What you think about this low-priced sword???

[Guest]

Hello everyone,

Since I am tired of borrowing the swords I use for practice and combat, I am willing to buy my first one. I know you might get many messages of this sort over the time, and I hope that you won't get annoyed with my questions.

But I would really like you to give me your advice about this sword I found at Cold Steel :

http://www.ltspecpro.com/specpro/88thws.html

Let me tell you that I develop the practice of the 2-handed sword. I am 5'8, strongly built (!). I practice more the strikes on the flanks than the estoc, but I still use the estoc, since every engagement should end with such a hit, in my own opinion. Unless you chopped the head... But there is no such violence in modern fencing, so it might not be as important. I still give you the more details possible to help you make your mind.

Thank you for your comments and advice,

Fred Smith
Quebec City, Canada

[GaryGrzybek]

Fred,

Cold Steel makes a very decent product but I can't really comment much further since I never handled the sword in question. It looks like a nice weapon for the price, which seems very reasonable. It might be worth taking a chance. If you plan on using this for steel training and drills you might want to find out if they come sharp or not too.

[kyle cook]

I have a sword like this but with a longer handle. It's a wooden waster i made my self. I like using it because of the control i get with it and you can choke up on it if you want too. I'm looking for one like this but my handle is 18 inches long and blade is 34 inches long.

[Guest]

Fred,

It's really impossible to evaluate a sword without handling it and I haven't seen any of the Cold Steel products personally. If you are serious about getting something you can train with that will give you the feel of a period weapon, weight and balance are very important. Most inexpensive blades have little or no distal taper, which adversely effects the handling. Also, a weapon for serious training must have a strong hilt and beefy tang to withstand hard use. The hilt components are what will usualy fail first. This particular weapon looks to be an attempt at replicating the big renassaince two-handers, but is too short, being only a little longer than the typical medieval longsword. It doesn't look like a good replica for serious training, but your mileage may vary. I really like Lutel for training weapons and although I have not handled their big two-handers, they have several the look very nice. Their website is at: www.lutel.cz

[Guest]

Thank you very much for all your comments people. I really appreciate the time you took to answer me.

I just got a special discount price for a medieval german two-hand sword that fits the requirement for training and combat. In fact the price is so reasonable that even if it breaks after 2 hits, that would still be a good buy. I got it from a seller in Montreal, Qc. If it is real good stuff, I'll let you know.

Thanks again,

Fred Smith
Quebec City, Canada

[scott adair]

Fred,

I have handled that particular blade and it felt heavy to me. JC posted some comments in his 2003 sword show review that you might take a look at. I recently bought a cold steel hand and a half and have been pleased with it. The blade does have a distal taper and the hilt feels solid. I am about to do some cutting on a large cardboard carpet tube and a tatami mat.

Scott