Anyone know where to get swords from?

[FATTER GATOR]

Dear all.

Just been asked to be best man for a mate at Lossie for his wedding in July. It's in uniform and he has asked me to sort out the swords for his guard. Anyone know who I talk to or where to go to sort it out?

Cheers!
FG

p.s. sorry it's not a rumour. I'll do some digging and see if I can come up with anything juicy for the future.

[VinRouge]

Stations usually have a ceremonial supply, but dont know exactly how many they hold.

Unfortunately, STC is the only other place I know of to get the Swords from, as Innsworth did hold them until its demise....

Think you pay in the region of £20 Hire per sword, plus repair costs if you use them to open champagne bottles :} Gloves and belts come included.

As an aside,its a great tragedy that the only place you can purchase NEW ceremonial swords from is from a place in germany. Wilkinsons stopped producing them 2 1/2 years ago :sad:

[Duncan D'Sorderlee]

I got mine from High Wycombe, but I believe that Leuchars has a set. You need to get 8 - 6 for the Guard and one each for the groom and best man.

Dunc:ok:

[FATTER GATOR]

Thanks chaps, I'l give them a try!

[Flying Lawyer]

VinRouge

That would indeed be a tragedy but, thankfully, Pooley Sword (a British company) now produces what were Wilkinson swords.

Robert Pooley who'd been commissioning swords from Wilkinson for 40 years, bought Wilkinson’s drawings, product records, spares and much of their tooling when they ceased production in 2005.

The blades are forged in India, using the Wilkinson drawings and tooling, by a family which has been making ceremonial swords for the several generations, and then etched and finished to Wilkinson's designs in England.

Pooley's RAF Officer's regulation sword was designed by Wilkinson,
and adopted by the Air Ministry in 1925.

I've seen some Pooley swords - they are magnificent.
More info, and pictures, on their website.

[circle kay]

Leuchars do have the swords for the Scottish stations but they are all centrally controlled by the stackers. The post was at Insworth but I guess its moved to Air now (or been gapped more like because the civiy didn’t want to move); ask your friendly SWO, on some stations he/she is the only one the stackers will accept applications from.

[sisemen]

HQ STC (P1 - or whatever they call themselves nowadays) are the mob to contact. That's where I got mine from for my disastrous 2nd marriage.

[4mastacker]

During my time as a friendly, neighbourhood stacker, I received plenty of requests for swords, white belts, white gloves, ADCs bog chain thingys, officers greatcoats and suchlike. It was SOP, whether for official ceremonial or weddings, to request a loan of the required items from a central pool (IIRC controlled by the CHQ Suppliers but held at Uxbridge/Innsworth although these arrangements may have changed). Once the loan was approved it was the unit's responsibility to collect and return the items. As first port of call, I would suggest you try OC DSF at your local Supply Sqn (or their modern equivalents).

[allan909]

They don't half get in the way though. They're a real trap for the unwary and, no doubt, nervous, groom. Far better to bog off to Las Vegas and get down and dirty!

[Elmlea]

Ring up the Officers' Mess at High Wycombe; the "sword custodian" works in an office there next to the mess manager and someone will be able to give you the right number for him.

He'll fax or post you a hire agreement sheet and details of the insurance etc, which you sign and post back to him with a cheque. He'll let you know where you can pick the swords up from; lots of places have public pools for parades etc, but you'll need the nearest non-public pool, which is almost certainly Leuchars.

When dropping them off, remember to try and take the Monday after the wedding off work, otherwise you'll find yourself wandering around Leuchars on a Sunday afternoon trying to find someone willing to take responsibility for 12 swords before returning them for you the day after!

[Nat O'Thee]

All changed, swords no longer held at High Wycombe (changed 2 weeks ago), that set are now at Halton. £30 per sword plus a deposit of £50 for the entire set you hire.

The other swords stres (Leuchars plus 1) are controlled through Halton

PM me for number at Halton or just ring Clothing Stores at Halton and ask for Helen.

[Farfrompuken]

FG,

Please check PM inbox.

[BluntM8]

When dropping them off, remember to try and take the Monday after the wedding off work, otherwise you'll find yourself wandering around Leuchars on a Sunday afternoon trying to find someone willing to take responsibility for 12 swords before returning them for you the day after!

Will you now, Elmlea?

Or will you palm it off on a mate and run off with the new Missus Elmlea instead! :p

[Elmlea]

Or will you palm it off on a mate and run off with the new Missus Elmlea instead!

It must have been the time before.... :*

[Tommy Tipee]

Flying Lawyer

The illustration you have posted is actually a Rifle Regiment Sword.
The RAF pattern has a gold plated guard, eagle head pommel, white fish skin grip, and the scabbard is of polished black leather with gold plated mounts.
I agree that Pooleys have maintained the high standards of the old Wilkinson brand, but their website is in error with this example.

[Wensleydale]

Its probably easier to pop down to your local toy shop and buy a set of Star Wars light sabres. They may well lack the impact of Pooley's swords, but are a damn sight cheaper and it doesn't matter if you lose/break a couple.

