Kris Cutlery Baselard Short Sword

vikingblade

vikingblade

Joined
Feb 28, 2002
Messages
85
I stumbled upon this short sword over at the kc website. it looks like a great little sword. ive seen it mentioned lately about the inaccuracy of their website. if anyone has this sword or handled it, id like to hear your opinions. is the one shown on their site the current one available or has it been changed like the gladius? ive heard kc blades tend tobe a bit blade heavy. the baselard lists as 1.75 lbs. if it is truly under 2 lbs, that is very nice. are their weights accurate. also, if anyone has seen orhandled the new gladius, how is it... any idea on the average weight. thanks for your input.
 
It's possible (possibly even likely) I'm mistaken, but I was more under the impression that the site hadn't been updated in regards to the Japanese swords more than other places.

Haven't handled any but the Celtic sword, which I find kind of lively, considering the weight (2-ish lbs sounds kind of heavy for such a stumpy little thing) & obviously point-heavy design. Keep in mind I don't have anything of higher quality to compare it to.
 
I was looking at their Viking Sword and rather liked the looks of it but, at 3.5 to 4 pounds, it seems rather heavy. I had always thought of these swords as being light and quick, perhaps 2.5 to 3 pounds. What do you all think of the weight? I do really like the appearance of the sword. and the price is certainly right.
 
Hey FullerH this is the New Kris Cutlery Viking sword incase you missed it over at the swordforum site when I posted it, its weight is 2.5lbs, blade 30 1/4" long and 2" wide and 1/4" thick at the hilt. Nice wide fuller, the blade has distal taper but I dont have a way to measure it yet the RC stated from Cecil is 55, nice flex to the blade but in no way wippy (if it was wippy it would be on its way back) handle is 4" with a nice taper and wrapped in natural tan leather, stiched on one side. The guard and pommel are blue iron/steel quoted from Cecil, scabbard is thick black leather which looks like the one on the Kris Cutlery website for the old Viking sword. The blade also has the Kris Cutlery makers mark of a star on top the large kinda "K" and below a small letter "c"
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Thanks, Sweet. It is a very nice looking sword. But it is also about $100 more expensive, and for a sword that is somewhat questionable in its historicity.
 
Hey Hugh Fuller the price was $295( that was with tax for me being in Ca) so I take it your looking for a Viking sword around $195.00? good luck when you find a historical one at that price hook me up with who has one...also, since this is a modern day made Viking sword besides the fittings that were blued, what in your eyes would make it less somewhat questionable in its historicity? As what Björn Hellqvist qouted as saying "That looks like one of the best production Viking swords available right now. Proportions OK, good weight and looks all right. My only quibble is with the fuller: why not let it go all the way up to (and under) the guard? At least it is better than on the Chen Viking, where it ends almost 1" before the guard..."
 
Try numbers 12014, 12015, and 12016 at http://www.lutel.cz/index2e.htm Their price is listed at 7000CZK, which converts to $204.05US at this moment. Of course, shipping is extra, but the price includes a very nice scabbard and belt with the mountings to hang the scabbard onto the belt. Their appearance is excellent and they have a very good reputation for durability and quality.

You are correct, by the way, about the historicity of the Kris Cutlery sword. It does appear to be accurate.
 
Here is a picture of the Lutel #12016 that I bought back in April of last year, at that time the price of the Viking sword was $190 + $40.00 for shipping to Ca the scabbard that I picked was letter "K" which also came with a very nice belt. Wait time took at that time a few days over a month. The only thing I dont like about the Lutel is the well rounded tip....top is Lutel bottom is the Vinland Viking sword by Glen Parrell of Viking Metal Works
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but back on topic..no changes for the KC Baselard which after seeing the new KC gladius, naginata, and katanas I was wishing they would do little change in the blade...but for a short sword I would have to go with the Lutel 10043 Cinquedea
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pretty nice cinquedea. blade looks almost 4" wide. specs, price??
i realized i never posted a pic of the kc baselard. im waiting to hear back from kris cutlery to see if its in stock.

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the price is so low on the baselard... $95! im concerned about the quality. ive heard its a nice short sword. its just hard to believe a quality short sword is out there for 95 buks and not much mention about it??? is it because its not historically accurate, not much interest in style?? what am i missing?
 
I would hazard a guess that teh Kc is so cheap as Its not really a baselard (basilard) at all. The handle is all wrong and the fittings leave a lot to be desired. A baselard is supposed to have a swiss or holbien dagger type of handle. Templ makes one http://templ.oceany.cz/pics/27-.jpg that is a good example of a baselard for $250. The KC one is just a beater-shortsword and nothing more, hence the $95 price tag.

Just my €.02
 
Sweet, after some consideration, I ask you if, historically, the Viking swords tended to have rounded tips on them as they were used very much more for slashing that for stabbing?
 
Hey Hugh Fuller, ya gotta ask your question in G.E.D terms for me if your asking which tip was more historical or making a statement with your question or if the Viking sword was mainly used as a thruster or a slasher?... for some reason I think you already know the answer to your question...is this what answer you were looking for? After looking at Records..all the tips are different... the most rounded in shape of the tip is on page 30 next would be page 31 but that could also be from age and use...? but, other Viking swords in Records also have some pretty good pointy tips expl. pg33 and pg34...maybe you should ask someone who makes these types swords or a vender like Lutel or Abion, etc etc your qeustion...they would know better then me...one thing for me being a collector/user I really could care less about if the swords I have are historical or not but that they can be used in the way I desire them to be used and to be satisfied by that use or lack of
 
Originally posted by vikingblade
the price is so low on the baselard... $95! im concerned about the quality. ive heard its a nice short sword. its just hard to believe a quality short sword is out there for 95 buks and not much mention about it??? is it because its not historically accurate, not much interest in style?? what am i missing?
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Much of the reason that the KC stuff is so inexpensive is that almost all of their blades are made in the Philipines, IIRC. Manufacturing costs are very low over there. Twice I've been pleasantly surprised by the amount and quality of work that those people, who are paid almost literally peanuts, are willing to produce. The workmanship is nothing you could call "perfect," but it's still much higher than one would expect from the price tag.

As to whether or not the price may be low as it's not a true baselard ... I suspect that's not a factor, personally, but I could be wrong. (comparison: does Chevy charge less for the Impala just because it's a car & not a species of antelope? :) )
 
Sweet, I do think that I know the answer about their use, if not about their shape. The Viking Era Norse used their swords as slashers, not as thrusters, so the sharp point was not a particularly important aspect to them. I have seen many pictures of historical blades with rounded points, and I suspect that these are the patterns for the Lutel swords. Historicity is extremely important to me in whatever sword or other historical piece I may buy. You may get some feel for that if you read my posts on the Republican Era Gladius that I was involved in designing and one of which I now have. Similar considerations went into the purchase of the "Roman Riding Sword" from Patrick Barta on which I am awaiting delivery. So that was the point of my question to you, to find out if you knew something that I did not about Viking swords. And I did learn that there seem to be a number, perhaps more than I thought, with sharp points on them, for which I thank you.
 
I too am waiting for you to get that "Roman Riding Sword" from Rick Barta..do you know when it comes in? Also, what was shipping? I would love to have his cira900 damascus Viking sword but its gotta wait till after I recieve my (a close copy to the one one page 212 of Records as he can get it form the single photo without the engravings) XXa from Al Massey thats in the works now and a composite damascus Viking sword (been dealing on) from Jake Powning...you got a nice one comming in at a way too cheap price...what a deal congrats
 
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