Don't wanna pull the focus off your bucket, but you mentioned the bowie for a beskad... The beskad is one of those recent things that people haven't put into print or video yet, so there's a lot of latitude there. I've been working on a few designs, and they're much more like yours than the way they're described by Traviss. Several variants use a straight blade--almost like a katana--considerably longer than the description in the novel. From Traviss' description, and the way it's used, I've always thought she was thinking of something akin to a cutlass. However, when I think of a Mandalorian blade, I think of the one used in a panel of the graphic novel Open Seasons by a Deathwatch soldier (I know--not Mandalorian, then, but darned close); and the one used by Boba Fett in another graphic novel, STAR WARS: Underworld, The Yavin Vassilika. And then, of course, there's the 300 version of the spartan sword--there's a blade with personality. Each of these have the different blade look like your bowie. Personally, I think someone covered in armor fighting someone covered in armor would be more likely to use something more like a stiletto or a war hammer, something with a long, thin element that could be thrust between plates. I'd be happy to continue to discuss this through pms, or here, if you don't find it too off-topic.