Thank you Lee, and welcome everybody!

[fernando]

Originally Posted by katana

... I have often argued that European weapons should be represented in an Ethnographic weapons forum. Afterall some ethno weapons have trade blades, a number of weapon designs were heavily influenced by 'invading' (trading ?) colonialists (and vis versa) ...and of course it gives some sort of context to the weapons tribesmen faced when Europeans suddenly 'turned up' on their doorstep ...

I quite agree.

Originally Posted by katana

PS Very nice sword Fernando

Tank you David,
I have read your wishlist, the other day, and noticed that some of your tastes are similar to mine.
By 1796 pattern sword, do you mean the "light" one or the "heavy" one ?.
I saw a heavy one recently in a flea market, with some wear, certainly full of history ... most probably from when the Brits were around here, during the Napoleonic invasions. But as i gave priority to my hand cannon, offered by the same seller at the same time, i didn't buy such nice sword. This fair takes place every second Sunday. If it is still there next time, i may well go for it.
Concerning the light version, i will open a thread with an excavated specimen, that resembles somehow such pattern.
Fernando