A Critical Review of a Discerner Special Edition by Jim Lindsey

A few days ago, Prototype 3 of Discerner (Special Edition) arrived at my home.

Nothing can describe the excitement I felt at seeing that long package from Albion awaiting me as I walked in the door after a hard day at work. As I fell to the task of opening the package, the strains of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" were playing on some television show that my wife happened to be watching at the moment and I couldn't help but think "What appropriate music to be playing at a time like this!" As the package came open and my eyes beheld the beautiful masterpiece inside, Carl Orff's music had reached it's end and, in a most humorous and ironic twist of musical fate, the strains of the "Hallelujah Chorus" suddenly began to play. I laughed out loud at how appropriate these songs seemed to be for the moment and looked toward the TV for the first time in curiosity as to what my wife was watching ... it turns out that she was sitting on the couch reading and the TV was tuned to a classic music channel on one of DirecTV's Music Choice stations.

This small revelation was short-lived, however, as my eyes were riveted back to the sword I held in my hands. Even my wife, who cares nothing at all about swords, looked up from the pages of her book and remarked "Now, that is a beautiful sword!" (believe me, for her to render a compliment like that is quite something in itself).

When I was able to catch my breath, I immediately called Mike Sigman at Albion to let him know that the sword arrived safe and sound. Few times in my life have I ever experience excitement that was so great it went beyond the "jumping up and down" and the yelling of "yee-ha!". Rather, it was excitement so great that my only reaction was one of a strange tranquility of peace and clamness ... almost as if standing in the midst of something to big to grasp at first.

It is the fifth day since Discerner arrived and I'm only now coming down from Cloud 9 enough to take a totally objective look at it for the purpose of review. Throughout the morning I have gone over every inch of the sword. Wielded it, swung it around, picked it up, set it down, etc. I've examined it from every angle possible, and here's what I find:

Initial Observations
This is a piece that is superbly crafted with an attention to detail that is unparalleled. The sword is tight and fast, surprisingly light for its sheer size of 44.5" overall length. Though Discerner is not a small sword, it actually isn't "oversized" either. I'm a rather short fellow (standing barefoot, I'm 65" tall), so when I am holding it, it probably looks much more massive than it actually is.

The proportions of the sword are perfect and it looks "right" from every angle. One look at the sword and it's obvious that it was made by expert craftsmen who are masters in their field.

Hilt Fittings and Blade
The furniture of the sword is so well fitted there are no flaws anywhere to be seen from any angle. Everything lines up perfectly and there are no flaws at all to be seen in the geometry of shapes. Take Discerner's guard, for example. Its double swelled square cross section design is simple enough. Yet, I have seen examples of swords with similar design in which one end of the guard might have a more distinct "swoop" than the other, or one end might be more flared than the other, etc. But, on Discerner, there are none of these imperfections. One end of the guard exactly matches the other end in absolute perfection.

This same perfection manifests itself in Discerner's disk shaped pommel. I was a little concerned at how the diamond insert would be domed. In Prototype 1, the insert is very nice but is far too exaggerated in its domed shape to be accurate. The insert in Prototype 3 is perfect. The center of the insert extends just beyond the height of the concentric raised ring that frames it, but only to that perfect height that keeps it in total proportion to how the original sword must have been, judging from our interpretation of the original tracing.

Then there is the grip wrapping and ferrules. The ferrules could not be more perfect and the grip wrapping, which I believe was inspired by an idea of Peter Johnsson's, is astonishing in its beauty and comfort. The grip wrapping is tight and perfectly aligned and there is no tell-tale sign in the ferrules that indicates where the wrapping begins and ends (which is apparent in many swords that I've seen boasting ferrules at each end of a wire-wrapped grip).

In fact, the grip wrapping of the Special Edition is so perfect and beautiful that, were it not for the sake of keeping accurate with the original sword, I would probably elect to go with this wrapping on the Limited grips as well (which is not to take anything away from the beauty of the Limited's triple wire Celtic braided wrap ... it's just that the Special Edition's wrap is that good!).

The blade itself is nothing short of awesome. Gone from Prototype 3 is the slight "whippiness" that was apparent in the blade of Prototype 1. The blade also has an entirely more accurate geometry than Prototype 1. The blade in Prototype 3 is incredibly sharp and I was surprised to take a piece of printer paper and drag it across the blade's edge and see it part in twain without forcing or encouraging the cut! One could literally call it razor-sharp. This incredible sharpness extends the entire length of the blade from the guard to the very tip with no "dead" or dull spots in between.

