Cold Steel Warrior Series for 1st Sword?

fulloflead

fulloflead

Joined
May 3, 2002
Messages
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The main question is, what is this "practical" finish? It's not BEADBLAST is it? I can live with a rough satin, but not beadblast. ;)

I've been checking out various "chopper knives" - the Beckers, Tigershark, Marbles... blah, blah and finally decided just to get a short sword because, well...

I WANT one!

I'm not really a "sword person" and I want something I can kick around with and do some work with. Something that'll be a toy and I'll get some use out of too.

I'm seriously considering something out of the Cold Steel Warrior series. I like the looks of them and they look thick and tough like you can reall beat the heck out of one...

how do you "wear" one of these things anyway? I don't see anything that resembles a belt loop. (or is that a stupid question? Can you tell I'm a sword newbie? ;) )
 
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Instead of answering your question, I'll say that I would try to get my hands on something from Szabo Inc. first, if I had a few hundred to blow on a shortsword.
http://www.szaboinc.com/index1.html
 
All I can say is Szabo ain't trying to allay the fears of the sheeple! I almost cut an eye out twice just looking through the site! Great stuff!
Those don't fit the 'sword' category as much as the machete or brush knife category. They look like great tools but I don't think they will fill the need for 'sword'.
Though they may seem like the best deal, I will say this. AVOID stainless steel. Avoid movie swords. 100% wall-hangers without exception. SS is great for knives. Dangerous in swords. Especially if you intend to hit things with it. Read a lot and don't jump on the first cool looking sword you see. Patience will see your every wish fulfilled. :yawn:
 
That Szabo sword is pretty cool, but it's $500 - I was hoping for around $200 - and I don't see any others on his site. (Cool site though.)

Besides, I like more of the Japanese styled blades.

The BIGGEST thing I have to be careful about is that this doesn't turn into yet another addiction.
 
The PPK has a good reputation!

You might also want to mosey over to the HI forum and ask them about the HI katana...
 
Will P. said:
The PPK has a good reputation!

You might also want to mosey over to the HI forum and ask them about the HI katana...
Click to expand...

The PPK does not have a good reputation. Many Dojo ban them because they are prone to breakage.
 
The Paul Chen PPK is now considered to be a very realistic replica - nice for show, OK for form practice, but generally unreliable for actual cutting. Many of them have self-destructed under the strains of actual use.

The Cold Steel swords are a better bet for actual usage. Usage in this case, however, means cutting soft targets, usually test-cutting rolls or soft bamboo. They are not made for, say, cutting tree limbs. In fact, they come with a warning stating this. The finish on the Warrior swords is a very rough satin finish - nice enough to look at, but very coarse compared to their Imperial line.

It's a good entry-level sword, with a decent temper. Do try to examine one before buying - factory swords are still a crapshoot as far as quality is concerned.
 
Check out the Paul Chen "Banshee". It seems like a good one to start off with.
 
knife saber said:
The Paul Chen PPK is now considered to be a very realistic replica - nice for show, OK for form practice, but generally unreliable for actual cutting. Many of them have self-destructed under the strains of actual use.

The Cold Steel swords are a better bet for actual usage. Usage in this case, however, means cutting soft targets, usually test-cutting rolls or soft bamboo. They are not made for, say, cutting tree limbs. In fact, they come with a warning stating this. The finish on the Warrior swords is a very rough satin finish - nice enough to look at, but very coarse compared to their Imperial line.
Click to expand...

I know of only 5 - 10 PPK failures. That is not many. If you do know of individual, distinct failures, please tell me.

Cold Steel swords are generally okay as toughness goes, but being made of 1050 through-hardened they're not particularly traditional nor excel at edge retention. Generally overpriced too. Fittings are alright, but handles far too blade-heavy and the geometry isn't too hot either.

I'd also recommend Kris Cutlery - their katanas, while the geometry isn't the best, are some of the best katanas dollar for dollar in the low-end market.
PPK's are fine, but are quite thin and not good for cutting generally. Far too much variation in the heat treat, fittings and mount are moderately acceptable - basically it can be used as an iaito and for very light cutting (pool noodles, bottles, etc) none of which will be used in a traditional ryu as, generally speaking, by the time you get good enough to be allowed to cut, cutting bottles and pool noodles is a waste of time in developing technique).

The Banshee is a machete. Yup. There are issues on the tang construction (see Swordforum International - SFI - for more info).
 
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