Cold Steel Hand-and-A-Half Sword with Leather/Wood Scabbard

Years ago, I was researching swords to buy as props for a film project and I came across this beauty and its matching dagger. I instantly fell in love with its simplicity, elegance, and frankly its utilitarian deadliness. But I could not justify buying a REAL sword, at the time. I kept thinking about this sword for over 10 years.In that time, I have been training with a couple of heavy training swords, one plastic (also from Cold Steel), and the other actual forged steel. I say this simply to give context to the review about weight and balance of this blade. I am not a sword expert, but I do have years of experience training with practice weapons designed for professional use.I finally pulled the trigger and ordered this sword and its matching dagger. Both arrived today, and I put them through their paces. I am overjoyed with them both. The finish and quality on the weapon is fantastic. It is a simple design, but executed without flaws. No rattling, nicks, cracks, or any other nonsense. This is a fine quality, real weapon made to a high standard.I have seen others express the grip is a bit shorter or narrower than they expected, and I do not find this is the case for me. While I do not have enormous hands, they are also not small. I can barely palm a regulation basketball. This grip feels like the natural size for my hands both in length and girth (yes, I realize the phrasing there is comical, shut it). While the leather on the grip is thin, it appears to be of high enough quality that I am not concerned about it wearing through quickly, and it provides a slide-free grip.The sword comes sharp. Actually, too sharp for some classic longsword techniques to be effective. You could not grip this blade without cutting yourself, even at its base. As any sword enthusiast knows, the first thing one must do when a sword arrives in the mail is to murder the box it came in. I fulfilled this obligation, and can tell you it sheared the box clean in half in a single strike. The tip is also deadly sharp for thrusting, as it should be.This is a light blade balanced for agility. The balance point is just a little over 2 inches from the hilt, making it easy to maneuver the blade quickly. Compared to my practice swords, this thing is light as a feather. It literally whistles through the air going through standard drills. While it is certainly capable of delivering a powerful strike, power does not seem to be the intent behind this design. This one is all about speed and precision.I am actually going to be stepping up my sword training and learning all classic techniques, and this sword will be my primary weapon when doing so. So I will update this review if I find any issues while working through that process. But as of now, I am glad I obsessed over this sword for years and it's even better in person than I imagined.

Would EXCALIBUR if the sword was real be what nobles consider the best that could be had for the money or the best sword for those who know what a sword should be? If EXCALIBUR was real maybe it would be simple, plain but beautiful attractive and yet effective. Maybe since it now exists in our modern time period it would be a modern design able to be customized beyond what tradition dictates because it would be a trend setting SWORD. If EXCALIBUR was real maybe it would be commissioned by modern day warriors. If it had to be mass produced it would be THE COLD STEEL HAND AND A HALF SWORD. MAYBE EXCALIBUR was the first hand and a half sword. This sword is razor sharp, tough, fast, balanced and beautiful. It's cross guard mimics the image of the cross of Christ it's scabbard has a image similar to a cross on the chape of the scabbard. The diamond cross section on the blade is elegant and the polish on the blade shines in the light like righteous rays ready to vanquish EVIL!! The scent stopper pummel looks similar to a English crown. There is no doubt this sword is LEGENDARY IN ITS TIME! AND WHEN TIME FADES ON and this review is look back upon it will ring true. They will say remember the COLD STEEL HAND AND A HALF SWORD revered by HEMA practitioners for it's affordable and deadly functionality able to stand along side swords 10x it's price point. This SWORD IS A MASTERPIECE IN ITS CLASS!!! EXCALIBUR LIVES!!!

If you can't tell by the ratings, this sword is excellent. I was skeptical, as I'm sure a lot of collectors, HEMA practitioners, or sword-enthusiasts-in-general probably were. Many of us have spent similar amounts of money on pure garbage; barely fit to show off to anyone.I was very pleasantly surprised. This blade is solid. Every part of it has withstood reasonable abuse from me. It comes sharpened to an apple seed edge- way more durable than edges with the secondary bevel, like you would see on a machete. I think that also makes it feel like a sword. The edge is so gradual, you don't really see a secondary bevel. That forces you to actually pay attention to edge-alignment,because swinging a sword should not be like swinging a machete. The metal has held up, and is, as advertised, carbon steel, not stainless. That means, aside from the obvious increase in strength and durability, you will need to make sure it's dry before storing it, and oiling it from time to time to keep it from rusting.The grip is fine for the price, though the leather handle can get a bit loose-feeling if you swing it a lot. It does not seem to be wound with any wire or cord. So it's just the wood handle wrapped with leather. The hilt seems sturdy, and has not even gotten lose, for me. The tang appears to be secured into the hilt with a nut on the pommel. It has yet to get loose, and the sword still feels tightly-constructed.I've practiced on milk jugs, both paper and plastic. 2-liter soda bottles, 1.75L plastic liquor bottles (the plastic is thicker than a regular soda bottle), rope, pool noodles and several .5 inch thick PVC pipes. The sword has come out fine. You might get a few (or many) scuffs on the mirror-polished blade, but that cannot be avoided. I have only resharpened it once. The handle may be a bit exaggeratedly long (even for a hand and a half/bastard sword), but that actually makes it easier to handle- especially for people who need to get used to swinging a longsword.All in all, this sword is amazing value for the price. Durable, and feels like a sword.If you are new to swords, looking to get a functional, but modern one, toss that ludicrously-ornate $200 wall-hanger-katana out of your cart and get this. Probably one of the best swords you can get on Amazon. For the money, at least.

You can find cheaper swords online, but as far as my experience goes they always chip and break EXTREMELY easily, this is the cheapest sword that I could find but actually had good functionality and was tough enough to practice with.