The most astounding thing about Discerner's edge is that there is no readily apparent edge to it ... basically, it doesn't possess that machined or obviously "sharpened" look. Rather, the blade has a beautiful continuity about it and is clean and perfect ... the cutting edge being literally invisible to the eye.

The fuller could not have been done any better ... and travels perfectly down the center line of the blade and does not stray off center at any point. The fuller also mimics the gentle swell at the blade's base arriving at a graceful and attractively deep "spoon" at its terminus near the guard.

From every angle the blade is perfectly proportioned to the rest of the sword (hilt fittings). While still shiny and beautiful, the blade of P3 seems to sport a more slightly almost satin finish than the highly shined mirror-like polish of the Limited Edition. This does not make it any less attractive than the Limited Edition, though. In fact, it is a very attractive appearance on the Special Edition and seems to compliment nicely with the Special Edition's grip wrapping.

Feel and Balance
Where do I begin? I am not educated in the "numbers" for center of balance and point of balance, so it is impossible for me to render these figures. However, like the man who said "I may not be able to make cornbread, but I know if it's good or not", I can only use how the sword feels and performs as my point of reference.

First, Discerner, especially for its size, feels like no other sword I've ever held. The most amazing thing is that it is far superior in feel to Prototype 1 (which I'd raved about as feeling the best of all swords I'd ever held). The hilt components of Prototype 3 are more "substantial", or massive, than those on Prototype 1 ... likewise, the geometry of the blade on Prototype 3 is different than Prototype 1. At first look, I expected Prototype 3 to be heavier than Prototype 1, but this did not prove the case ... when I picked them up together, I was amazed at the superior feel Prototype 3 had over Prototype 1. In fact, P3 seemed almost "eager" to be wielded, it feels that good. Discerner is deceivingly lightweight.

So far, everyone who has picked it up has had the same reaction. It's light, lively and fast ... a feel that is totally contrary to its appearance as a full size war sword and when people pick it up, there is a look of sheer delight that shows clearly on their faces.

And, speaking of feel, we come once again to the grip and wrapping. The very shape of the grip lends itself to a sure hold on the sword and the grip wrapping is extremely comfortable to the feel. Unlike my past experiences with holding wire wrapped grips (that make you feel you need gloves if you're going to hold it a lot), Discerner is very comfortable to the bare hand. The grip wrap allows for a sure hold, yet there is a smoothness to it that is not only delightful to the feel, but inspires a desire to hold the sword even more.

The balance of the sword is remarkable. I read a testimonial from a Discerner owner who equated the balance and feel as rivaling his father's World War II katana. And another testimonial spoke of the sword feeling more like a rapier than a full hand and a half broadsword. Holding the sword myself, I can definitely empathize with these sentiments.

One of the tricks I do when testing a sword for balance is to swing it overhead in a wide arc and stop suddenly with arm and sword held out at 90 degrees from my body. With most swords that I try this with, even those that possess a good feeling to them, I find that it takes some effort to stop the swing and it's as though the sword's own inertia wants to keep it in motion throughout and, thus, the blade will naturally tip downward when I stop the arc. With Discerner, there is very little effort expended to stop the arc and hold the sword steady without a downward sway or tip. It stops on a dime and it responds immediately if I try this little test and then bring it back up in a reverse swing.

No matter what kind of swing or maneuver I might try, the sword responds immediately and with little or no effort. It puts me in mind of the kind of performance you get driving a top-end Ferrari on a good track. While I haven't tried any of the abusive tests with P3 like I did with P1, I'm of the opinion that if I ever did, the sword would perform perfectly in such tests and pass with flying colors.

Is it 100% accurate to the original sword?
Considering that Discerner is recreated using the traced image of a 1958 vellum tracing taken from a 1654 painting of the sword that served as a family heirloom for several generations, I would say a definite "Yes" to that question (provided, of course, that the painting itself was an accurate representation of the original sword).

Judging from the feel and performance of the recreated Discerner, I would have to say that the painting was indeed accurate ... Discerner just works too well for there to have been any license for imaginative creativity on the part of the artist who rendered the 1654 painting.

As far as aesthetic appearance, if I tried my absolute ultimate to find anything at all "wrong" with the design, it would be confined only to the center "swell" of the guard. Yet, even then, I cannot say that the recreation is "off" at all. Just looking at the sword, the top and bottom of the center swell in Discerner's guard seems to have a rather "flattened appearance" when seen from different angles (please see the photo below).

However, I think this could be an optical illusion created by seeing something in 3D rather than 2D as it would appear in a drawing. I took a photo of Discerner's hilt fittings from dead-on directly above, and the gentle curving swell at top and bottom center of the guard, that I remember so well from the painting, seems clearly visible in the photo of Discerner's guard (please see the photo below).