Swords Reviews

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The dark ANNIHILATOR
Posts: 364
Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2003 12:00 pm

Post by The dark ANNIHILATOR » Sun Aug 22, 2004 8:32 am

Swords Review
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For a basic Sword Steel description, go here.


Medieval Combat Sword
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Made by: Darksword Armory
Retail Price: $175 US
Blade: none-sharp 1050 carbon steel Tempered to a Rockwell of 50, full tang
Meant for: Battle Re-enactment

Historically, this highly maneuverable sword was used between 1000 until 1250. Slight variations were also used by the Vikings during the late 900's and variations to the pommel were also found during the late 1200's. The original sword can be found on p. 63 of David Edge's "Medieval Knight".
As armor became more and more complex these swords emerged to counter the protective plating of the Armored knight. Given the sword's ability to penetrate plated armor, sword makers began producing similar narrow bladed weapons. As time progressed, this model was recognized as one of the most damaging European sword. The bulk of the weight of this combat sword is placed at the pommel, which provides a superbly fine balance. The sword is made with a 3/4 length fuller and graceful, downward curved steel cross-guard.
Total length: 41"
Blade length: 33.5"
Blade width at base: 1.8"
Weight: 2 lbs 10 oz.

This is a fairly good combat sword which I got for a good deal with shealth for $120 US. The blade has been forged fairly well being shock resistant, and its historically accurate in its look. The blade is not sharp since its meant for live steel battle.(Oddly enough the tip is still pointy.) The company Darksword Armoury took the measurement and look from actual museum pieces. The company also produces swords for museums (before and after thing) and some TV series and movies aswell.
Being a one handed sword, it is expected to be quick, but with a 33 inch blade, its still astounding. One of the downside of the sword is the fact that it has to polished now and then to avoid stain build up. This sword is ideal for battle contests in Renaissance fairs because of its nice balance, maneuverability and historical accuracy.

Conan Barbarian Atlantean sword
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Made by: Darksword Armory
Retail Price: Was $250 US, but no longer made
Blade: none-sharp 1060 carbon steel tempered Rockwell of 53, full tang
Meant for: Battle re-enactment

This sword being a fantasy sword, it has no scientifically historical background. But according to the people who designed the sword for the Conan movie, they mixed history with fantasy. Same like the writers did when creating the script. Historically elements in the Conan movie would be the Germanic elements of Conan’s tribe. The swords have runes inscriptions and the term Valhalla was mentioned by Arnold. Also there are elements of the Huns, when Conan traveled to the eastern steppes to learn new things as a gladiator. Also, the snake religion of Seth and its cannibal custom was also taken from some historical sources according to the director. But I’m not so sure about that, since Seth was an Egyptian god. And Egyptians didn’t do cannibalism. Unless there were 2 Seths. Other than that, the story is fantasy. The movie has 2 main swords. The shape of the father’s master sword is celtic, but it has been modified and made longer. The Conan Atlantean sword has handle elements from a Viking sword. Also, it has a middle handle for close combat, which is an element from the Scottish Wallace sword. But both elements have been modified and extremely elaborated with an incredible ornate decoration.
The Time frame of Conan the barbarian is somewhere around 500 B.C to 600 A.D. It seems to fit most with the Celtic and Germanic cultural elements. Even though it mentions that it plays around the time where the ocean drank Atlantis, according to Plato Atlantis sank 10000 years before plate, which is defiantly not the iron age.

Now having said that, in actual history swords in Europe were not longer than 30”. Even Celtic swords were roman gladius size. Also, only important members in a tribe were able to own a sword. The rest would use an axe or a spear for battle. Long swords turned up generally around 400 A.D by some north german tribes, while before that it was only special swords for horse ride or chariot swords that were longer than the gladius in length. That’s includes Rome, Greece and western Europe.
So yeah, while the Conan Atlatean sword has some historical features, its for the most part fantasy. But that uncanny fantasy element is something I like about the fictional barbarian world.

Total length: 41”
Handle Length: 10”
Blade width at base: 2.5”
Weight: around 7 lbs

I really like this sword. I bought it second hand from a costumer of darksword armory for $170. I don’t remember if this sword was a custom build sword, or if it was a discontinued series. But not just even is the blade wider than the official Marto(Inox steel) or Albion Conan Replica, the blade is also not as hard and more shock resistant than the 1075 steel version of the Albion replica. On the other hand, while the Albion version is more fancier, and about $500 more expensive, its to precious for combat, while the dark sword Armory version was purely meant for live steel action. And that’s the most surprising. With 7 pounds, its still fairly good balanced. Most of the weight is the elaborate brass decoration, and not the blade. Also, the middle handle makes the blade very quick and maneuverable in close combat. But don’t be mistaken, its still heavy. While the weight has an element of crushing ability, you will strain your muscles if you are not used swinging it. The only problem is, that the blade stains if not polished now and then, and it does not have the artistic runic inscription of the movie version. But still, this blade is extremely durable and forged well. It can easily damage a softer or harder blade with its 2.5 wide blade. If you go to a Renaissance fair that is not very picky about historical flaws, this words is a very good choice. There are many barbarian battle swords out there, but next to the 5160 Barbarian swords at barbarianswords.com, this sword is the best barbarian battle sword to buy. If darksword armory would still sell it.