The wedding photos will also be more interesting, although getting the future Mrs and bridesmaids to wear their hair in bunched plats will be quite tricky.

(Why not get some for the photos anyway).:ok:

[Flying Lawyer]

TT

Ah! :(

I didn't notice there's a difference between the thumbnail and the full picture to which it links.
I assume it's the website creator's error, because the description of the sword is correct.

I'll remove the picture from my previous post.

[Whenurhappy]

There was/is a firm in the West Midlands (World Wide Arms) that used to sell quite good RAF swords, made in India. Very few people in the RAF could spot the difference, and a few years ago, I was part of a Guard of Honour (alias the 'Sword Party') that clubbed together and bought one for the chap getting hitched - for about £150.

WP

[Monty77]

Wensleydale - I like your thinking.

The whole thing could be given a Star Wars theme, with Jedis (Guard of Honour) battling Jabba the Hutt (Mother-in-law) at the church gate.

Then all off down the pub in those whizzy jobs that pull your chariot along on bits of string.

Finally, to the best man:

Seek advice on the cool way to open a bottle of wine/champagne with a sword. It involves prior preparation etc etc, but deftly sliding your blade up the neck of a bottle of Bolly and the top breaking cleanly without covering all and sundry in fizz is what the frogs call 'de riguer'.

Saw a cavalry mate in full rig at a wedding in the 80s perform said trick.

With a twitch of his waxed 'tache, the bastard had the pick of the bridesmaids. Very Harry Flashman, but very impressive if done properly.

Or stick to the 80 bob, seeing as how it's Scotland. Your call, but enjoy the day.

[Monty77]

Don't cut the cake with the sword. It's against Health and Safety regulations or something, isn't it.

[FATTER GATOR]

Job done and sorted!

Thanks for your suggestions chaps. I knew the good old PPRuNe would come up trumps....Now back to that slagging that kn*b head NIMBY:D:D

[Union Jack]

Don't cut the cake with the sword. It's against Health and Safety regulations or something, isn't it?

FG - But if the cake is cut with a sword, for Goodness' sake make sure that the blade is properly cleaned before being replaced in the scabbard - someone "borrowed" my sword when I was away from base and I didn't discover until much later when I started rehearsing for a major parade which required a drawn sword - only to discover the blade was covered in cake crumbs and corrosion. Not funny, and very expensive to restore properly.

Jack

PS On a lighter note, isn't wedding cake supposed to be the most deadly substance known to man?

[5 Forward 6 Back]

Before I start randomly ringing around, does anyone know who to contact for a non-public sword nowadays? I remember the bloke at High Wycombe doing it, but I'm not sure if it's all changed. Who's the man to ring now?

[Vizsla]

Just as likely Police armed response unit will show up and arrest anyone with a blade more than 3" long

[30mRad]

5F6B

Done by Halton now. Lovely lady in stores (whose name escapes me I'm afraid but will try to find the email with it on and let you know) will sort you out. If I don't get back then just 'phone stores and they should be able to work it out!

30mRad

[saudih]

Beware, it being Scotland.... At my sword equipped bash some 30 yrs ago the local jock jumpers decided that Scottish sword dancing would be a good party piece. Things went well for about 30 seconds then there was the awful crunch and grind of 2 out of step/ability/overfilled chaps stamping all over said crossed swords.:eek:

Took about an hour to get the damn things straight enough to slide back into the scabbards. (Top tip if it happens to you is to shut the sword blade in the hinge side of a door and while a mate holds the door you pull the blade out.... soft wooden doors don't damage the blades......;))

[alisoncc]

I would imagine swords are like bayonets, in that any surface contaminant on the blade is considered illegal under the Geneva Convention. Whenever we had an inspection before a "Freedom of where ever" parade, the inspecting officer would examine bayonets, even to the extent of smelling them to make sure there was no possibility of them having been cleaned with Brasso or similar.

So make sure there are no crumbs attached if you are intending to stick your sword into anyone. It's so embarrasing to have someone die of blood poisoning six months after you were supposed to have killed them.:ok:

[Dan Winterland]

I got mine from HQ support command at Brampton, which isn't of any help whatsoever. (It was 22 years ago!).

But when I went there to pick them up, there was one less than I had booked due to a sword having to go back to Wilkinsons to have currants removed - or something. So I was given the AOC's sword to borrow on the condition that it was me that wore it, and under no circumstamces was I to use it to cut the cake.




Now would I do something like that?

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb73/dbchippy/079.jpg

[spectre150]

As 30mRad says, RAF Halton is a good source as I hired a sword for them last summer. The lady was indeed most helpful. If the previous poster has lost the details or does not get back to you let me know and I will dig out her details.

[pasir]

Just for the record its understood that the best swords in the world are made in Japan.

[5 Forward 6 Back]

Thanks all; managed to get in touch with the requisite lovely lady at Halton, and am all sorted out!

Cheers!

[TorqueOfTheDevil]

Don't cut the cake with the sword


I found the white gloves which I was wearing at the time were very good for removing cake from blade


isn't wedding cake supposed to be the most deadly substance known to man


No - the only damage it does is to the woman's sex drive...:*