The passing of a Legend Hank Reinhardt. Read a brief Biography and Eulogy on Hank.

Witham Sword- 10th Century Viking Sword from the River Witham	Dordogne Sword- from the Dordogne River near Castillon	Henry V Sword

A word from Hank:

I have had people question me regarding the affiliation with Generation 2 swords, since I never carried any Filipino made swords at MRL. The answer is very simple. The swords we looked at were case hardened and not fully tempered. Case hardening is where the surface of the steel is treated with carbon. The metal is heated up and soaked, and then quenched. This leaves a hard edge, but the interior of the sword is soft. After being sharpened a few times, the hard portion is worn away, and only soft metal remains. More importantly, the body of the sword is not tempered. 

However the Gen 2 swords are fully heated treated (tempered) all the way through. The swords I have looked at have all be a good quality sword, made with good steel and capable of being used. In reality they are better than the original, since the metal and the heat treating more consistent than swordmakers were able to get in the past.
 

So what you get are good quality swords at an affordable price.

In addition, the fit and finish that I have seen is better than a large majority of swords from other sources.

The swords, and the sword prices, should speak for themselves, and they do.
 

                                                                  Hank Reinhardt
 
 

I have been interested in arms and armor since I was about 6, but serious interest began when I was about 16, and I really started collecting weapons then. In the army I spent two years in Germany, where I had a chance to travel and was able to visit most of the museums in Europe. At that time there was very little interest in Arms and Armor, so the curators of the various museums were eager to talk about the subject, and let me examine many of their finds.
I continued studying and collecting when I came home from Germany, and I traveled  to museums in the US that I could reach.

When the SCA got started in 1966 I found out about it in 1967, and started a group in Birmingham (Iron Mountain) then traveled to Atlanta where I helped start the group there, and also helped in getting groups started in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, while I continued my study of the subject. Wrote several articles for the early Tournaments Illuminated, and also showed some of the members how to make wooden curved shields.

I will say that I got tired of the local politics in the SCA and dropped out about 74-75.

Bill Adams at Atlanta Cutlery and I started Museum Replicas in 1984. At the time of the startup there were no swords available. But when we  found Del Tin in Italy we were able to bring in good swords at reasonable prices. Having this access to the swords allowed me to conduct many experiments on the cutting power and effectiveness of various edged weapons. That gave me the time to sort out the myth and fantasy from the reality that surrounds edged weapons.

I wrote a couple of articles on swords for Knives. Plus some minor articles on Kukris, etc. for Blade Magazine. In the mid to late 80's I met Ewart Oakeshott and we soon became good friends. I felt that he was one of the few people who had a real knowledge of swords.

I continued my role as a serious student of arms and armor, with the emphasis on arms. Having also continued to experiment and test various bits of armor and arms and continued to spar, including giving various demonstrations each year a the blade show. This continues till this day, but at 73 it gets harder and harder. 

During this time I started writing a book on swords about 10 years ago, and could have had it finished but new information kept cropping up. The book is now almost complete except for a few minor changes and additions.

Bill and I sold Museum Replicas to Windlass Steelcrafts in 1995, and I stayed on as a consultant for many years. It was obvious that they were not paying any attention to me, and I left last year.

Recently Eddie Floyd and I have developed two practice swords and are in the process of getting them to market. Should be a great success, since they look and feel like swords, and can be weighted to be the same weight as a real sword, but will not injure anyone with only a minimum of padding.

I don't know whether to mention it or not, but just about all of the early sword and armor copy in MRL was written by me, but I haven't been doing any of it for quite some time now.

More credentials and works by Hank Reinhardt:

VIKING SWORD (video)
How to Use the Viking Sword in Real Combat

by Hank Reinhardt

(Video Background) The Vikings were among the most feared warriors in the history of mankind. In this extraordinary video, renowned historian and sword expert Hank Reinhardt provides a rare insight into the sword fighting tactics of the Viking raiders. Reinhardt spent decades analyzing archaeological relics, the Icelandic sagas and other historical materials to develop a theoretical blueprint of the Vikings’ fearsome style of sword combat. He then put his theory to the test through countless hours of full-contact sparring with reproduction weapons. Through dramatic fights featuring swordsmen in authentic period costume, this video presents a graphic analysis of all four major styles of Viking sword combat (sword vs. sword, sword and shield without armor, sword and shield with minimal armor, and sword and shield with full armor) and teaches you the most reliable, combat-proven tactics of each.

 MYTH OF THE SWORD (video)

by Hank Reinhardt

(Video Background) In this original Paladin production, world-renowned sword expert Hank Reinhardt pulls aside the veil of myth and fantasy to expose the realities of swords and sword combat. Often controversial, sometimes provocative, but never boring, Reinhardt presents a detailed history of swords, their evolution and their use in both warfare and individual combat around the globe. Reinhardt also answers the most commonly asked questions on dueling, ancient and medieval warfare and modern-day care of swords. Finally, through dramatic cutting demonstrations on armored and un-armored targets, he demonstrates the proper use and awesome power of a variety of swords, from Japanese katanas to medieval broadswords.