Cold Steel products

[Sal Bertucci]

It was a longsword, just sharpened to a ridiculous level. That's what Cold Steel does. I just finished watching their most recent promotional video, and while it is visually stimulating their tests don't mean all that much. One thing that I found interesting was that the blunt Chinese sword breaker did as well at the thin wood cut out as did their other swords.

Making swords ridiculously sharp is not an accurate description how how a sword would perform. (Another thing to note is that some of the test cutting videos that we have were preformed with BLUNT longswords.) And also isn't correct for some Japanese traditions as well. I think people just like over-sharpening their swords.

[Steven Ott]

I dont know that swords weren't that sharp, or that they were. Japanese swords from what I understand are sharpened to near razor. If you were going into battle and you were swinging a sword and not a club-you"d want it sharp so that even moderate cuts would cause damage. Yeah there is the possibility that you you would hit armor, but if it was a good sword it would just dull it out. Are there any historical texts that say not to have your sword too sharp?

[Steven Ott]

Also why does no other sword manufacturer do this kind of thing? I'd love to see what a sharpened Albion can do. Any company that charges 500+ for the scabbard should put up some proof. I know everybody considers them the best because of balance, weight and historical accuracy, but what about performance.

[Sal Bertucci]

Well, then late Paul Champagne stated in an interview that, at least in some Japanese schools, after sharpening their swords they would then make 100 cuts into sand in order to blunt the edge a bit and make it more durable.

For Western sources I don't have a specific reference, but the amount of half-swording techniques would not be nearly as large if they kept their swords at a razor honed edge. I've never seen the CS people do a half sword technique, and I'm confidant that I never will as long as they keep their blades unrealistically sharp.

I thought I remember seeing a video of an albion cutting into a large metal container, but I'll have to look for that. As for performance, I've never met anyone who was unhappy about purchasing an Albion. I've met people who didn't think they were equal to the "hype", but they still bought and enjoyed them.

[Michæl Bunch]

I own multiple Cold Steel products and have been satisfied with all of them, except for the wood! I swear maybe I get too berserk when I practice but I'll be darned if I haven't destroyed every spear stave I've bought from them. But I do own their discontinued Pole-Axe and Halberd, and I have nothing but praise for them, weight aside. Their Halberd seems heavier than others I've handled, but once you get use to the heft and use it Di Grassi style it works beautifully. The Pole-Axe smashes everything it touches so I can't complain about that one either.

[Steven Ott]

Have the cold steel pole axe, war hammer and some knives. No sword yet-looking at the new italian longsword. It seems historical. Have held the grosse-messer and the hand-and-a-half. and they feel deadly. The pole-axe is way too heavy but indeed brutal. Having trained with the warhammer, I am beginning to understand how to use it, and it can be fairly quick, especially if you know how to slide up and down the handle. I have been considering an albion but the price seems to be more name than sword to me (Well a lot of name, anyway).
Like I said, how can the scabbard be so expensive, unless you're just buying the name? I would love to see Albion do proof videos for their weapons, but it's not going to happen. The other issue with a $1000+ sword is do you dare use it and risk damaging it? It can become a very expensive wall-hanger.

[Sal Bertucci]

I know many people who do test cutting with their albions.

[Stacy Clifford]

Right, you're talking to ARMA here, we don't like buying toys we can't play with. We're such strong advocates of Albion because so many of us have tested their products and they've stood up to our best abuse and performed admirably. The swords are worth the money (I've heard that a lot of the cost comes from severe price increases on steel stock and other materials), but I agree with you that the scabbards are a bit outrageous.

[Steven Ott]

"For Western sources I don't have a specific reference, but the amount of half-swording techniques would not be nearly as large if they kept their swords at a razor honed edge. I've never seen the CS people do a half sword technique, and I'm confidant that I never will as long as they keep their blades unrealistically sharp."

You know I was thinking. A guy on their video was doing chin-ups on the blades of their weapons. While he was wearing gloves, this perhaps shows half-swording could be possible on such a sharp weapon. They looked like leather gloves but I guess they could have been kevlar. Anyway don't think I'll try it-until after one of you guys try it first. Lol

[Nicholas Moore]

I found this review to be very fair

http://www.sword-manufacturers-guide.co ... words.html

[Jonathan Newhall]

"For Western sources I don't have a specific reference, but the amount of half-swording techniques would not be nearly as large if they kept their swords at a razor honed edge. I've never seen the CS people do a half sword technique, and I'm confidant that I never will as long as they keep their blades unrealistically sharp."

You know I was thinking. A guy on their video was doing chin-ups on the blades of their weapons. While he was wearing gloves, this perhaps shows half-swording could be possible on such a sharp weapon. They looked like leather gloves but I guess they could have been kevlar. Anyway don't think I'll try it-until after one of you guys try it first. Lol

A problem with this is that we have no idea how sharp or not that particular sword was - it could be advertising tricks for all we know and it was almost if not totally blunt.

[Steven Ott]

A problem with this is that we have no idea how sharp or not that particular sword was - it could be advertising tricks for all we know and it was almost if not totally blunt

Very true but still more proof-test than I've seen on Albion. (Don't get me wrong-I intend to get one one day)

I think I'm just hoping someone from Albion will decide it's time to show what their swords are capable of. Word of mouth is great, but especially over the net, not as convincing. And you never know if people are just biased or have a vested interest.

[Sal Bertucci]

Well there is a "how it's made" episode where to test the quality of a sword Albion does cuts on a steel barrel, and the sword has to be undamaged to pass.

[Jonathan Newhall]

I've seen a destruction test on an Albion one-hander before (I forget which one and if it was official or not).

They basically put the pointy end in a vice clamp and pulled it over until the pommel was facing the same way as the point, and it still returned true. At about 190 or 200 degrees of bend it snapped in half (forming a full loop across the blade with the handle!)

Very impressive worksmanship in my opinion.

[John Fares]

Have the cold steel pole axe, war hammer and some knives. No sword yet-looking at the new italian longsword. It seems historical.

I had one for a week. I liked it. Splendidly built, VERY solid, and it was even reasonably sharp (I could grip the blade pretty well, but I wouldn't want to actually hit anything while holding it such), but the PoB was six-seven inches out from the hilt; it handled a bit too much like an axe for my taste.