Results and comments from the Aug/Sep 2003 survey.

	Ýves’ big SCA rapier survey #1 ~ Merchants: Darkwood Armory
	Updated: May 24, 2005

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Policy blurb

By default, authors of comments sent in response to this survey are named only by their permission. Usually, other people mentioned in a comment are named only with their permission as well. Each comment represents only what the author typed in for the survey at the time.

» This survey was conducted during August-September 2003. Things change over time. «

Some comments were edited for content. Certain harsh words have been changed for your amusement. Opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect those of the surveyor.

To get YOUR name listed with YOUR comments, just give me permission. See the e-mail button and information at the bottom of the page. Let me know your SCA name and kingdom (as of Aug/Sep 2003), and I'll add the attribution to your entries.

# of Responses
by Kingdom
 
AEth.  = 34/235
Anst.  = 36/240
An Tir = 56/347
Art.   = 12/124
Aten.  = 27/460
Atl.   = 60/425
Caid   = 49/400
Drach. = 21/76
Eald.  = 12/77
East   = 46/480
Loch.  = 22/120
Mer.   = 27/140
Mid.   = 52/640
Nor.   = 25/164
Out.   = 26/214
Tri.   = 46/237
West   = 14/70
Unk.   = 2

The gist

These comments were sent in response to Questions 13 and 14.

Respondents share why they like and (rarely) dislike Darkwood Armory as a supplier for SCA rapier combat.

The comments

Note: Any remarks in the comments below from Yves look like this.

Comments about other suppliers are on separate pages.
See the links at the bottom of this page.

Jump to: Neutral/Mixed and Unfavorable comments
 

Please be informed that I have a current affliation with Darkwood Armory.
However, I ran the survey before this was established.
I gave every comment in every survey equal consideration.

FAVORABLE

Æthelmearc

Φ Dark wood - nice work.
Φ Darkwood armory- excellent products.  ``Christian
Φ Darkwood Armory- product quality and custumer service.

Φ Darkwood Armory - very nice looking and handling pieces.  ``Jean
Φ Darkwood Armoury, because they also have gorgous stuff.
Φ Darkwood swords are very nice, but I have yet to purchase one.  ``Miguel

Φ Darkwood Armory--love Brian's work, durable, improving all of the time.  ``Corwin

Φ I am fond of Darkwood Armory's products for their quality, good handling and their "period" look.  ``Michael

An Tir

Φ Darkwood Armory -- great quality!  ``Juana
Φ Darkwood. Good quality, good service.  ``Ramon
Φ darkwood-- good service and quality stuff.
Φ Darkwood armory- good prices, and really good staff.  ``Gabrielle

Φ Darkwood Aromry. Scott has the best value and quality. He also can reasonably meet projected lead times.  ``Dormouse

Φ Darkwood Armory cuz he sells the only real good DelTin blades (I have tried to get Mr. Deltin to sell to me but he insists on going through Darkwood).  ``Samuale

Ansteorra

Φ Darkwood, quality.
Φ Black Wood Armories.
Φ Darkwood armory- Del tins.
Φ Darkwood-I get what I want.
Φ Darkwood Armory - correctness.

Φ Darkwood because they have beautiful work.
Φ Darkwood Armoury -- good people, good stuff.
Φ Darkwood Armory - beautiful guards and swords.  ``Henri

Φ They make the most accurate training weapons available.  ``Aeron
Φ Darkwood armory, great recreations and custom equipment.  ``Claire
Φ Darkwood, because their quality is unmatched and I know them.

Φ Darkwood -- Their work is fairly accurate, holds up well and sells at a nice price for what it is.  ``Doré

Atenveldt

Φ Darkwood - Great workmanship and authenticity.  ``Egan
Φ Darkwood Armory - best weapons going, bar none.  ``John Patrick
Φ Darkwood- they are willing to work with the customer.

Φ Darkwood armory- the best, closest to accurate available.  ``Senan
Φ Darkwood Armory. One of the best - yet a little expensive for a beginner.

Φ Darkwood Armory makes the best hilts currently available, in my experience. They are more durable, more period looking and period weighted and balanced than anything I have held in my 12 years of fencing.

Artemisia

Φ Darkwood Armory I like because: they have reasonable prices, good shipping times, back up their equipment, they're the most reliable stateside souce for del tin, and I like Scott's craftmanship.  ``Justin

Atlantia

Φ Darkwood, really nice toys.  ``Geoffrey
Φ Darkwood - beautiful work.  ``Ihsan
Φ Darkwood- more pretty toys.  ``Cam
Φ Darkwood has the BEST stuff.  ``Dante P
Φ darkwood because i like brian.  ``Rufus

Φ Darkwood - good quality and friendly.
Φ Darkwood Armory -- Best weapons in the world.  ``Belphoebe
Φ Darkwood makes the best rapiers on the east coast.
Φ Dark Wood has made some gorgeous blade-set-ups.

