year. I handled mine at Longpoint prior to purchasing, and they have been open to feedback on them as well.
The blade is a couple inches short of what I would prefer, but would be right for someone around 5'6" to 5'8". The tip is a flattened and widened tip, instead of the rolled tip found on many other feders, and I like it; it seems to get better grab (purchased) on thrusts since it isn't as rounded. On the other hand, you don't get as much "sword wind" (the noise from swinging the sword) as that little round hole of the rolled tips will give you. A minor concession, and completely pointless for actual combat. I also like the wide schildt (the flared part of the blade near the handle), but that is also a personal preference.
Mine has an acorn style pommel, and a twisted bar crossguard. I like the distinct styling of it. It is reminiscent of the Arms & Armor Schloss Erbach crossguard (
http://www.myarmoury.com/review_aa_schloss.html). It was originally the normal steel color, but I blackened it myself. Here is a photo:
My complaint with this is that after using it for a few weeks, the hilt bent. Substantially. We were drilling zornhaus, and it looked like a banana. I had handed it to our instructor, who was using it when it bent. I saw him hand it back, said "Uhhh...." and he straightened it back most of the way, by hand, before we thought to get a picture. This was an interesting phenomenon because we learned: (a) the tang isn't heat treated, and (b) the grip is actually just leather wrap directly over the tang, without a wooden core; a classmate figured that out because bent wood = splinters and it never made a sound nor splintered, and I can't see any wood underneath (while still assembled).
I was scared to use it, lest it break on me. I wrote to BKS, who confirmed the tang is not heat treated. BUT, they also said they will straighten it for me as well as heat treat it too. They offered to pay shipping both ways, but as they are at MD Renn Fest, I'm going to drop it off in person. I forgot to ask about getting a wood core for it, but if not, I may redo the grip/handle myself.
While it is more expensive than most feders ($550), one of the great things about it is that it has a lifetime warranty. They told me to keep using it, and if it breaks, they will fix or replace it; so they stand behind their warranty.
The best part, in my opinion, is that they are local to the DC area. So no shipping overseas, customs, etc, in the event of a warranty claim or modification request. And as a vendor at a few events, you have the chance to handle their swords prior to purchase.
I plan to keep this as my primary go-to class/training sword, and use an Ensifer Heavy for tournaments.
