Please: Who makes high quality swords?

High Tower said:
Traditional Filipino Weapons makes quality blades. Wide variety. Legacy Arms Gen. 2 blades are well made. Both made from 5160 steel in the forges of the Philippines and right by each other I heard. Some high priced swords are CNC made and are very good but something about hand forged blades attracts me. I own a gladius sword from each of these companies. I also own a couple high end swords from Albion and Angus Trim. Very well respected because they are quality. They won't come with a scabbard though. You have to buy that from a scabbard maker which generally runs about 400-500.

The Gladius swords comes with a scabbard as the rest of the swords from the TFW and L. A.

Zombie Tools is another great sword maker and other edged weapons. I have a few of their blades but no swords.
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Zombie tools usually include a scabbard, but they offer Options for those. Kydex(included) or leather (additional charge)

I think they NEED to put into something just to ship it
 
The Zieg said:
Depends. You might try a Baryonyxknife.com Kingfisher.
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No, not a good idea. I have one along with many other Condors; but this one is blade heavy and the grip is not properly designed. Although, I did shorten the blade to 24 inches providing it with a slow up-sweep to the tip and resharpened. Then added more wood to the scales. For now it is serviceable; but I will make more modifications later.
 
I like many of the Condor products. They have a sword called the Tactana that is well made and durable for everyday hacking, It is 1075 steel that is easy to sharpen. The sheath is excellent. No, it is not traditional; but you don't need traditional for your first sword. I have one and it is surprisingly light all things considered.
 
tiltrite said:
24" stabbing/slashing blade
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I modify/refurbish/sharpen hatchets, knives, swords, machetes in my retirement. So, before you seek out a quality item manufacturer, you need to ask yourself a number of questions:
1. What kind of sheath? You probably do not want to store it in a leather sheath. Give some moisture and chemicals that might be used in treating the leather, you might be welcoming rust. So, if you choose leather, you need to find a different and cloth material in which to store it.
2. If I am going to wear the sword within a sheath, where do I carry it? For my Japanese units, I wanted across the backpack/across the back/over the shoulder option. This meant finding a guy who makes Japanese wooden sword sheaths and designing one for the placement.
3. If you read reviews and conclude that most KNIFE sheaths issued with factory knives are bad, just wait until you learn that virtually all after market sword sheaths have to be custom made.

stabbing vs. slashing blade
4. Why are swords carried by horseback riders curved for slashing and why are European swords for ground fighting straight bladed most of the time? You need to think about the answers. Obviously, the design is fitted to the desired application. You are not going to have both options perfectly incorporated into a blade.
5. Carrying a sword when mounted is awesome in the movies. I watched Errol Flynn movies for free on t.v. when I was a kid. The reality is that when Custer went into battle none of the soldiers were carrying a sabre. No longer functional in battle. In fact, except for the cossacks, troops would routinely dismount and go into battle with firearms. One soldier could control 4 horses while the other troopers went into battle.
6. I do have traditional sabres with original sheaths. In 2019, you are not going to be walking very far with them, except in re-enactments.

metal on metal - or why people with decent swords use wooden swords or bamboo swords or even rubber swords in practice.
7. Reflect on what happens to sword blades if you hit metal on metal.
I want you to watch this video of a grand master using a metal sword. To the untrained eye, it is a waste of time - he isn't hitting anything. To the trained, the man is master of fluid movement. The skill in drawing, presenting, and securing a sword doesn't come with the sword that is purchased. I had instruction in khuri knife fighting and saw a woman seriously cut herself and go to hospital just drawing the knife! You are wasting your money if you buy a quality sword before working on the skills.
8. At the end of a non-knife class, an instructor asked me to retrieve a practice escrima stick from my car. I brought it and he promptly broke it. I then said I would go and get the stick that I kept in the car that I had made. I presented it and he made no attempt to break it. I made it out of cast iron black water pipe.
9. If you want to chop around with a long piece of metal, then get an inexpensive machete. They really work in practice. The challenge to me is making over the shoulder/across the back sheath set ups.
 
The last actual war where significant battles used cavalry was the US civil war, and their primary weapons for those battles were early breech loading carbines (Sharps), actual magazines rifles (Spencer), but more commonly Troopers carried multiple revolvers each with extra loaded cylinders that can be swapped out quickly.
as an example a modern revolver with a swing-out cylinder can be reloaded (using a "speed-loader") in about 12seconds. Someone well practiced (and I assure you they were, as their lives depended on it) can reload a colt style Percussion revolver of the 1860's just as quickly. I've personally managed doing it in 10seconds, but my average is right around 12sec!

In July of 1863, the battle of Gettysburg was DECIDED at the very beginning of the three day battle by the Commander (Brig Gen John Buford) of the first Union unit to become involved, by their choosing the Battlefield where they would fight. Dismounted Cavalry with faster firing breech-loading weapons "held-off" a much larger Confederate unit long enough for stronger union forces to arrive.
 
Allan DeGroot is correct.

A comment on choosing a sword based upon application. Take the Roman Gladius. The soldiers were trying to fight in formation and were supporting each other. The sword could be as short as 18 inches. It could be as long as 27 inches. Around the time Jesus, the front ranks replaced it with the spatha because it gave more thrusting distance!

Conversely, the Japanese Katana with which people are most acquainted was long and curved because the person fought individually and was slashing. Even then, the bow and arrow was the preferred weapon in combat. Distance = safety.

