Hollow Earth Wasters yes or no?

[Jonathan Harton]

I saw this on the links page and must say the wasters look beautiful. How do they preform?

[Allen Johnson]

I had a poor experience with them customer service wise. I ordered a single hand and they gave me some hobbit sword--- all about a month after it was supposed to be delivered. Rather than deal with them again i just hacked it down to a dirk-like waster. I really am interested in their cut and thrust wasters but I dont know if I want to deal with them again.

[Brian Hunt]

Nice Wasters,

slow on customer service.

Brian Hunt
GFS.

[John_Clements]

I have yet to have a blade of theirs break in 7 years. I own perhaps 9 of them. Some are superb if you get the right deisgn. Excellent craftsmanship either way.

JC

[Martin,Younger]

when i order one of there long swords it took it quite a while to get here and when i would contact hollow earth they would always say that it is on the way. when it did get here i was and still am happy with it it is very tough. it has a 7 inch handle with fishtail pommel and i suggest that u not go with that pommel. it was some sharp egdes one it and every time i use it it leaves a bruse in my hand.

[Brian_Hook]

Horrid customer service, When I first started up with the NYC group I wanted to order a waster, I wanted a Little Raven Great sword but I was told there was 6-8 week lead time, So I call Hollow Earth because I like the ones that our group has and ask if I can get one with in 2 weeks, She says yes of course they can. I call two weeks later and no waster...so I call back and was told nope no one ever said they could get me one in two weeks, but they would get me one by the end of that week, week went by no waster, I called up they told me it was shipping the following Friday, again no waster, Called told it was shipped next day air, again no waster, this went on for another few weeks...I got the Little Raven before I finally got the Hollow Earth. I like the Waster the extra hilt space is nice, blade heavy in my opinion, if I could go back and change it I would have ordered an NSA great sword instead.

[Stacy Clifford]

Your best bet with Hollow Earth is to catch them when they pass through the nearest Renaissance festival. They are usually traveling around to all of those and it's a big part of why their service is often slow. Although I think some of their designs are poorly suited for martial arts (some of their longswords have fairly short blades and/or overly long handles), they also have some extremely good ones, and as John said their craftsmanship is very high quality. In my opinion, their cut and thrust swords are the best I've seen for balance, performance, and appearance.

[Jeffrey Hull]

I own a Hollow Earth longsword waster that is really tough, but I had to modify the design of the hilting quite a bit it to make it more accurate and less fanciful. As far as customer service, my long-distance experience turned out well enough.

Like SC stated, you would do better to handle and decide in person if you can, as preventive of any long-distance customer-service can becoming a frustrating limbo.

JH

[Randall Pleasant]

Stacy Clifford wrote:
In my opinion, their cut and thrust swords are the best I've seen for balance, performance, and appearance.

I'll second Stacy's opinion about their cut & thrust swords. I also use their long swords. I find their long swords to be a little bulkier, especially their pommels, but they are tough and well made. I always get mine directly from them at a Renn fair below Dallas, TX, and always receive first rate service.

[Kirk Siemsen]

I have a group who ordered some wasters from Hollow Earth. A couple of months later, they said they never received our order. We cancelled all our checks, and started a new order via certified mail. After another couple of months, I called and they said that they were in the mail. Two weeks later, I called and a lady said that she had no idea why they would say such a thing as they just starting on our order. I hear they have great wasters, but the customer service is horrid. On a postive note, they are very friendly, usually $10 cheaper than others, and do give a discount for ARMA members.

[Matt Bryant]

Yes, customer service has been very bad. They tried to quelch on replacing a waster that we broke, and it took almost half a year to arrive!! I was very unhappy. The handling is very hit or miss, and I won't personaly deal with them again.

I suggest New Stirling Arms.

[Allen Johnson]

oops- sorry - edited- didnt realize this was an old thread and I already commented