So I bought a Cobra steel lakonia by windlass steel after happening upon one in some festival.. I was really surprised. It's the nicest tactical short sword along with the rest of their line of swords/short swords that I've seen at this price point. I've gone through a lot of machete type crap steel swords, pretty but basically unusable katanas and swords of that nature but this sword I got is great. It's thick, rubberized handle can be taken off and remade (not the best) but it gives you good grip. It's made with X46Cr13 stainless which apparently is equivalent to 420c but out of all sae 420 series it has the most carbon. $60 for it. From what I've seen to get this quality you have to pay $150-300 ish? Just educated guess. Any thoughts??
Cobra Steel lakonia (and others) by Windlass steel
- Thread starter King4114
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Not sure how to post pics yet. And it's in storage at the moment. But you can look them up. More interested in people with knowledge of them and thoughts of the steel and price point compared to other well made short swords or swords that you can really use. I've seen quite a few reviews with guys pretty amazed at quality for the price and even comparing them to $200 to $300 dollar short swords. I personally love it but i don't really have the knowledge about the more high end swords and short swords.. I mean this was $60 and they have quite a few different designs.. I really want to get the wakizashi next.. they're just surprising to me. Usually don't see those sort of things under $100. But again I don't have a lot of knowledge on this subject, just think it's interesting.
horseclover
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https://www.steelinox.nl/en/qualities/stainless-steel/1.4034-aisi-420-x46cr13
Looks like it is similar to a 420 series type of stainless. No doubt that even the old 420j2 swords were able to take a beating but 420j2 katana tended to be a bit soft and difficult to keep sharp.
The higher grades of similar stainless cutlery (420a-420c) can be hardened up to the mid 50s but honestly, a lot of tourists are going to have a hard time sharpening blades even that hard. I have never handled one and don't know any long term reviews. My hunch is that they are probably pretty soft, meaning some may keep them sharp. One objection (I think it was a falcata) was that the grip kind of sucked.
At the price point, I see them targeted to the pizza budget "gotta have one" group and some may love one for years and end up doing fancy scales with mosaic pins. Collect the entire series! Not me but some probably do, just as with other comparable machete swords.
Cheers
GC
Edit
Probably just confused but the spokesman lists them as 1060
Looks like it is similar to a 420 series type of stainless. No doubt that even the old 420j2 swords were able to take a beating but 420j2 katana tended to be a bit soft and difficult to keep sharp.
The higher grades of similar stainless cutlery (420a-420c) can be hardened up to the mid 50s but honestly, a lot of tourists are going to have a hard time sharpening blades even that hard. I have never handled one and don't know any long term reviews. My hunch is that they are probably pretty soft, meaning some may keep them sharp. One objection (I think it was a falcata) was that the grip kind of sucked.
At the price point, I see them targeted to the pizza budget "gotta have one" group and some may love one for years and end up doing fancy scales with mosaic pins. Collect the entire series! Not me but some probably do, just as with other comparable machete swords.
Cheers
GC
Edit
Probably just confused but the spokesman lists them as 1060
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Yeah I'm not sure but I looked up them and they were listed as x46cr13 atleast on the Lakonia which is the one I purchased. And it came really sharp so I haven't had to sharpen it yet. I was just surprised because I've had quite a few machete swords and this is the only one that feels like a sword. Steel is thicker and it definitely holds up. I've cut a lot of branches, milk jugs, cardboard etc.. and yeah it's still sharp and going strong. It is definitely targeting a specific group but I honestly think real sword enthusiast and collector would like them. Just to go have fun with and put some hard use on. Specially for $60. And compared to anything else in that $50-$100 price range it's really amazing and good quality an I haven't seen anything close to that in quality. But yeah I've seen quite a few people put their own handles on them and it didn't seem to hard.
And every site I checked. Atlanta cutlery, amazon, etc had it listed as x46cr13 except for cult of Athena which listed it as x46cr14? Don't know if that was just a typo on their part or not. But again I've only checked on the lakonia and wakizashi. But yeah every sight has listed as x46cr13. Maybe their all wrong?? Idk but kinda seems like a weird mistake for multiple sites to make.
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If you are into short quasi-swords, it's hard to beat a Ka-Bar Swabbie. 18" of full tang 1095 in something like a scimitar for under $50.... It takes a bit of grinding to get the handle comfortable, but it's a fun beater/ project blade.
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Cobra Steel are good value. Most swords of that kind of price are pretty junky. But there is some other good value stuff out there. For about the same price as the Cobra Steel line, you can find functional Japanese swords (katana and wakizashi) from the cheap brands like Musha and Musashi. More if you go into the $100-$150 price range. Condor does stuff of similar size and probably better quality, metallurgically-speaking, for under $100.
They used to be 1060. They switched the steel they used.