Personal comment. Research why the feared Moros of the Philippines fought the US troops during and after the Spanish-American War with machetes. Research why the Ghurkas fight with a particular knife. They did not have the money to buy firearms, the kids were using the same machetes and knives every day in agriculture. They didn't have the money to buy swords. Similarly, the Japanese took ordinary agricultural knives and sickles and made them into effective personal weapons because they were familiar with them. The human ergonomic movements in escrima, Ghurka knife fighting, folder knife (yep, a Benchmade Emerson knife), sword fighting, machete fighting are the same.

Who is a good manufacturer? Unless you spend a couple thousand dollars, you had better know how to sharpen/maintain your own sword and how to make a sheath that really works for you when shtf. Why? Because people are unhappy with swords when they go cheap. I took a deep breath when I bought Dawson swords at the time of the First Gulf War. The price has outstripped inflation since then. Most of the better low cost swords today, no matter what the brand name, are made in India. Yes, from the same factory may come a "Cold Steel " sword and the identical sword under one of the names mentioned in this thread. When you don't believe me, do a google search on Cold Steel's facility in Ventura County. It is not a sword factory.
 
As an additional comment on the post above So Far As I Know* Cold Steel of Ventura California does not actually "manufacture" anything, all their blades and tools are made by subcontractors, It is presumed by the watchful eye of inspectors employed by Cold Steel.

*if this is incorrect I'm certain there will be a "stampede" to correct me!
 
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bdcochran said:
I modify/refurbish/sharpen hatchets, knives, swords, machetes in my retirement. So, before you seek out a quality item manufacturer, you need to ask yourself a number of questions:
1. What kind of sheath? You probably do not want to store it in a leather sheath. Give some moisture and chemicals that might be used in treating the leather, you might be welcoming rust. So, if you choose leather, you need to find a different and cloth material in which to store it.
2. If I am going to wear the sword within a sheath, where do I carry it? For my Japanese units, I wanted across the backpack/across the back/over the shoulder option. This meant finding a guy who makes Japanese wooden sword sheaths and designing one for the placement.
3. If you read reviews and conclude that most KNIFE sheaths issued with factory knives are bad, just wait until you learn that virtually all after market sword sheaths have to be custom made.

stabbing vs. slashing blade
4. Why are swords carried by horseback riders curved for slashing and why are European swords for ground fighting straight bladed most of the time? You need to think about the answers. Obviously, the design is fitted to the desired application. You are not going to have both options perfectly incorporated into a blade.
5. Carrying a sword when mounted is awesome in the movies. I watched Errol Flynn movies for free on t.v. when I was a kid. The reality is that when Custer went into battle none of the soldiers were carrying a sabre. No longer functional in battle. In fact, except for the cossacks, troops would routinely dismount and go into battle with firearms. One soldier could control 4 horses while the other troopers went into battle.
6. I do have traditional sabres with original sheaths. In 2019, you are not going to be walking very far with them, except in re-enactments.

metal on metal - or why people with decent swords use wooden swords or bamboo swords or even rubber swords in practice.
7. Reflect on what happens to sword blades if you hit metal on metal.
I want you to watch this video of a grand master using a metal sword. To the untrained eye, it is a waste of time - he isn't hitting anything. To the trained, the man is master of fluid movement. The skill in drawing, presenting, and securing a sword doesn't come with the sword that is purchased. I had instruction in khuri knife fighting and saw a woman seriously cut herself and go to hospital just drawing the knife! You are wasting your money if you buy a quality sword before working on the skills.
8. At the end of a non-knife class, an instructor asked me to retrieve a practice escrima stick from my car. I brought it and he promptly broke it. I then said I would go and get the stick that I kept in the car that I had made. I presented it and he made no attempt to break it. I made it out of cast iron black water pipe.
9. If you want to chop around with a long piece of metal, then get an inexpensive machete. They really work in practice. The challenge to me is making over the shoulder/across the back sheath set ups.
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Outstanding video! Thank you for sharing it with us. Truly mastery of even an individual type of sword is a lifetime pursuit. I have little experience but what I do have was all done with Japanese swords and I am lower than a rank amateur.

My cousin has done Tai-Chi for his whole life and the feeling of picking up his wooden Jian is completely different from wooden bokken or shinai. I find that I am tempted to do draw cutting motions and realized how lacking I am in stabbing motions.

Dy1DD3f.jpg


Truly it is something you could pursue for your entire life and never feel there wasn’t something more to learn as with all martial arts.
 
Old John said:
No, not a good idea. I have one along with many other Condors; but this one is blade heavy and the grip is not properly designed. Although, I did shorten the blade to 24 inches providing it with a slow up-sweep to the tip and resharpened. Then added more wood to the scales. For now it is serviceable; but I will make more modifications later.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear this. I never got my hands on one so I made sure I said "might." I'm glad you can make some useful mods to yours, though. Keep us posted on whether it turns out to be something interesting in the end!

Zieg
 
For the original poster. There are Japanese sword art forms which do not use steel blades. One form is Kendo which uses wooden swords and extensive body armor protection. A Filipino discipline using a short stick is called Escrima. Even wearing protection, I would be repeatedly and unintentionally injured doing escrima.

A few weeks ago, I was looking on line for a wood boken. It is a wood sword. I didn't see anything that I liked, so I ordered a plastic Cold Steel unit that came in today. Forget looking on the Cold Steel site and seeing a couple of guys purportedly fighting with bokens unless you like to cringe at their poor form. The unit itself is deadly. What? A plastic sword being so described? Yes. You can use it on water melons/ straw targets and never break it. If you kept it by the front door for a burglar and knew what you were doing, he would be down for the count.

The movements in Kendo/Escrima/Watazashi/machete fighting are the same. The difference is that you have to be cognizant that the differences in weapon length are important for your movements and clearances.
 
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