Sword of Light
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Made By :?
Retail Price: $49.99
Blade: semi-sharp 440c or 420c stainless steel Rockwell? , rat tail tang
Meant for: Wall hanger

It’s a fantasy sword, so its similar to my Barbarian history rant above. Its just not the Conan universe, but some other Barbarian fantasy universe.

Total length: 39”
Handle Length: 6”
Blade width: 2.1
Weight: 5.1 pounds

First off, this is not the $150 wall hanger from United Cuttlery, but a cheaper version from Pakistan. Nevertheless, the design is still very nice. The barbarian fantasy shape reminds me of the 80s He-Man cartoon. Also, it makes a very nice wall hanger. I payed $20 for it on eBay. So it was still a alright deal. Unfortunately it does not have the runic inscriptions on the blade like the United Cutlery version. Balance wise, while you can still swing it around, its very blade heavy, and heavy party of the sword is the blade. The sword is 440c or 420c stainless steel and rat tail tan, so don’t even think about clashing it with another sword. Either the sword will snap at the handle or at the blade. Either way, you can get hurt. But obviously, if someone is clashing a semi-sharp sword against another sword, he/she doesn’t care about someone getting hurt.
Anyways, this sword is still a nice decoration piece.


Roman Gladius
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Made By: ?
Retail Price: $124.99 US
Blade: non-sharp 1050 or 1060 carbon steel Rockwell?, Full tang
Meant for: Battle Re-enactment

This type of Roman Gladius is the “Mainz Gladius”, which was mainly used around 100-10 BCE. Around 75 CE the Pompey Gladius was comon, which had a shorter point and was non-bee wasted. The Romans being pragmatic and engineers, the Mainz Gladius was designed very well, to have an edge over other sword styles. It was fairly light, good in cutting and very good in piercing thick armor. This was the sword that conquered most of the ancient known world.

Total length: 27”
Handle Length: 6”
Blade width: 2.1
Weight: 1.5 pounds

Of all the swords I have, this is the one I like to swing around the most. With only 1.5 pounds, it has a very nice balance. The blade seems extremely durable and shock resistant. The design seems like a Legionary sword, since Generals or cavalry were on horse back and their swords are a few inches longer and sometimes more elaborate. The blade is fairly wide, and for someone who understands “closing the gap” stepping concepts, one could successfully face a longer sword in a battle re-enactment. I was able to get this sword for $64 US. So this was a fairly nice deal.
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The dark ANNIHILATOR
Posts: 364
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Post by The dark ANNIHILATOR » Sun Aug 22, 2004 8:33 am

Practical “Fantasy” Katana Plus or Practical Pro Katana
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Made By: Paul Chen - Hanwei
Retail Price: $399.99
Blade: sharp 1095 carbon steel differentially tempered Rockwell Edge 60, Back 40; full tang
Meant for: cutting exercises

From a historical standpoint, this is a economical version of the swords used by the Samurai warrior class, which are the Japanese version of the European knight. (Version indeed, since socio-politically they have similarities.) This swords has historical similarities to the sword used by the Samurai Miyamoto Musashi who lived 1584- 1645. He himself was a tall man, which resulted in having a longer blade and longer handle. This design was broadly adapted by many katanas, including the Practical Katana Pro.
As for another historical element, the design of this sword is taken directly from the Matrix Reloaded movie. Every little detail. That is why it is also called Practical “Fantasy” Katana Plus.

