I designed this one with a lot of help from Brenno for my wife. She had trained a little bit in Wushu and was found of the Jian/Gim style swords... and has a deep and abiding love for Foxes.
She is very short, its hard to find Jian swords that feel right to hear, none of mine ever have. So I decided to let Fable Blades MAKE one!
I sent a sketch to Brenno, which was pure crap... he sent me back several versions of the first sketch I sent, we talked back and forth, made a change here and there, and settle on a design. He was SUPER awesome in the whole process.
Historical overview
There is a long and deep history to the martial arts of China and the Jian/Gim sword. However, this is a fantasy piece only VERY loosely based on a Jian... so best to call it what it is. Something very new.
Initial Impressions
I was blown away by this unique and perfect sword. Sadly, though Brenno worked super fast to get it done on an accelerated timetable... the Navy, in its infinite wisdom, saw fit to deploy my wife 2 weeks earlier then we expected... and the blade arrived the day AFTER she left!
I was heartbroken, because upon seeing it, I knew she would fall in love with it.
Time passed, she came home, and I was shown right.
Thanks Brenno!
The Fox Jian has a short blade for my short wife... with perfect apple-seed edges. It swells in the center smoothly and is light, thin but very VERY strong.
It has a great stabbing point!
You cans see how it transitions from VERY thick near the grip and thins out to the blade.
The Handle
Made of Wood 'Tactical Style' its a great compromise in size. It feels great in my huge hands and in my wife's very small hands as well.
Plenty of room for my grip, super comfortable.
The makers mark, tastefully applied to the tang of the sword.
The Guard
THIS is were Brenno's genius really came threw... he came up with the idea of shaping the 'Guard' (Being a tactical Weapon, it has no TRUE Guard) to be the Fox head. Its stunning to me, and more importantly, to my wife!
The Pommel
No true pommel, but Brenno flared the area out and drilled some holes in it, it looks very nice and also allows me to hang a tassel there if I so wish.
The Scabbard
No scabbard yet... but as with my other Fable Blades, Fellow forumite Rich Mccaughey will be doing a natural wood scabbard for this sword. I will update when it is finished.
Handling Characteristics
This sword is near weightless. At less then two pounds with a very close PoB, it feels almost light a lightsaber! Yet, its still VERY durable and cuts surprisingly well for such a light straight blade.
Truth to tell, this sword has become my favorite sword... and its not mine! I will be asking Brenno to make one for me in the near future, only Wolf Themed. I can't wait.
A picture of the Fox Jian next to the well known Cold Steel Gim Sword.
Test Cutting
I made a fun silly video for you all, feel free to laugh! This sword is effortless to use, I'm in love with it.
Conclusions
I set out to have something designed for my wife that she would love... and in this, thanks to Fable Blades, I was successful. What I did NOT expect is to end up loving this sword so much myself! This is, hands down, my favorite sword to cut with in my whole collection... and my collection has Albion's and Atrim's and Tinker's in it!
Pros
Unmatched handling!
Custom design, with help from the maker even better then what I had first pictured.
Amazing durability.
A very happy wife!
Cons
A little bit above the standard Sub-300 price point here on the forums.
Thick apple-seed edge keeps the sword from being RAZOR sharp, tho it is plenty sharp.
The Bottom Line
This sword is stupid good. It does everything I wanted it to do, and more. This sword is why I will be getting another one similar to it, and THAT says how I feel about this sword more then any other words could!