Φ Dark Wood Armory - qulity products from a personal friend.
Φ Darkwood Armory - great people, and excellent workmanship.
Φ Darkwood - Because you can get amazing custom work done.

Φ Darkwood Armory - best handling and looking rapiers and daggers - bar none!

Φ Darkwood Armory makes the best swords ever. They're pretty and weighted well, and very high quality.  ``Rois

Φ Darkwood Armoury - the only thing that prevents me from buying everything in the shop is I'm a poor student :)  ``Gunther

Φ Darkwood has beautiful blades. They are willing to do commissions. The combination of Brian's forging and Osprey's etching have made some incredible work.  ``Briana

Caid

Φ Darkwood Armoury for quality.
Φ Darkwood - great quality, great service.  ``Arabella
Φ Darkwood Armory- best hilts in the SCA.
Φ darkwood armory for quality of products.
Φ Darkwood. Most historical stuff I've seen so far.  ``David

Φ Dark wood. Great work on the hilts. Nice blades.
Φ Darkwood Armory because Brian just has great stuff!  ``Grainne
Φ Darkwood armory: great set-ups, good blades, great expertise.  ``Felinah
Φ Great researched period weapons, nice support, very reliable people.

Φ Darkwood armory, because of the high quality items that I have seen them produce.

Φ Darkwood Armory. Quality stuff, lasts well, authentic design, caters to the SCA needs.

Φ Darkwood Armoury. They offer good stuff at good prices and deliver in a timely manner.  ``Kelan

Φ Darkwood Armory- makes great stuff, really period and beautiful also deos great custom work.  ``Lot

Φ Darkwood Armory - Really well balanced equipment.  High quality.  Is a fencer and understands what period equipment should handle like.

Drachenwald

Φ Darkwood, excellent stuff, excellent service.  ``Cernac

Φ Darkwood Armory - he has supplied both of my Del Tin blades and my dagger. All are wonderfully made and fun to use. He is very easy to work with.  ``Muirghein

Ealdormere

Φ Darkwood - lovely stuff, when I can get it.  ``Nicholas

Φ Darkwood. They are nice people and their work is beautiful.

Φ Darkwood Armoury - quality, quality, competence and good service.

East

Φ Darkwood - Del Tins!!!
Φ Darkwood Armory, good quality recreation weapons.  ``Pascual
Φ Darkwood Armory, another good schlager/del tin supplier.  ``Richild

Φ Darkwood Armoury Best stuff out there. Well made and historically accurate.

Φ Darkwood Armory, if I had the expendable income, since their hiltwok is *gorgeous*.  ``Ian

Φ Darkwood Armory: Very light. Very well balanced. Easy to work with, both the blades and the people.  ``Jane

Φ Darkwood Armory is great, they create not only effective well balanced weapons, but attractive/artisticly appealing as well.  ``Ronan

Lochac

Φ Darkwood - Good Sword Furniture.  ``Francois

Φ Darkwood armouries - they make great weapons. That's really it. I don't have enough money to splurge on rapier gear.  ``Gregory

Φ Personally I use Del Tin blades set in Darkwood furniture, these are the best I've seen and handled for a period feel.  ``Dameon

Meridies

Φ Darkwood Armory as the source of Del Tins.
Φ Very nice, high quality, SCA-knowledgeable.
Φ Brian and Osprey do great work. It is really a cut above everything else.  ``Leon
Φ Darkwood Armory- I have owned their products over the years and am very happy with them.

Midrealm

Φ Darkwood, I love their work.  ``Uadahlrich
Φ Darkwood for the quality of the blades.  ``Robert
Φ Darkwood's stuff is beautiful and handles well.  ``Toshikage
Φ Darkwood Armory - best quality and reproductions.

Φ Darkwood. Darkwood. Darkwood. Because of Del Tin!
Φ Darkwood Armory- nice blades for more advance fencers.
Φ If price doesn't matter, go with Darkwood. Darkwood has a superior product.

Φ Darkwood Armory - great service, great rigs, accomodating to special requests.  ``Kyrstyan
Φ Darkwood because they do custom work the the stock work they have is exquisite.

Φ Darkwood, very accomidating, really taking the time and effort to match the best sword to the individual.

Φ While I don't use him, I've seen Darkwood's stuff and when I have enough for a new blade he is my choice.

