Cold Steel Chinese War Sword - Opinions?

roshi

roshi

Joined
May 3, 2001
Messages
1,501
First I'm a sword user not a collector. I have practiced Iaido for several years. I was fortunate enough to discover an old unsigned katana blade in Gunto fittings at gun show in 1986. It proved to be circa 1400 but near the last of it's life as a "pretty". I'm also fortunate enough to have a friend who is a sword polisher and jeweler. He polished the blade and refitted it with period fittings. This is my only sword to date and one that I will pass on to one of my sons if they express the proper interest and respect for a relic when the time comes to pry it from my cold dead hands.

My wife and I decorate with an Asian theme. We moved into a new house last week and after hanging our art and my beloved katana she noted, "We could use another sword over that painting."

Never one to miss out on an opportunity to get another blade, I ordered a Cold Steel Chinese War Sword (CS-88CWS) because I've always liked this blade style. While it will be a "wall hanger", my standards demand that all decorator weapons be functional. The CAS Paul Chen dadao and the CS War Sword seemed to be "best of breed". While the CAS was less expensive, the CS seemed to be a somewhat higher quality and more functional weapon.

Will I be disappointed with this purchase?
 
I don't think so. The cold steel products seem to be a pretty good bang for the buck. I'm pleased with the Grosse Messer I purchased.
 
haven't handled the cold steel version but have held relics. a chinese war sword is basically a halberd with a short handle. the one i held had a 24 inch blade and a 16 inch handle. nust have weighed 8 pounds. you have to be an adept weapons practiioner to wield that baby.

remember that first battle scene in "the fellowship of the ring" where the men stood in ranks as the orcs approached? they held their halberds point downwards at port arms. on contact, they spun their weapons clockwise to strike the enemy. nice shot seeing an entire file doing it in sequence.
 
I have one of the originals and it weighs about 3 1/2 to 4 pounds. Although it is not as large of a specimen as Mr. Rearden held, mine has roughly about a 20" and maybe a 14" handle. I don't have it in front of me to get acurate measurements but that is pretty close. With the long handle it moves very easily through various cuts, slices and chops. Because of the length of the handle there is a suprising number of varitions of the way this weapon can be held. You can use it for full length attacks and also very close up work. I haven't handle the cold steel version but I love the original!
 
I thought you had seen it, I picked it up two years ago at the Chicago show. A couple of the sword guys up their examined it and they both said it was the real deal. I keep it upstairs for quick access in the middle of the night! Remind me next time your up and I will get it out. The cord wrapping around the handle missing but the wood handle core is intact. It gets swung around and played with pretty regularly.
 
5 companies at 100 men per company. the first two ranks have 18-foot pikes, the second two armed with chinese warswords, the last ranks are longbowmen.

possible, possible...
 
I have the war sword from Cold Steel, my next purchase will either be their willow(a misnomer on their part) or hanwei(CAS, paul chen) same style.

on mine, polished blade, it is more pointy than some other examples I've seen, very solid made, the handle wrapping is fairly well done, but the guard is a little loose, it's not noticeable unless you intentionally wriggle it. It is sharp, but not razor sharp, which is the way it should be for works which will involve chopping bone. Mine balances pretty well, though I haven't done much with it.

I don't think you'd be disappointed with the purchase, the scabbard is pretty heavy duty and well made, but the sword is heavily greased, and that proved to be very annoying for me as it got everywhere inside the grease and it looked bad on the polished blade.
 
Anyone know about the cheaper Paul Chen Chinese War Sword? I am short on cash right now and have to cut corners. I have the Paul Chen Practical Katana and find it to be worth the money - functional, at least. If the War Sword is as good then it should at least be worth the low price.
 
I don't have the Hanwei war sword, but I do have their dao sword. Cold steel's misnamed willow leaf sword is based on the same design as hanwei's dao sword.

the blade is not polished as Cold Steel's is, comparing this with my war sword from Cold steel, the finish is not quite as nice, but then this sword is less than half of the cold steel sword.

The blade itself is distal tapered with grooves on the side. again, the edge is not razor sharp, which is fine considering the cutting tests material. the guard is of brass as is the pommel. to me, the casting and finishing were a little rough, but given the price range, more than adequate.

the scabbard is wood covered with what I think is veneer, this one is centered well.

over all, for less than half the price of the Cold Steel counter part, it is good value for the money.

for $100 at most online stores, it is a pretty good start. I know this is not the sword you are looking at, but the quality of the war sword should be fairly close.
 
Thanks. I don't care about a fancy finish - just that it is a functional sword, like the Practical Katana. I'd like to avoid a wall hanger that would break if you tried to cut something with it, so I am steering clear of United Cutlery, Windlass, etc. The Paul Chen swords do seem to be functional, if rather crudely finished.
 
I wouldn't use the word "crude", it is far from that low of a standard. think Spyderco FRN models compared to say, benchmade high end models, not as pretty, but just as functional.
 
Well I guess I should be specific about what I am calling crude, and maybe that isn't the best choice of words anyhow. My Paul Chen Practical Katana has some sort of plastic simulated ray skin covering on the handle rather than real ray skin. It looks like plastic to me, and that is what I had in mind when I used the word "crude". Maybe "obviously fake" would be a better term? Anyhow, I don't really care about that, or maybe I should say, I can't afford to care about it.
 
I believe "faux ray skin" is the industry standard. having no knowledge of the PK, PPK line, I can't say how good/bad an imitation they did. but then you know it won't be pretty, but will be functional.

if you go to the crossroads of the west gunshow, try to find a cold steel dealer called ophelia lange, she's running dealer price + 10% + tax on all cold steel products, which comes out quite a bit cheaper than most, even online since you save the shipping charge and the swords incur quite a bit of it.
 
Just got the Hanwei Chinese War Sword (da dao). For the price it is well-made, as I expected it would be. With Hanwei one can get a decent, functional sword for the price of a wallhanger.

By the way, "da dao" means simply "big knife" in Mandarin Chinese (I speak a bit of it).
 
From what i've heard, the CS swords suck for cutting. One of my buddies at the dojo said that he had one before getting his Bugei samurai...the thing would NOT keep a good edge!

That said, for a wallhanger, it would be fine. Iaido/Iaijutsu? Get an Iaito. Otherwise, buy a good sword for cutting with.
 
hi, Ivan, although iaido is mentioned, this thread is about the Chinese war sword made (contracted) by Cold Steel and Hanwei.
 
From what i've heard, the CS swords suck for cutting
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Hello Horizon Seeker,

Note that Ivan used the plural, swords. I think in this case his comments would be appropriate for this thread, since it is a general statement about the quality of Cold Steel swords, and could apply to any of them.
 
that is true he is speaking of Cold Steel swords in general, i'm just saying that the first poster is not looking for a iaito, he had already bought the war sword and is looking for input.
 
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