Why only oriental swords???

vikingblade · Mar 5, 2002

ive been shopping around for a quality short sword. lots and lots of high quality oriental wakizashi's out there, custom and production. from chen to criswell. sharp, strong deadly swords. HOWEVER, What if i want a double edged short sword... Gladius Style. the only options i see are Museum Replica type stuff.. heavy, almost non existant edge, low tempering etc...

Ive yet to see a Gladius offered with lets say a 16" double edged blade of A2 tool steel for $300-$350. the thought of a criswell short gladius is sweet. what gives? am i the only one who would love a blade like this? and if they are out there, please let me know where.
thanks guys

Jose Reyes · Mar 5, 2002

Vikingblade,

Although his work is outside your price range, the most beautiful shortsword I have seen is on Don Fogg's website. It's a Celtic shortsword and has a brilliant temperline. It's not a gladius but worth a look.

-Jose

ArchAngel · Mar 5, 2002

vikingblade,

Check out www.plan-a.org/mmhw/index.htm that is the site address of Mineral Mountain Hatchet Works. He has a cool sword called the Gladiator. sort of a more modern gladius. It is 21"oal, 16" blade, 3" wide, 1/4 thick 5160 steel, brass guard and micarta handle, with kydex sheath for only $250.00. The work seems good to me. Real user type of blades, not decorative, but DEEPLY functional. Check it out and tell us what you think. I really like the functional design of his work. Good luck in your search!!

jbutera · Mar 5, 2002

Try http://swordforum.com/

The Museum Store has some excellent buys.

fudo · Mar 5, 2002

VikingBlade-Try swords by Kirby Wise. If you do a search on his name in the sword forum, you will find that he makes exactly what you want. His swords are excellent quality and are users, not wallhangers. His prices are reasonable and he and his wife are ethical business people.

Rugger · Mar 5, 2002

Although outside of the price range you specified, have a look at the Tactical Gladius http://www.szaboinc.com/index1.html

Cyblade · Mar 5, 2002

Try Kris Cutlery they have some good designs in the 2-250 dollar range http://www.kriscutlery.com/

Rubber Ducky · Mar 5, 2002

Here's a guy out of Nova Scotia who forges blades for ~$15/blade inch.

http://members.attcanada.ca/~armjan/Index.html

He's got some good stuff on his web page.

Pierre

vikingblade · Mar 5, 2002

Lots of places to look. i appreciate all the suggestions. the albion offerings look pretty nice. a tad long but definately gladius. im gonna check out mineral mountain too.. unfortunately, still doesnt seem to be any modern'ish razor sharp models available. i get the impression ya not gonna get anything but a basic utility edge and a rc hardness of no more than 52 on the available traditional blades.. i may have to go custom. can ya picture a cold steel tai pan with 16" blade! i know jim hrisoulas does some nice custom work, long waits though. anyone know if criswell does custom requests and how to get in touch with him. also, lookin for kirby's site. anyone have a url.
As always, thanks for the help.