Albion, Hanwei, Cold Steel

One more note... I also own a couple of the Cold Steel Swords... and I Still feel that my Himalayan Imports Everest Katana is the stoutest sword I own.
Just my 3 cents worth!!
Doc
 
Hey guys, don't forget Angel Swords down here in Texas. On the high end, they use techno wootz... but their Bright Night series uses S7 which is better than you'll get from most mail order shops.
 
branned said:
I am no expert on all swords but this is one great sword:

The Himalayan Imports Everest Katana.
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They really are a solid piece of work... how sharp they arrive tough can vary. With the larger HI stuff, one ought to consider a cheap belt grinder as well to touch up any blades that arrive at less than the desired level of sharpness.

Sword purists will probably consider them overbuilt, which might have been a liability in the golden age of unarmoured melee combat. But most sword collectors these days are more liable to be whacking at things in their back yard than to find themselves in a duel. :D

Edit: I also have a Cold Steel Dadao. It seems well constructed to me. Ordinarily the only CS stuff I'll buy are their SF Shovels, but this thing was just too much fun to resist.
 
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HolyRoller said:
Everyone can recommend anything they want, but we don't know the purpose or aesthetic sense of the OP.

If they want a European sword, and can afford Albion, they can't go wrong. A good selection with superb products. I've never read anything but absolute praise from Albion customers.

If they wish to spend less, and understand that Hanwei is good for the price but not amazing, then Hanwei would be a fine choice. From what I've read, I wouldn't suggest any of their Euro line for anything but light cutting, and the same for MOST of their Asian swords(I can't speak for a lot of the newer models, or the higher-end models).

If they are completely untrained and there's any chance the user is going to attempt to cut something that a proper sword shouldn't cut, maybe Cold Steel is a better choice. They are overbuilt, making them poorly balanced and heavy, but they will survive far more abuse than a properly balanced and weighted blade. Their Euro swords seem to have a problem with the tang snapping just ahead of the pommel, though, so I suggest against them. I have owned a Cold Steel O-Katana. Considering its size, the balance wasn't enough to bother me, though I'm no JSA practitioner. The sword came shaving -sharp, and remained that way through some serious cutting; mostly bottles, but it cleaved 3" diameter sapplings with ease.


All in all, I ask the OP as to what they EXPECT from the sword, what they are INTERESTED in design-wise, and if they ever plan to partake in formal training in sword-arts. If so, one is generally now allowed to handle a sharp during class for a long time, and even then it's often that swords aren't right for that particular art. There might be different requirements in length, shape, balance, yadda-yadda-yadda, so anyone wishing to train I tend to suggest wait until they have a teacher and to ask what they recommend.
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This might be a stupid question, but besides obvious things like stone or steel, what should a proper sword not be used to cut?
 
Trees
Brush
splitting fire wood
Hard Pells
bamboo that isn't vertical
Wood rounds that aren't vertical
Pallets
furniture
the neighbors barking dog
 
Hi
If you are looking for a high end, you should save up alittle and just buy one sword.
I have read countless reviews and read many forums, the best that seems to come up are Zheng Wu swords.
He makes chinese and japanese styled blades, has won too many awards to speak of and has a good reputation. Unfortunately, this extends into his prices too and they go from expensive to downright madness!!

But if you want the best of the best and a family heirloom, go for zheng-wu.

Personally, I would not buy such an expensive piece of metal. Lets face it, none of us are Miyamoto Musashi or Samurai Jack in need of a magical blade to slay dragons with.

To me, any piece of sharp steel will do just as good a job on an opponent as a 16000 layer san mai forged katana costing over $3000.

Last word, I have to support DocH and say get a HI katana. Good price and guaranteed to take a beating.
And when you are able to compete with Jet Li in a fencing match, save up for a zheng-wu masterpiece and get to work on ridding the world of evil.

..strange, I stopped playing knights of the round table when I was 10 years old!
 
titus010782 said:
Personally, I would not buy such an expensive piece of metal. Lets face it, none of us are Miyamoto Musashi or Samurai Jack in need of a magical blade to slay dragons with.
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Heck, Musashi would probably just whittle himself a bokken out of an oar. :D
 
Most of Zheng Wu swords are useless. Imagine swords with round handle!
 
Zheng Wu sword got its blade material from its subcontractors and didn't even know how those blades were made. It was so naive and shameless it called the pattern of sword blade shown below some mysterious act of nature.
20070613020005_ioUofq8jpsV1.jpg

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Triton said:
I'll put in another vote for Arms and Armor and Albion as well:

www.armor.com
www.albion.com

Plus this one:

http://www.armabohemia.cz/Novestr/homeA.htm

some others of note (cheaper) :

www.lutel.cz
www.kriscutlery.com
www.deltin.net

I'm assuming since you are asking about Albion that you don't want a Japanese style sword...
Click to expand...

And I have 2 of the Everest Katanas from Himalayan Imports and I LOVE them!!
http://www.himalayan-imports.com/sword.html
Doc



PS: I just added a Kris Katana 29II to the collection...and I still Favor the Everest Katana from Himlayan Imports!
 
Being an authorized dealer for both Cold Steel and Cas/Hanwei I can tell you our Hanwei swords always out sell our Cold Steel Warrior and Imperial series katanas. Personally I don't care for Cold Steel's katanas, they are indeed some of the heavier katanas out on the market and recently the quality on them has declined. One of my employees owns one of the Dragonfly katanas from Cold Steel and has experienced nothing but problems with it. Firstly after some light cutting exercised the tsuba has come loose and on closer inspection the area where the fuchi meets the tsuba seems to be unfinished. I spoke with our Cold Steel representative at SHOT show and he sad hed have no problem either replacing it or having it repaired, but I argued that a $900 sword should not be unfinished as that one had been. Now as for Cas/Hanwei much has changed in the last 5yrs as far as production is concerned. With the introduction of the Performance series the blade geometry and tempering process changed dramatically and for the better. If you're looking for a sword you can perform light to medium cutting with try out one of the Practical Elite katanas they offer, I personally own one and have had no issues with it and hey they are relatively inexpensive at about 280-400 bucks.
 
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