Φ Darkwood Armory. Brian's hilts have always been on the high-end, and his work just keeps getting better. His relationship with Del Tin also positions him to provide THE BEST rapier simulators available to us.  ``Christian

Northshield

Φ Darkwood for Del Tin blades.  ``Rodrigo
Φ Darkwood Armory - Great stuff.  ``Simon
Φ Darkwood armoury. Nice product, good people.

Φ Darkwood Armory hands down for swords. Lovely design, excellent workmanship, reasonable price.  ``Margalit

Outlands

Φ Darkwood Armory - excellent blades.
Φ Darkwood Armoury (Del Tin, 'nuf said...)  ``Antoine
Φ Darkwood - Good quality stuff and Osprey is a great friend.  ``Carrick

Φ Darkwood Armouries - great hilts, great work, great balance.  ``Charles
Φ Darkwood Armoury - They have the really cool and cutting edge stuff.  ``Christian
Φ Darkwood armory for swords, great guy and great stuff, owned his stuff for 9 years.

Trimaris

Φ Darkwood Armory for their furniture.

Φ Darkforge armory. Beauty of the equipment.

Φ Darkwater Armories - They were so friendly and helpful and the workmanship on their swords is wonderful.

If Darkforge or Darkwater is actually another merchant, please tell me... I did look.

Φ Darkwood Armory. Brian is putting out some good looking quality pieces. We have some of the first schlagers he produced from 10 years ago, most still have the original blades.

West

Φ dark wood , the best.
Φ Darkwood - Great gaurds.  ``Nytshaed
Φ darkwood armouries - good replicas.

Plus generic mentions from: AEthelmearc 1, An Tir 2, Ansteorra 2, Atenveldt 1, Atlantia 5, Caid 4, Drachenwald 1, East 2, Meridies 2, Outlands 1, and the West 1.

NEUTRAL/MIXED

Φ An Tir ~ Darkwood, a little slow sometimes but BY FAR the best equipment

Φ Anst. ~ Darkwood - takes a while to get things but they are wonderful.

Φ Caid ~ Darkwood Armory - great sword, but supply is limited.

Φ Caid ~ Darkwood - Outstanding product though slow and somewhat expensive.  ``John James

Φ Caid ~ I've heard Darkwood Armoury takes For-fricking-ever to get things to you. but he does good work.  ``Meala

Φ Eald. ~ Darkwoods Armouries –> Best hilts/assembled swords you can get for SCA use, they pay attention to balance, quality and period style, but you pay for that...  ``Wilhelm

Φ East ~ Darkwood...beautiful, high quality stuff, but you pay real gold for it...  ``Alain

Φ West ~ I love my del tin from darkwood armory, but I never could get a fencing helm from them.  ``Etain

UNFAVORABLE

Φ Atl. ~ I don't like most of the Darkwood daggers - handles are too small. They do some pretty work on the longer bladed weapons. Price is a bit stiff, and I am not sure if it is worth the premium.  ``Nikolai

Φ Caid ~ Scott at Darkwood Armory. I asked for a weapon once with very exact specifications--and he said it was something he could do. What I got was something very different. I will not blacklist him from my list of possible weapon smiths--as I believe everyone deserves a second chance. However, when it comes to my weapons, you only get to screw up once.  ``Tora

Φ Mid. ~ Darkwood - Too pricey. Bad customer service.  ``Maximilian

Φ Mid. ~ With Darkwood, I got to play the waiting game, which in itself isn't unreasonable. When I ordered in mid-October, I was told that it would be about an eight to ten week wait. Around Christmas time, I called to find out what my status was. I was told that it would be after New Year's. I called again in mid-January and was told that it would be about two weeks. Two weeks later, I called again and was assured that the sword would be shipping on Monday and that I would have my sword by the end of the week - in time to catch a big event in our kingdom. On Tuesday of that week, I checked the tracking number. UPS had no such package. When I called to confirm the number, I was told that UPS was somewhat unreliable and that Darkwood had these shipping problems before. On Wednesday evening, the tracking number went active, displaying a pick-up at the sender (Darkwood). I got the swords the following Monday, one day after the tournament. Four weeks later, my handle cracked and I was told that it would cost at least $20 plus shipping to replace it, depending on what handle option I chose. My warder has also had a bad experience. The hilt he recieved from Darkwood last year (just before I began fencing with him) bent at the quillons. When he complained to Darkwood, he was told that he fenced too hard. The quillons have continued to bend inward through normal use over the past year, and now the ends are pressed against the sides of the hilt.

[end]

Comments on other merchants

American Fencers . James the Just . Scottie . Triplette . The rest

Your feedback is most welcome!

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