BLADE LENGTH: 29-1/2”
HANDLE LENGTH: 14-1/2”
Blade width: 1.2”
WEIGHT: 3.1

If you ever wondered what happened to my 2 MXLs, they got got converted into money, which was converted into this sword.To me, artistically this is one of the best looking katana swords on the market. The only one I consider even more awesome looking is the Golden Oriole Katana for its Hand guard(Tsuba) art design. The Practical Katana Pro has fancy inlays in the handle and shiny almost diamond looking blade. The differentially forged and fired blade is 1095 high carbon steel and the long 14.5" handle is wrapped in ray-skin when covered with black leather in the traditional pattern. The full tang is secured to the handle with two menkugi pins. It’s a good thing to that its differentially tempered, since otherwise it would be in danger of being brittle. Hanwei produced 3 Practical katanas. The Practical katana series promotes to have blades of similar quality like their $700-$1200 models, but the fittings are less expensive, resulting in an economical price. Compared to the other practical Katanas like the Practical katana and Practical katana Plus, The Practical Katana Pro has a longer and thicker blade and a longer handle. The longer handle gives more control and more power while slashing. The balance is also very nice due to the longer handle. Not much blade heaviness. The blade is razor sharp, which forces me to slow down my past time of swinging around swords for amusement a little bit. I have not cut with it yet, and don’t intend to. I’m not a Iaido practitioner, just a Highlander fan. Among the Katanas out there in the market, this is defiantly not the best katana out there. But for cutting exercises, its definite moderate quality, due to the balance and powerful handling. I defiantly recommend this sword for anyone who does not want to spend to much for a Katana, but does not want to buy a sub-standard katana either.



Carbon Katana sword
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Made By: ?
Retail Price: $49.99
Blade: semi-sharp 1050 carbon steel Rockwell ?, possibly rat tail tang
Meant for: Iaido forms, wall hanger

It’s a broad modern interpretation of a Samurai sword.

Total length: 38”
Handle Length: 10”
Blade width at base: 1.2”
Weight: 1.6 lbs

The blade is hand forged, but its uncertain if its full tang or not. It’s a little bit more elaborate than the $9.99 carbon swords on eBay. But its still a fairly good looking swords. Better looking than the Stainless steel Katana wall hangers on your local sword store. The sword is extremely light, making is ideal for Iaido forms. All in all, if you want to have a sword to play around, and really are short on cash, this sword is a good choice.


Dark Iaido Carbon Katana sword
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Made By: ?
Retail Price: $129.99
Blade: semi-sharp 1050 carbon steel Rockwell ?, possibly full tang
Meant for: Iaido forms, wall hanger

It’s a broad modern interpretation of a Samurai sword.
Total length: 38”
Handle Length: 10”
Blade width at base: 1.2”
Weight: 1.4 lbs

The sword is mean for Iaido forms. Its one of the less expensive Iaido sword models out there. But its still very ice looking. Instead of using some light alloy, which most iaido swords use, the Dark Carbon Katana uses darkened 1050 carbon steel. It possibly is full tang, since most Iaido swords are. It has dragon inlays in the handle, and the hand guard(Tsuba) has a dragon image also. It’s a fairly nice looking and incredibly light sword. Sometimes ebay has the normal bladed version for $39.99, so its not a bad idea to buy it.
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DoubleONothing
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed May 12, 2004 12:00 pm

Post by DoubleONothing » Thu Aug 26, 2004 2:15 pm

Stares and Drools
"Katana...."

Heh. ROFL...
I've always loved Katanas, Cause they always showed up in Anime in some form or another... Samurai X, Ruroni(sp) Kenshin... And several Mech animes.

Celtic Swords are more my heritage, but Katanas are My Forte. Just wish my parentals would let me buy one.

blueviper
Posts: 45
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2004 9:31 pm

Post by blueviper » Thu Aug 26, 2004 8:29 pm

The only people I ever saw that had swords were big D&D freaks that would eventually do a school shooting
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The dark ANNIHILATOR
Posts: 364
Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2003 12:00 pm

Post by The dark ANNIHILATOR » Fri Aug 27, 2004 7:17 am

Originally posted by blueviper@Aug 26 2004, 03:29 PM
The only people I ever saw that had swords were big D&D freaks that would eventually do a school shooting
Different local areas must have different local sterio types.
Heh. ROFL...
I've always loved Katanas, Cause they always showed up in Anime in some form or another... Samurai X, Ruroni(sp) Kenshin... And several Mech animes.

Celtic Swords are more my heritage, but Katanas are My Forte. Just wish my parentals would let me buy one.
You can get an Iaito sword, which is non-sharp and therfore not really dangerous:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 52225&rd=1

But its still has a pointi edge. This swords is very safe. No sharp edges, no pointi tip, but it still is meant for actual batte re-enactment:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 16034&rd=1
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senormario
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Joined: Wed May 26, 2004 12:21 am

Post by senormario » Tue Aug 31, 2004 9:11 pm

woooooooooooooooooooooo awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

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BlueSmudge
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Post by BlueSmudge » Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:59 am

I think you could still stab that through an un-armored person with a large enough force.
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BlueSoak.net
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Veteran
Posts: 82
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Post by Veteran » Thu Sep 02, 2004 4:59 am

dude, you could stab a metal rod through someone with the right force :Hey, that's funny.:

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