Cold Steel products

[StephenCPate]

Whats your opinion on their wasters? I've heard a few opinions on them but wouldn't mind a few more. I've been eying the hand and a half and the "knights training dagger" (I will post links to them below). from what i understand the sword comes in two pieces, the guard and the blade and has to be assembled. I watched an ARMA members review of it on youtube and it seems to be a decent enough training blade once you get past its obvious short comings, such as the large swell right below the guard. anyway, opinions welcomed, i think i am going tog et it just for my own piece of mind, and probably the dagger as well.

[william_cain_iii]

Ok, having handled them, my thoughts on the Cold Steel hand and a half.

Pros - Cheap. At 30 dollars tops and usually less, you can't beat it for value for money. Durable too, tying into the value for money angle. You can abuse these things forever and they'll still be around.

Cons - Handling is atrocious. They're blade-heavy to an absurd degree, and don't behave properly at all. Also, they're uncomfortable to hold due to the sharp pointy bits on the pommel, and the blade tip doesn't need to be pointed like it is (makes it more dangerous to spar with).

Moderate points - Shaped more like a sword (with clearly noticeable edges for true/false edge discernment, cross, etc) than a shinai or plain wooden stick.

Recommendations - I'd get these for two reasons. One, they're so cheap and durable that they make a decent 'public relations' sword. You can get four of them for the price of a good NSA waster, so that you can have them available to hand out to people who are just passing through without risking something a bit fancier on potentially badly-behaved people. They also will hold up very well to pell work given the durability.

However, I'd move beyond them the moment you have money to do so for a personal training sword. I use a Little Raven longsword waster, and it's made of love.

On the dagger, no idea. I'd round off the tip again, just looking at it, and cut down the cross some since I train Rondel, not quillon dagger. But it looks like decent value for money.

[Jonathan Hill]

I’m loving Lynn’s new direction for his meat chopping video’s he seems to have embraced the ridiculousness!

Will summed it up on the swords, for the dagger I’d consider what you want it for. The way it’s built will fit better for a ‘parrying dagger’ (deflection and defense not stabbing) as it’s a bit stiff for your training partner to enjoy. If you wish to do that look at their rubber daggers, they will give you the ability to work with someone with a bit more intent and not hurt them as bad when you try to ice pick them in the neck.

[william_cain_iii]

Further, if you want to make them behave a bit better:

Drill some holes in the blade, maybe about 2/3 of the way up. This will eliminate some of the blade presence and bring the balance back. Also, sand down the tip and the pommel for comfort.

Doing much more than either of these is really getting into the realm of wasting money.

[Steven Ott]

I also like the cutting of meat and skateboards,but not for the same reason. If someone is going to lay down big money for a weapon, they expect it to have stopping power. If you were to buy a weapon for self-defense wouldn't you be more confident in knowing it would actually kill an attacker and not just be flashy and fast? If you want a cutting sword than it should cut vicously, otherwise stick to rapiers or smallswords which are faster and lighter.

[StephenCPate]

Further, if you want to make them behave a bit better:

Drill some holes in the blade, maybe about 2/3 of the way up. This will eliminate some of the blade presence and bring the balance back. Also, sand down the tip and the pommel for comfort.

Doing much more than either of these is really getting into the realm of wasting money.

yeah, ill try that after ive handled it normally for awhile. i have a German three handed wood waster that i use for sparring and so on, but yeah im going to use the Coldsteel for pell work and as you said, for demonstration reasons. thanks for the advice...im probably going to file the pommel down abit or get a decent pair of gloves.

[StephenCPate]

so i got my "dagger" and "hand and a half" wasters the other day, and to save you a lot of reading, its a love hate relationship. first off, the dagger. not a bad training tool. its a lot...heaftier than i thought it would be, a little longer and a good deal heavier, but it feels like a sidearm should. now i don't know if it was a shipping error or not, but the dagger didn't come with the rubber stopping piece, so the hand guard kept flying off, but i remedied that with the rubber piece from an old katana i owned from them. The sword can be summed up in two words. blade heavy. the pommel of it wasn't nearly as bad as everyones made it out, i have no problem with it. back to the weight, yeah, the blade is incredibly blade heavy, it took me about an hour to get the control i wanted, but once i did i found it to be a great sword for solo training, especially pell work.

[william_cain_iii]

Each to their own on the pommel, I found it singularly uncomfortable to hold when repeatedly making pell strikes.

Still, glad it's working out as a tool for you.

[StephenCPate]

Each to their own on the pommel, I found it singularly uncomfortable to hold when repeatedly making pell strikes.

Still, glad it's working out as a tool for you.

Yeah, like i said, i bought them on a whim, i didn't expect much but for the price, its better than i expected. and the pommel i can see being uncomfortable to some. the dagger has the wheel pommel to it, i find it more annoying

[anygma85]

newbie here..and I'm glad to part of this community..

how much for the dagger? can someone post an image here..

[Randall Pleasant]

Welcome to the forum. Please edit your profile so as to use your full name as required by the forum rules.

Thank you,